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Post by jk on Sept 28, 2020 9:33:17 GMT
What I'm getting at is that in the pop/rock world there are so many tracks that are slightly detuned for any number of reasons or simply sped up for greater impact. Those with perfect pitch may find this painful listening!
I don't have perfect pitch (more on that later) although I'm working on it -- my tuning fork is never far away. Another thing is that my all-time favourite track, The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie", is etched into my brain. Now that's in A, which makes it a good reference point (as long as my brain behaves itself).
And of course most "classical" music of the past two or three centuries is played at 440. So if the key is mentioned in the title, you just have to cling onto it in your mind as you listen. Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 28, 2020 12:05:37 GMT
I don't see why having perfect pitch would negatively impact listening to something that is sped up or slowed down as long as it's in tune on a relative level: it seems it's akin to hearing something in a different key. What I'd think would cause irritation/discomfort would be if the performance itself were internally out of tune, e.g. a singer being sharp or flat, a guitar with an out-of-tune D string.
Maybe I'm not understanding, but otherwise I don't understand the issue. Someone with perfect pitch could identify the music as not being at A 440, but I don't see why it would be an inherent problem. (Or is it like an OCD analog, where the musical experience is perfectly enjoyable but "it's supposed to be tuned to 440"?)
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Post by jk on Sept 29, 2020 10:37:59 GMT
Perhaps I'm underestimating the flexibility of people with perfect pitch. That may be the penalty of not having it myself. But it does make me wonder whether a guitars-only piece played in E but tuned slightly up or down would have a different colour for someone with perfect pitch. Luckily not everyone is like the composer Olivier Messiaen, who attended a performance of ballet music by Beethoven in G major with violet lighting, "an absolutely terrifying dissonance" that gave him stomach ache!
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 29, 2020 12:19:58 GMT
Perhaps I'm underestimating the flexibility of people with perfect pitch. ... But it does make me wonder whether a guitars-only piece played in E but tuned slightly up or down would have a different colour for someone with perfect pitch. On the former--I may well be overestimating that flexibility. I just wanted to raise the point/question, because it seems to me there's no inherent, serious musical problem (e.g. internally out of tune).
But on the second point, I do think that is correct without question. So the issue would just be how many people with perfect pitch are bothered by knowing something is "a different color" (without it sounding internally out of tune).
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