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Re: Let's Talk Tuning!!!! Electronic, Acoustic, Challenges.
Quoting margaret noble <margaretnoble2000@yahoo.com>:
>
>
> Questions (Clearly Subjective!)
>
> - Is there a tolerable amount of cents you can be off when trying to
> be in key?
>
Hi Margaret,
This depends on some factors. If the sounds are sustained and have
little vibrato, then tuning errors are more noticeable.
It happens that I tune and service pipe organs which are sustained and
normally are played without vibrato. Within a division, it is
important to have everything in tune (because errors tend to
accumulate). Across divisions, the tuning may drift (due to
temperature variation) and as long as they stay within 4 cents of each
other, then the "out of tuneness" doesn't interfere with music making.
From 4 to 8 cents the divisions start to "celeste" -- that is, the
out-of-tuneness produces noticeable beats that are still "listenable".
Beyond 8 cents, the tone develops into a "honky-tonk" effect --
beyond 12 cents it just sounds "sour".
When looping the theremin, I endeavor to stay within four cents of the
target pitch.
Again, instruments that are not sustained may not be as noticeable.
>
> - When mixing in non-traditional sounds together, how disturbing is
> it to listeners if tunings are loose?
>
For my ears, if the tuning is non-standard, then nothing jars my ears.
However, to include non-standard pitches in the midst of an
otherwise tonal work may sound like a "wrong note". An example, when
a singer is accompanied by a fixed-pitch instrument (a piano) and hits
a non-standard pitch, most listeners will percieve it as a "bad" note
rather than a new tuning.
In fiction, there is a concept of the "suspension of disbelief" -- and
I think a similar concept works in music. If you set up a "frame"
based on non-standard tuning, then it is easier to accept
quarter-tones and other "non-tempered" pitches.
I always enjoy your work and look forward to hearing where your
exploration of tuning/pitch/harmony will take your music.
-- Kevin