Re: what a composer hears versus what he writes down

Just because a piece of music is traditionally played in
12tet, and the composer is of an era in which 12tet was
firmly established, does not mean the piece is 12tet. It is
entirely possible that the music in the composer's head is
in meantone of some sort, or just, or deLaubentone and that
he accepted the limitations of the musicians, orchestras and
instruments of the time and just went ahead and wrote it
down in 12tet notation.
This brings up an interesting point about how we imagine
music. I can hear music in my head up to a certain level of
complexity, that is, I can recreate an orchestra playing
moderately complex stuff and "hear" it in good fidelity. I
have experimented with trying to hear two different pieces
at the same time, and can do this moderately well with some
combinations, for instance I can "hear" a Beethoven symphony
that I am very familiar with and "hear" a single instrument
playing an entirely different, but again, familiar, piece at
the same time. If I try to hear two *orchestras* playing
moderately complex music at the same time, it pretty much
falls apart. My wife, who is very visual, says that she can
"see" movies in her head and can make them be anything she
desires. Is there a known difference in humans' ability to
"hear" arbitrary sonic scapes versus the ability to "see"
arbitrary visual scapes?

--
John Starrett
"We have nothing to fear but the scary stuff."
http://www-math.cudenver.edu/~jstarret/microtone.html

John Starrett wrote,

> Is there a known difference in humans' ability to "hear" arbitrary
sonic scapes versus the ability to "see" arbitrary visual scapes?

Hmm, good question! Speaking only from my own experience, I'd say my
"quodlibet" hearing and seeing abilities are about the same. I can get
a lot up and running simultaneously, but the more I add the more
blurry or "transparent" it all gets, and the composite is not
something I can "enjoy" or even "hear" as it takes so much
concentration to keep everything "alive".

In my own music I'm much more interested in the composite than I am in
an ability to clearly delineate all the moving parts. In fact, I'd say
that they're much easier for me to "hear"/"see" when I'm not over
"concerned" about their exact what and whereabouts... I put them
there, so know who they are by sight or by sound already!

--d.stearns

[John Starrett wrote:]
>Just because a piece of music is traditionally played in
>12tet, and the composer is of an era in which 12tet was
>firmly established, does not mean the piece is 12tet. It is
>entirely possible that the music in the composer's head is
>in meantone of some sort, or just, or deLaubentone and that
>he accepted the limitations of the musicians, orchestras and
>instruments of the time and just went ahead and wrote it
>down in 12tet notation.

"deLaubentone" - why didn't I think of that? I ran out to grab the
domain name, but John Starrett had beaten me to it! But what really
torqued me off is that he's posted an offer to SELL it. (just kidding).

JdL