3 ms·

I got really confused by that at first, because I saw Abb in a note table. When I looked it up, I saw that it's just another name for G. https://www.basicmusi

I got really confused by that at first, because I saw Abb in a note table. When I looked it up, I saw that it's just another name for G. https://www.basicmusictheory.com/a-double-flat-note https://www.basicmusictheory.com/a-double-flat-note The fact that the same thing has 2 names, but then the same name (e.g. C) can mean 3 different things (note, chord, key) really confuses me. I'm a beginner (can't play any instrument), so this is just about trying to cover the basics and generate a machine learning dataset. If I weren't so confused already, I might try to learn an instrument. It seems to be really time-consuming to practice though, and I'd need a teacher to listen and correct my mistakes. I wouldn't notice when I get it wrong if I try to teach myself.

toddkazakov 9y ago
Just try playing any instrument - you'll soon realize that we're quite good at figuring out what sounds good and what not.
SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
I'd suggest starting with the tin whistle. They're very cheap, very easy (you can learn the basics in a day or two, a week at most to get your first tune down), and any Irish session will either have someone willing to teach or someone who knows where you can get a teacher. The Session[1] is an excellent resource for it. As for which whistle to buy, get one in the key of D. A Walton's little black should be about $6, one of their slightly better brass whistles around $11, and a Generation nickel D is about $12. If you really want to splurge Susato makes a very nice high D for $50 (their Kildare S series), but it's quite loud and more for if you are playing before an audience. The most expensive whistles around are probably Burke's, at $230 for a high D. So even if you end up collecting Burke whistles obsessively and getting one in every key he makes you'll still be out less money than buying some high-end guitars! The one disadvantage is that they're diatonic instruments. That means you can play in one key, and only one key, without cross-fingering the whistle. For tuning, I recommend either an electronic tuner or the program Flutini[2], assuming you get a tunable whistle (the cheap ones aren't and it probably won't matter much). [1] https://thesession.org/ https://thesession.org/ [2] http://www.novasession.org/Flutini/ http://www.novasession.org/Flutini/
fenomas 9y ago
Non-musician who taught himself all this stuff here, I feel your pain. That said, Abb isn't another name for G - it's a distinct thing which, when played on typical musical instruments, is played the same way as a G. Basically note names to note frequencies is a many-to-one mapping. If you want to understand the hairy details start by googling just vs equal temperament. But I went down that rabbit hole, and it hasn't made my procedural music any better, so I wouldn't really recommend it.
- acjohnson55 9y ago
  It's not a fixed mapping. It's more like a function that produces a mapping. It depends on the selection of: - A pitch standard, like A440, which anchors one arbitrarily chosen note to a specific frequency. - A tuning system, which defines the frequency ratios between notes. Almost all modern music assumes _A440_ and _12-tone equal temperament_. In 12TET, adjacent flats and sharps map to the same frequency. It's said that they are _enharmonic_. But there are many other systems where this isn't true. In _just intonation_, notes are defined by simple frequency ratios, and there is no enharmonicity at all. Every number of sharps and flats map to different frequencies.
  - madhadron 9y ago
    Even this is not quite right. For keyboard instruments, that have a fixed set of pitches that notes map to, you have to choose a temperament, a fixed set of pitches for each note (unless you're on a clavichord, where you can adjust it a bit by how hard you strike the key). Fretted instruments may or may not be tempered. Guitars are, since the frets on it limit the pitch range of a given note, though it is still a range. Viols aren't, because the frets are soft gut and used to brighten the sound, so the pitch range is much wider for a given note. For string or wind instruments playing without keyboards, there is no temperament. Each note represents a range of possible pitches, and what pitch you choose depends on the notes around it. For example, if you are repeating or holding a note, you don't want it to change pitch. But if the harmony around that note is changing, it may be in tune at one point in time, then out of tune at a later one. String quartet playing involves a great deal of working out compromises about what pitch each note should have.
rainbowmverse 9y ago
Something I think a lot of people don't realize when starting out in music: you don't actually have to know how to play an instrument to make music. You don't even need music theory. Knowing a little about how instruments work and learning some music theory can help tremendously, but you can actually just start poking around in a MIDI roll or tracker and go a long way. Unless you're really into a specific instrument, starting off with any modestly priced keyboard with pressure sensitivity and MIDI out (USB-based if it's modern) will let you have fun with synths and sampled instruments you'd probably never be able to afford. If you really want to learn a physical instrument that's easy to pick up, you can get a $20 plastic ocarina and find lots of tutorials on YouTube.

toddkazakov 9y ago

Just try playing any instrument - you'll soon realize that we're quite good at figuring out what sounds good and what not.

