Perfect Pitch, ET vs. WT, tone color (kinda long-not entirely on subject)

[Gregory Torres]

Bob:

As I stated on an earlier post, "perfect pitch" has benefitted me in many
ways. It has given me the ability to do "chipping" very quickly when
restringing. No need for tuning fork or electronic aid. Also helps when
"rolling & twisting" "dead" bass strings as a set. I find that on most
instruments that it is better to do the whole set than just a few because
then the ones that were "dead" often sound better than the "good" ones. Then
it's a quick and easy job to pull the strings back up to pitch. These are
the obvious advantages. There must be others but because I have perfect
pitch I guess I take it for granted sometimes. It's not something you can
turn on or off.  It also made it more difficult at first for me to "grasp"
the fundamentals of piano tuning. My first tuning experience at age 13 was
when I "tuned" my own piano with no real understanding of temperament
(didn't even know what the word meant) and we had to call out the local
tuner.

As for negatives, well, it's true about hearing instruments & musicians that
play with poor intonation. It drives me bonkers to hear ANY instrument
played slightly sharp or flat.

For example, Kenny G.  He has established himself as a very succesful
musician, and rightly so-he is talented and smart. But I can't listen to his
playing (except on early Jeff Lorber fusion cuts) for very long because his
intonation drives me insane! He constantly plays sharp on many notes in the
higher register, but not enough for most people to even notice.
Granted, the soprano sax is an "ornery" instrument (like the oboe, which I
also play) and difficult to play, but I know a few really great musicians
that also play this instrument equally as well AND have great intonation.

As for vocalist, well, even the best singers in the world can't sing a pitch
into a SAT and hold a the display perfectly still. It's just not possible.
If anyone knows ANY singer who can do that for more than even a few seconds
without ANY variation let me know. I'll eat my piano.  :-}

As I said in a previous post, I am a musician first. I play the piano
(classical and jazz trained) and the oboe. I "play" a few other instruments
as well but just for my own enjoyment.

I play and sing professionally also and I know when I am right on
pitch-hardly ever! (not to say I sing good or bad, just read the previous
paragraph)  But it drives me nuts when listening to or singing harmony with
someone else who just kinda sings "on the edge" of sharp or flat.

As for "tone color" I kinda describe it as "timbre" more than pitch. Any
instrument is capable of both slight changes in pitch and "timbre"
(pronounced "tamber" for the non-musicians  :-)
I think of tone color more like someone with a graphic equalizer "tweaking"
the levels of the different frequency bands and altering the sound and not
the pitch.

I can't say as I "see" tone color-I hear it. I am just more keenly aware of
pitch.

Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Greg Torres


-----Original Message-----
From: RptBob1 <RptBob1@aol.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Sunday, December 07, 1997 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: Perfect Pitch, ET vs. WT, tone color


>In a message dated 97-12-07 04:04:08 EST, tunapiana@adisfwb.com writes:
>
><<
> I consider it a gift from God. Doesn't make me any better than anyone
else,
> but it does have advantages and dis-advantages.
>
>Greg:  My curiosity has been piqued.  Just what are some of these
advantages
>and disadvantages?  Having lived with this first hand(ear), could you be a
bit
>more specific.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Bob Bergantino,RPT
>South Euclid, Ohio
>..
>
>
>
>