This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi Jean-Jacques, It all depends on what you're listening for. Piano tuners of course are = used to listening for beats, and they are quite sensitive to the = presence of beats, how fast they are, where they are, etc. Normal = everyday people, and even musicians, listen for how sharp or flat a note = is, overall. Ten cents of sharpness sounds the same (in deviation of = pitch), whether it is towards the bass or towards the treble. Those who = doubt this should consider that *100* cents sharpness (i.e. the next = half step) also sounds the same, irrespective of octave. Why does a larger deviation in Hertz in the treble sound similar to a = smaller deviation in the bass? That's just the way our sensory systems = work. All of our senses see proportional changes as equidistant. The = difference between 1 and 2 is the same difference as between 4 and 8. = Both are doublings. This works with taste, hearing, sound, touch, and = olfaction. In the case of hearing, the same is true with loudness. = Each doubling of amplitude, 6 dB SPL, sounds similar, whether the sound = is soft or loud. (Or for you people who prefer dealing in power, each = doubling of power, 3 dB SPL, sounds similar.) In the end, we just can't resolve differences of, say, 5 Hz in high = pitched sounds, while they are incredibly conspicuous in low pitched = sounds. Another way of looking at this is that a beat rate of 1 beat = per second (1 Hz) in the high treble is pretty much meaningless. The = same beat rate in the low bass is much more meaningful. Peace, Sarah ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Jean-Jacques Granas=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 2:51 PM Subject: Beats vs cycles vs cents Hello one and all, Dare I suggest (and perhaps live to regret it) that beats, with all = their imperfections for tuning purposes, are nevertheless a natural = acoustic phenomenon that exists whether we are there to hear it (or tune = the stubborn thing) or not. Cents on the other hand aren't something you actually hear, are they? = When I tune in the deep base (the last 4-6 unisons, depending on the = piano), I don't listen to beats of course, because otherwise In would be = there all day. I just find the place where the octave or fifth sound = most pleasant, with occasional help from friends in the 3rd octave, but = is what I am hearing 'cents'? After all, 100 beats to half a tone (or thereabouts) it is only a = scale, like 1000 meters to a kilometer, 12 inches to a foot, or 5, .... = feet (what was it?) to a mile. Or am I missing something ? Peace-Paz-Paix-Pok=F3j Jean-Jacques Granas Warsaw, Poland ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/25/22/99/03/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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