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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Don't forget that the sound of a car =
engine is
really an aggregate of sounds in which pitch is probably not the most =
important
component. I'm sure there's a wide difference between the sound of =
a Ford
Taurus and a Toyota Camry and a ___________ (name your vehicle of =
choice) that
all of us can discern. The perfect pitch component would be to =
determine
the rpm of the engine just by hearing it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Z! Reinhardt RPT<BR>Ann =
Arbor MI<BR><A
href="mailto:diskladame@provide.net">diskladame@provide.net</A></FONT><=
/DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Billbrpt@AOL.COM =
href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM">Billbrpt@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, May 12, 2001 =
12:56
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: perfect pitch in
animals</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a =
message dated
5/11/01 11:21:12 PM Central Daylight Time, <A
href="mailto:Tvak@AOL.COM">Tvak@AOL.COM</A> <BR>writes: =
<BR><BR> Wim
wrote: <BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px =
solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE"><< When we come home in my car, our dogs runs tot =
he
<BR>door, expectantly. When any other car comes in the driveway, he =
sounds
an <BR>alarm. The dog recognizes the pitch of the engine. =
>>
<BR><BR>Our dog does the same thing, although I never thought of it =
as a
pitch <BR>recognition phenomenon. It could be a squeak =
or some
other sound that <BR>accompanies the engine, inaudible to us. =
Or it
could be the "way" we pull <BR>into our driveways. I know I =
pull in at
the same speed every time, same <BR>braking rate, creating a pitch =
envelope
which might create a signature <BR>sound <BR>identifiable to the dog =
independent of actual pitch recognition. Then =
<BR>again...maybe he
does have perfect pitch. <BR><BR>Tom S.</FONT><FONT lang=0 =
face=Arial
color=#000000 size=3 =
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>It's =
not so much the
pitch as the *whole* sound as Virgil Smith suggests. I =
<BR>distinctly
recall as a boy in Los Angeles, that I had a Los Angeles Times =
<BR>paper route
which required me to be up and working at 5 AM. I lived in a
<BR>residential area and at that time of day, the city noise was at =
its
lowest. <BR>I could hear the boss's car coming when it was a =
mile away.
<BR><BR>It was a Ford which had a distinctive sound and just like =
pianos, each
one <BR>still has its own sound that anyone and also household pets =
can
recognize. <BR>My Dad always bought Fords and if it was quiet =
at the
moment, I could hear <BR>his car driving up when he was coming home =
too.
I remember a distinctive <BR>whine from the engine, gears and =
drive
train from all the many miles I rode <BR>in our Ford station wagon on =
family
trips. <BR><BR>I've owned other makes but currently I have a year 2000 =
Ford
that has a 5 <BR>speed manual transmission. That distinctive =
sound is
still there! It is one <BR>of the best cars I have ever owned. =
<BR><BR>I
don't have any dogs but I have two cats who react to sounds rather
<BR>predictably. They always know when I am coming to the door =
and are
there to <BR>greet me. I don't have to call them to be fed, they =
know I
am getting their <BR>food for them just by the sounds I make doing so. =
<BR><BR>Blind people have to rely on all of the other senses. =
That is
why they are <BR>often believed to have "superior" hearing. They =
don't
really, they have just <BR>learned to use and focus on the aural =
stimuli more
than the average person. <BR><BR>Household pets and other animals =
probably do
use their sense of smell and <BR>hearing in a far more sensitive and =
developed
way than humans do. I don't <BR>find it surprising that animals =
react to
certain sounds at all, I more or <BR>less expect it. I do, =
however,
still find these anecdotes amusing. <BR><BR>In my early days of aural =
tuning,
I had learned from George Defebaugh to tune <BR>the octaves wide or =
sharp
during a pitch raise. One of my earliest <BR>experiences trying =
this
newfound technique caused the big mastiff type dog <BR>that was in the =
house
to howl. For quite a while thereafter, I had the idea <BR>that =
in a
pitch raise tuning, the amount to tune sharp was whatever it took =
<BR>to make
a dog howl. <BR><BR>It worked then and although somewhat =
refined, still
does now. <BR><BR>Bill Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT>
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