Actually, that bit about "all instruments are tuned in a mathematical way" is just plain wrong :-)
Think about it ... apart from the open strings, how do you guarantee that an a# is a b-flat on a violin? Or any other violin-like stringed instrument, for that matter? I play the trombone, and I always tune it fractionally sharp. That way, I can flatten even the open notes by ear to give a note that's exactly in tune. And - and this applies to ANY brass instrument - because you can think of a brass instrument as having a "single string" to which you can apply "harmonic stops" (ie which force notes to be a harmonic of the fundamental) then all brass instruments are, by their very nature, out of tune with themselves. So most of them have a tuning slide operated by the 4th finger that allows you to tune while playing. What does that leave? Just the woodwind. And even there, with lip pressure and other stuff, you can 'bend' a note up or down. Okay, I can't speak with authority for woodwind, but the most spectacular "bending" story I've heard was about a young trombonist. His teacher suddenly realised this lad, although able only to move the slide as far as fourth position, was playing perfect b naturals (seventh position). In other words, using lips alone, he could force the instrument three semitones flat! In other words, the "tuned percussion" (which includes piano) is about the only family of instruments which is forced to play in "well tempered" mode. Pretty much every other instrument can be played with proper harmonic tuning. Cheers, Wol -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] .org] On Behalf Of tiM Sportny Sent: 11 August 2006 02:24 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: lilypond-user@gnu.org Subject: Re: triangle chord notation (bit of toppic: why c != b sharp) In modern music were all instruments are almost tuned in a mathematical way, there is no practical relevance so we try to easy things up a bit. My personal oppinion is, just write down how you think it's easiest to play. I once had a piece of music written in F key, full of naturals in front of every b flat. And it didn't sound alteratic. Well, theoreticly it sounds diffenent, but don't try to be so interesting and just say it's in C key. I don't even bother the difference between Cmaj7 and Em/C but maybe that's a bit to careless. * ************************************************************************ * This transmission is intended for the named recipient only. It may contain private and confidential information. If this has come to you in error you must not act on anything disclosed in it, nor must you copy it, modify it, disseminate it in any way, or show it to anyone. Please e-mail the sender to inform us of the transmission error or telephone ECA International immediately and delete the e-mail from your information system. Telephone numbers for ECA International offices are: Sydney +61 (0)2 8272 5300, Hong Kong + 852 2121 2388, London +44 (0)20 7351 5000 and New York +1 212 582 2333. * ************************************************************************ * _______________________________________________ lilypond-user mailing list lilypond-user@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user
