Re: 34 vs 35 vs 36

>What's an mp3?

The typical file extension for the third layer of the MPEG audio spec.
Uses psychoacoustic masking to compress wav files as much as 1/10th their
normal size without much loss in quality. Similar in concept to Sony's
ATRAC compression (used in Minidiscs).

>I was using a sawtooth wave with an organ envelope (i.e. continuous).
Maybe >that's the difference. A short attack-decay time gives enough
ambiguity in >the frequency (the uncertainty principle).

I don't think the continuous envelope is a problem ("percussive organ" has
one). But Erlich may be right in that fewer harmonics are better. Try
something more clarinet-like than a sawtooth.

>>Hmmm. Try a 16:20:24:30:36, and then try 16:20:24:30:35. Does the second
>>chord sound like a mistuning of the first?
>
>Sort of. But shouldn't the second chord sound just as much like a mistuning
>of 16:20:24:30:34 (8:10:12:15:17)?

Well, :35 is less than 40 cents away from :36, and about 50 cents away from
:34. Also, the 17 adds more higher-limit intervals to the chord than the
9, so the 9 should have a greater field of attraction. But listening to
chords, I'd answer yes to your question.

Therefore, maybe I need something else to explain the sharpening I still
hear when going from 20:25:35 to 20:24:35.

>In this case the high note is flatter. I tried that too (with a piano
tone), >and I'm willing to grant that maybe the :35 sounds more like the
:36 than
>the :34. But it's subtle. They mostly just sound like 3 different chords
to >me, all fairly dissonant.

The 16:20:24:30:36 sounds dissonant? Can you find a timbre where it doesn't?

>[A long time ago Paul Erlich wrote:]
>The diminished seventh chord is tuned 10:12:14:17, and the dominant
>flat-9 is tuned 8:10:12:14:17, when performed by a barbershop quartet or
>other free-pitched ensemble.

In fact I sent Erlich a glaring example of the former chord "my baby has
gone away... so far awAY-AY-AY-AY".

Carl

Carl Lumma wrote:

> From: Carl Lumma <clumma@nni.com>
>
> >What's an mp3?
>
> The typical file extension for the third layer of the MPEG audio spec.
> Uses psychoacoustic masking to compress wav files as much as 1/10th their
> normal size without much loss in quality. Similar in concept to Sony's
> ATRAC compression (used in Minidiscs).

I find that the compression in minidisc is very perceptibly different than an
original when doing an a/b test. I won't use them. Does any one know if the new
Phillips CD burners are any better?

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
www.anaphoria.com