TUNING digest 980

Again with the semantics! How silly!

I like this, Gary:

> I've always taken partials to mean:
>* "Partials" to mean frequency components of a sound whether or not they
>are
> harmonically related.
>* "Overtones" to mean essentially the same as partials, but implying
> frequency components above the perceived pitch of the tone as a whole.
>* "Harmonics" to mean partials that are in fact harmonically related.

But Lucy says:

>Let's call the sounds we hear when we touch the string lightly,,
>(which Matt calls "complex tones"):
> "ghosttones" (for the sake of clarity).

No! Let's call them "Flageolet tones" like the rest of the world (except
France, who might think that you're talking about a bean).

>For an "ideal string" everything Just Intonation enthusiasts
>claim may be totally true.
>
>I feel that the "ideal string" is a purely intellectual
>mechanism, which may have contributed to some of the paradoxes,
>which I have encountered in the "harmonics only at integer
>frequency ratios" logic.
>I am talking about the REAL (gets rusty from your sweat) string.
Since when is music a purely intellectual mechanism?

You're right that music is not purely intellectual, but it is therefore
foolish to propose a non-harmonic basis for your "pure-tuning" since
strings will differ among themselves, and certainly all instruments will be
wildly different from the others in your orchestra.

On another note...
Forget the new millenium! Here is the most important landmark of
our time...20 days until Tuning Digest 1000!

_________________
Adam B. Silverman
153 Cold Spring Street; A3
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 782-1765

abs22@pantheon.yale.edu



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