[pianotech] Aurally pure octaves

[Ed Sutton]

William-

Since I can do both, I'll explain:

When I listen "musically" to a Major third, say F3-A3, the beating sounds like its a vibrato happening at the pitch level of the thirds; imagine, say, a violin playing the third with vibrato.

When I listen "analytically," I let my hearing scan up the overtones until I hear the co-incident partials where the beating is occurring. Now I can recognize that the beating that I first heard at the fundamental level is really happening at the 5/4 level and that there is no beat at the fundamental level.

As long as I can remember I have been able to listen to a tone and consciously isolate many of the partials of the tone. I thought everyone could do this, but in teaching I've learned that not everyone can. I've also seen people who could not hear the partials of a tone suddenly become able to hear them.

When I talk of different modes of perception, I am referring to these two different ways of hearing which I can usually effect at will by just imagining how I want to hear.

Ed Sutton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: William Monroe 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:13 PM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Aurally pure octaves


  SNIP


    I was drawn to the idea that tuners need not listen to beats at their specific pitch levels, since I am one the tuners who has never heard coincident partials at a their actual pitches.


    Whole sound tuning is where it's at. It is not secret knowledge. I'll be attempting to demonstrate next week at the Central-West Regional Seminar in Wichita.


    Kent

  Kent,

  Can you explain this more clearly?  I know it's been (re)hashed many times and, recently, but, where DO you hear the coincident partials if not at their specific pitches?  I'm more than open to learning/experiencing this technique, and I've no doubt standing behind you (Virgil, DA, etc.) would be far more instructive, and I intend to do that at GR if DA gets it going; but for now, are you just listening to "everything presented" at once?  Or is it something different, specific to partials, but with a slightly different focus?
   
  William R. Monroe
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