Beats vs cycles vs cents

[David Andersen]

on 3/16/04 1:41 PM, antares at antares@euronet.nl wrote:

> Allow me to say something about beats.... and especially in regard to tuning
> the deep bass : 
> The contra bass and sub-contra bass we can only tune scientifically and
> precisely with the aid of counting beats.
> Of course I am talking about ET.
> In Japan I have, for the first time in my life, learned to tune a bass very
> but VERY exact with the aid of listening to the beats of an octave and a minor
> seventh and without an ETD.
> Counting the beats was essential in making the most perfect aural tuning
> possible. Listening with musical ears is a VERY great help. but can be
> misleading when it comes to a more scientific approach.
> 
> my two beats 
> 
> friendly greetings
> from 
> André Oorebeek 

Hey Andre.....mi amigo......I too listen to beats all the way down to note
#1...the slow beats of fourths and fifths; it's, for me, THE most precise
way to musically AND scientifically tune the instrument.

Sometimes I have to listen to the two tones together for 4-5 seconds until
the "true beat" of the fourth or the fifth appears out of the garbage; but
wait I do, and when I'm done, in tune it is, perfectly stretched with the
rest of the piano. I want the fourths to beat at that same slow, rolling
pace I've talked about before---let's say between 1 and 1.75 beats per
second.  Dial it in, Captain....

xoxxoDavid Andersen