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago

I'd suggest starting with the tin whistle. They're very cheap, very easy (you can learn the basics in a day or two, a week at most to get your first tune down), and any Irish session will either have someone willing to teach or someone who knows where you can get a teacher. The Session[1] is an excellent resource for it. As for which whistle to buy, get one in the key of D. A Walton's little black should be about $6, one of their slightly better brass whistles around $11, and a Generation nickel D is about $12. If you really want to splurge Susato makes a very nice high D for $50 (their Kildare S series), but it's quite loud and more for if you are playing before an audience. The most expensive whistles around are probably Burke's, at $230 for a high D. So even if you end up collecting Burke whistles obsessively and getting one in every key he makes you'll still be out less money than buying some high-end guitars! The one disadvantage is that they're diatonic instruments. That means you can play in one key, and only one key, without cross-fingering the whistle. For tuning, I recommend either an electronic tuner or the program Flutini[2], assuming you get a tunable whistle (the cheap ones aren't and it probably won't matter much). [1] https://thesession.org/ https://thesession.org/ [2] http://www.novasession.org/Flutini/ http://www.novasession.org/Flutini/

fenomas 9y ago

Non-musician who taught himself all this stuff here, I feel your pain. That said, Abb isn't another name for G - it's a distinct thing which, when played on typical musical instruments, is played the same way as a G. Basically note names to note frequencies is a many-to-one mapping. If you want to understand the hairy details start by googling just vs equal temperament. But I went down that rabbit hole, and it hasn't made my procedural music any better, so I wouldn't really recommend it.

acjohnson55 9y ago
It's not a fixed mapping. It's more like a function that produces a mapping. It depends on the selection of: - A pitch standard, like A440, which anchors one arbitrarily chosen note to a specific frequency. - A tuning system, which defines the frequency ratios between notes. Almost all modern music assumes _A440_ and _12-tone equal temperament_. In 12TET, adjacent flats and sharps map to the same frequency. It's said that they are _enharmonic_. But there are many other systems where this isn't true. In _just intonation_, notes are defined by simple frequency ratios, and there is no enharmonicity at all. Every number of sharps and flats map to different frequencies.
- madhadron 9y ago
  Even this is not quite right. For keyboard instruments, that have a fixed set of pitches that notes map to, you have to choose a temperament, a fixed set of pitches for each note (unless you're on a clavichord, where you can adjust it a bit by how hard you strike the key). Fretted instruments may or may not be tempered. Guitars are, since the frets on it limit the pitch range of a given note, though it is still a range. Viols aren't, because the frets are soft gut and used to brighten the sound, so the pitch range is much wider for a given note. For string or wind instruments playing without keyboards, there is no temperament. Each note represents a range of possible pitches, and what pitch you choose depends on the notes around it. For example, if you are repeating or holding a note, you don't want it to change pitch. But if the harmony around that note is changing, it may be in tune at one point in time, then out of tune at a later one. String quartet playing involves a great deal of working out compromises about what pitch each note should have.

rainbowmverse 9y ago

Something I think a lot of people don't realize when starting out in music: you don't actually have to know how to play an instrument to make music. You don't even need music theory. Knowing a little about how instruments work and learning some music theory can help tremendously, but you can actually just start poking around in a MIDI roll or tracker and go a long way. Unless you're really into a specific instrument, starting off with any modestly priced keyboard with pressure sensitivity and MIDI out (USB-based if it's modern) will let you have fun with synths and sampled instruments you'd probably never be able to afford. If you really want to learn a physical instrument that's easy to pick up, you can get a $20 plastic ocarina and find lots of tutorials on YouTube.