Renaming false beats...was False beats ....was M&A A

[Porritt, David]

Ed:

If you've ever seen or used TuneLab that has the spectrum display you
can see the two different peaks representing two different frequencies
coming from one string.  It's clear that there are two actual
frequencies beating against each other.  To me there's no doubt that it
is a pitch thing.

dp

David M. Porritt
dporritt at smu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of ed440 at mindspring.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 8:26 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Renaming false beats...was False beats ....was M&A A

For thinking purposes, how about "Apparent periodic pitch fluctuation?"

Questions:

Are we talking about one phenomenon of several phenomena with similar
sounds?  If so, can we categorize the phenomena to avoid endless wheel
spinning?  Can we provide a diagnostic for this?

Is the phenomenon really a pitch change or a change of amplitude that we
hear as a pitch change?

Is the phenomenon a change of timbre that we hear as pitch change?

Is the phenomenon mostly limited to the capo region, or does our
perception assume the "beating quality" in this area?  Is this because
of the mechanics of the capo (vs agraffe)?  Or is it because of the
frequencies in the capo area; and if so, is this a matter of physics or
psychophysics?

Bass strings often exhibit warbles, beats and whines at high
frequencies.  These problems originate in the string itself, not in the
rest of the piano.  Does this bear any relation to sound anomalies in
plainwire strings?

Ed Sutton