4 ms·

Some people are more sensitive than others. As an experienced orchestral violinist with perfect pitch, I can hear the difference between 440 and 440.2 Hz; and

Some people are more sensitive than others. As an experienced orchestral violinist with perfect pitch, I can hear the difference between 440 and 440.2 Hz; and I avoid attending concerts from orchestras which tune to A=442 because it sounds horribly wrong to me. (My preferred A is 438 Hz, in part because that works best with my violin's natural resonances.)

pmiller2 12y ago
I used to take cello lessons, and my teacher had perfect pitch as well. I used to tune beforehand to A=440hz, but he kept having me tune higher. I was puzzled as to why until I asked and he said he tuned to A=445. One of the lessons I learned was that it's better to be relatively in tune than absolutely in tune (i.e. tune to the soloist no matter what), and it's moderately better to be sharp than flat if you're going to be out of tune.
- cperciva 12y ago
  445? Ouch! tune to the soloist no matter what Not necessarily. Some soloists (particularly violinists) deliberately tune slightly sharper than the orchestra they're playing with, because the difference in tone allows them to cut through more easily.
  - haberman 12y ago
    You may be aware that baroque instruments tune to A=415 -- even worse! :) But it's a half-step lower than A=440 so maybe it wouldn't sound wrong to you. Also, apparently pitch used to vary quite a lot during the baroque period. I've even heard claims of pitch varying by as much as a minor third, though that seems rather extreme: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_informed_performance#Tuning_and_pitch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_informed_performan...
    - gtani 12y ago
      this one was tuned down a whole step, Bb-F-C-B but they DMCA's his yotube vid: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/9602631/Pieter-Wispelwey-Bach-Six-Cello-Suites-Classical-Music-CD-review.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/...
baddox 12y ago
What's your accuracy on a blind recognition test with a single 440 or 440.2 Hz sine wave, with no "warming up" (let's say you haven't performed the test or listened to any reference frequencies for an hour)?
- cperciva 12y ago
  Pure sine wave? Not very good. A violin? Much better. My violin? Very high.
  - jtheory 12y ago
    Right, my wife has "piano-only" perfect pitch -- she'll recognize the key played on a piano, but if you sing a pitch (or play it on any other instrument) her accuracy goes down -- it's just based on years and years of playing piano. She can kind of hack singing a pitch (for example) by imagining playing the note on a piano, then trying to sing the pitch in her head. I doubt she'd notice if a piano was tuned to 442 vs. 440, though... which makes some sense, really; a violinist really benefits from a sharp ear for pitch, for accurate finger placement (no frets or anything like that on a violin neck) -- but a pianist has a fixed set of keys to choose from.
    - baddox 12y ago
      That's interesting. My closest hack to fake perfect pitch is to estimate the range of a note my humming it or singing it. It works because my vocal range is more or less absolute, and I can easily feel how difficult the pitch is to sing by trying an octave above or below it.

pmiller2 12y ago

I used to take cello lessons, and my teacher had perfect pitch as well. I used to tune beforehand to A=440hz, but he kept having me tune higher. I was puzzled as to why until I asked and he said he tuned to A=445. One of the lessons I learned was that it's better to be relatively in tune than absolutely in tune (i.e. tune to the soloist no matter what), and it's moderately better to be sharp than flat if you're going to be out of tune.

cperciva 12y ago
445? Ouch! tune to the soloist no matter what Not necessarily. Some soloists (particularly violinists) deliberately tune slightly sharper than the orchestra they're playing with, because the difference in tone allows them to cut through more easily.
- haberman 12y ago
  You may be aware that baroque instruments tune to A=415 -- even worse! :) But it's a half-step lower than A=440 so maybe it wouldn't sound wrong to you. Also, apparently pitch used to vary quite a lot during the baroque period. I've even heard claims of pitch varying by as much as a minor third, though that seems rather extreme: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_informed_performance#Tuning_and_pitch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_informed_performan...
  - gtani 12y ago
    this one was tuned down a whole step, Bb-F-C-B but they DMCA's his yotube vid: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/9602631/Pieter-Wispelwey-Bach-Six-Cello-Suites-Classical-Music-CD-review.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/...

baddox 12y ago

What's your accuracy on a blind recognition test with a single 440 or 440.2 Hz sine wave, with no "warming up" (let's say you haven't performed the test or listened to any reference frequencies for an hour)?

cperciva 12y ago
Pure sine wave? Not very good. A violin? Much better. My violin? Very high.
- jtheory 12y ago
  Right, my wife has "piano-only" perfect pitch -- she'll recognize the key played on a piano, but if you sing a pitch (or play it on any other instrument) her accuracy goes down -- it's just based on years and years of playing piano. She can kind of hack singing a pitch (for example) by imagining playing the note on a piano, then trying to sing the pitch in her head. I doubt she'd notice if a piano was tuned to 442 vs. 440, though... which makes some sense, really; a violinist really benefits from a sharp ear for pitch, for accurate finger placement (no frets or anything like that on a violin neck) -- but a pianist has a fixed set of keys to choose from.
  - baddox 12y ago
    That's interesting. My closest hack to fake perfect pitch is to estimate the range of a note my humming it or singing it. It works because my vocal range is more or less absolute, and I can easily feel how difficult the pitch is to sing by trying an octave above or below it.