[CAUT] Pitch recognition

[Greg Granoff]

Phil, Fred, et.al,

Interesting thread.  I was one of the subjects in the study in question, and
after being tested, I was asked to pull anyone in my extended family who
might also be afflicted with this ability into the study as a subject if
they were willing.  As it happens, I have a cousin who teaches piano at
William and Mary who qualifies, and everyone in both our immediate families
was asked to give them mouth swabs for genetic study.
The exact differences between one person and another when both have perfect
pitch, and both are the same age are still being worked out I'm sure, and
these differences were spoken about to me by a spokesperson for the study
during a conversation at one point. If I remember correctly, they identified
something like 4 "versions" of the trait. Apparently some people have a kind
of hyper acuity that is unaffected by the timber of the pitch source (which
would mean overtone profiles of course).  My mentor could identify the pitch
of a screwdriver hitting the concrete floor, whereas I've always needed a
bit longer duration of pitch and more familiar tone quality--a piano, a
flute, a violin, or that peculiar Eb buzz the bottom panel spring lock of
the Weber upright made:-)  In the test, I had difficulties in the outer
ranges of the "pure" tones--I obviously need an overtone series to
experience recognition.  This was 4 years ago, and I might have already
begun to experience the change. I'm sad to say, that at age 54, much of the
difficulty they describe re the phenomena "fading out" are present, and it
is like an old, utterly constant friend who is no longer completely
reliable. Some days right on, some days off by --yup-- a half step.

All this personal stuff aside, my understanding of the phenomenon is that it
is a kind of memory phenomenon requiring a genetic marker, more than
anything else.  Anyone with normal relative pitch can be told "this is a C"
as it is played on the piano, and for a certain period of time afterwards,
if the note is played again, they will "remember" it immediately as a C
without seeing the keyboard or needing a reference.  This might be one
minute, 10 minutes, or 30 seconds, depending on the person.  A person with
absolute pitch simply has the ability to "remember" indefinitely so that
instantaneous recognition occurs at any point without re-establishing the
reference.  Exactly how the brain processes the input that activates memory
is the big question.

Greg Granoff
HSU 


-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ed
Sutton
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 4:57 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Pitch recognition




Phil-

On their site they mention that no one over 51 has made a perfect score.
You made a perfect score at 51.

One hypothesis is that you are at the top of their genetic skill level, and
that next year you will miss at least one note!  ;-)

But more interesting, I think, would be to ask if tuning pianos regularly
has enabled your brain to "recalibrate" for your ageing basilar membrane.

Similarly, I would hypothesize that musicians with hyperacute perception of
pitch at A4 play instruments that tune to A4, and that the act of hearing
and tuning to that pitch regularly "calibrates" their pitch memory or
perception.   I don't recall any mentions of musicians complaining that D#5 
is one cent flat, the reference pitch always seems to be A4.

I think the theory of changing pitch perception due to changing stiffness in
the basilar membrane might explain some of the problems musicians express
regarding pitch, both musicians with and without absolute pitch.

Perhaps these folks in California would like to test piano technicians as a
subset.

Ed Sutton

>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Phil Bondi" <phil at philbondi.com>
> To: "Ed Sutton" <ed440 at mindspring.com>; "College and University 
> Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
> Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 7:47 AM
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Pitch recognition
>
>
>> Ed, I went to the web site and was able to take their test. Here are my 
>> results:
>>
>> Congratulations! You have Perfect Pitch.
>>
>> First name: Phil
>>
>> Last name: Bondi
>>
>> Age: 51
>>
>> AP rank: 1.00
>>
>> Pure tone score: 36.00
>>
>> Piano tone score: 36
>>
>> You may indicate any problems you had taking the test briefly (50 or less

>> words) in the comments box below. If necessary you may contact us by 
>> email (ppitch at itsa.ucsf.edu).
>>
>> According to them, I'm pretty perfect.
>>
>> -Phil Bondi(Fl)
>>
>>
>>
>> Ed Sutton wrote:
>>> An extremely important study on absolute pitch has been done by the 
>>> University of California, testing over 2000 subjects.
>>> See the report at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0703868104v3
>>> Piano technicians who deal with musical authorities (such as teachers 
>>> and conductors) need to read this report.
>>> Accuracy of absolute pitch deteriorates with age.  No one over the age 
>>> of 51 in this study was able to attain a perfect score in a test of 36 
>>> tones, and many people 50 and older reported that they were aware that 
>>> their pitch perception was drifting sharp.  This is probably due to age 
>>> changes in the inner ear which effect all of us.
>>> Many of the situations we deal with may involve hearing changes in 
>>> middle aged people.  I once had an aging choir director claim I was 
>>> cheating her by charging for a pitch raise because the piano sounded 
>>> "right on pitch" to her. My ETD measured the piano as over 20 cents 
>>> flat.
>>>  Ed Sutton
>>
>