Virgil's Natural beats

[Richard Brekne]

I started to listen a bit closer today to what happens to the beats between
partials we are taught to listen to in the context of this more unusual note
combination (from a tuning standpoint) of 1,4,5,8,16. It was interesting to
notice that as tuning the 16 against the already tuned notes below,  playing an
listening to different combinations of those notes, the beat rates changed very
noticably and very consitantly.. . impling a degree of predicability me thinks.

For example. Playing and holding the 1,4,8, 16 and getting aurally a "hold" on
the predominant beats between partials (and there are at least a couple three
or four that are very easily noticible) and then adding the 5 changes that
whole picture. Now this is a bit odd when you stop to think a bit about it as
the 4,5 in themselves represent a major 2nd and their first coincident is
considerably high up the ladder. Yet the influence on the total beating picture
was considerable. The same happens if you use the 1, 5, 8, 16, and then bring
in the 4. You can either play this extra note or even ghost it and the effect
on the beat rates is still very evident.

At some particular pitch for the 16, this "total" beat rate is quite definatly
more like to being "beatless" then at any other point, yet at that same pitch
playing just the 1,8,and 16 reveals a double octave that was a bit more
stretched then I am used to useing.  I found that particularilly interesting
considering that Virgil talks about his octaves being pretty wide. I will start
measureing the actual distance I come up with by tuning in this fashion between
the octave notes in the next few days to see just how wide they end up.

Lots of interesting thoughts so far from so many writing posts on the subject.
The answer to this riddle may be simple and obvious, or it may lead us off into
something we have completely overlooked and havent even begun to check out yet.



--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no