linuxaudio.org

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On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 10:25 AM, Brent Busby  wrote:
> On Fri, 3 Sep 2010, Arvind Venkatasubramanian wrote:

quoted text
>

>  I discovered this while I was walking besides the school of philosophy

>> after completing my class in in engineering. As I was hearing to the sounds

>> of leaves and birds, I was approaching my music lab at the Frost school of

>> music. As I was about to get into my department, I heard a beautiful melody

>> from a saxophone. I kept chanting the melody for sometime as I started to

>> work on my computer. With time, I started to feel the image of the melody

>> subjectively. But I felt that to be too faint to hear. I wanted it to be a

>> bit louder and tried to turn up the volume button in me. I noticed that I

>> could not do that. Any attempt that I made to turning up the level of the

>> music only helped me transposing the melody up my one or two keys

>> (semitones). Similarly, any attempt to lower the tone helped only in

>> transposing the melody down by few keys.

>>

>

> Drummers regularly exploit this tendency we have, to think of higher volume

> level as being subjectively perceivable as higher pitch.  A drummer who is

> working with a small number of percussion instruments (perhaps just one

> snare drum and nothing else) may use accented notes that are played louder

> than the others to create the impression that those notes are the "snare

> notes", and other fainter notes are the "bass drum notes".  You can take it

> even further to make notes of intermediate volume seem to be the "tom

> notes".  If played with appropriate feel and intonation, you can create

> something of the illusion of a whole drumset pattern on one drum using only

> volume changes.  The listener's mind will interpret the volume changes as

> pitch changes that don't really exist. This is even useful when a full

> drumset is available, because it means there can be implied pitch changes

> available alongside real ones, which can be interesting.

>

> Your mind was probably just doing the same thing with the memory of the

> saxophone.  When you imagined it louder, you also imagined the pitch going

> higher.

>

> --

> + Brent A. Busby         + "We've all heard that a million monkeys

> + UNIX Systems Admin     +  banging on a million typewriters will

> + University of Chicago  +  eventually reproduce the entire works of

> + Physical Sciences Div. +  Shakespeare.  Now, thanks to the Internet,

> + James Franck Institute +  we know this is not true." -Robert Wilensky

>

Brent: Very Interesting.  But that's the skill of trained drummers to

control the bandwidth of the spectrum by their playing skills.  In the

subjective memory music, if I listen to a note in a melody or percussion

just 5 seconds back, I can have control over sound level, if I want to

change sound level and pitch control, if I want pitch control.
But after 10 minutes, I cannot do that.  But from what you say, a drummer

can do it anytime he wants because he is actually tweaking the matter

(waveFORM) and not accessing (his?) mind.
Regards,

Arvind V
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On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 10:25 AM, Brent B=

usby <brent@key=

corner.org> wrote:

On Fri, 3 Sep 2010, Arvind Venkatasubramanian wrote:
I discovered this while I was walking besides the school of philosophy afte=

r completing my class in in engineering. As I was hearing to the sounds of =

leaves and birds, I was approaching my music lab at the Frost school of mus=

ic. As I was about to get into my department, I heard a beautiful melody fr=

om a saxophone. I kept chanting the melody for sometime as I started to wor=

k on my computer. With time, I started to feel the image of the melody subj=

ectively. But I felt that to be too faint to hear. I wanted it to be a bit =

louder and tried to turn up the volume button in me. I noticed that I could=

 not do that. Any attempt that I made to turning up the level of the music =

only helped me transposing the melody up my one or two keys (semitones). Si=

milarly, any attempt to lower the tone helped only in transposing the melod=

y down by few keys.
Drummers regularly exploit this tendency we have, to think of higher volume=

 level as being subjectively perceivable as higher pitch. =A0A drummer who =

is working with a small number of percussion instruments (perhaps just one =

snare drum and nothing else) may use accented notes that are played louder =

than the others to create the impression that those notes are the "sna=

re notes", and other fainter notes are the "bass drum notes"=

. =A0You can take it even further to make notes of intermediate volume seem=

 to be the "tom notes". =A0If played with appropriate feel and in=

tonation, you can create something of the illusion of a whole drumset patte=

rn on one drum using only volume changes. =A0The listener's mind will i=

nterpret the volume changes as pitch changes that don't really exist. T=

his is even useful when a full drumset is available, because it means there=

 can be implied pitch changes available alongside real ones, which can be i=

nteresting.
Your mind was probably just doing the same thing with the memory of the sax=

ophone. =A0When you imagined it louder, you also imagined the pitch going h=

igher.
--

+ Brent A. Busby =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 + "We've all heard that a million=

 monkeys

+ UNIX Systems Admin =A0 =A0 + =A0banging on a million typewriters will

+ University of Chicago =A0+ =A0eventually reproduce the entire works of

+ Physical Sciences Div. + =A0Shakespeare. =A0Now, thanks to the Internet,<=

br>

+ James Franck Institute + =A0we know this is not true." -Robert Wilen=

sky

Brent: Very Interesting. =

=A0But that's the skill of trained drummers to control the bandwidth of=

 the spectrum by their playing skills. =A0In the subjective memory music, i=

f I listen to a note in a melody or percussion just 5 seconds back, I can h=

ave control over sound level, if I want to change sound level and pitch con=

trol, if I want pitch control. =A0

But after 10 minutes, I cannot do that. =A0But from wha=

t you say, a drummer can do it anytime he wants because he is actually twea=

king the matter (waveFORM) and not accessing (his?) mind.

Regards,Arvind V
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