Xref: utzoo rec.music.synth:20631 comp.multimedia:363
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From: barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth,comp.multimedia
Subject: Re: PITCH and COLOUR
Message-ID: <8018@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU>
Date: 16 Apr 91 21:05:58 GMT
References: <1991Apr12.035714.10375@dgbt.doc.ca> <841@david.UUCP>
Followup-To: rec.music.synth
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF
Lines: 45

In article <841@david.UUCP> david@david.UUCP (David A. Roth) writes:
>If you got perfect pitch already, wonderful. If you don't I suggest to
>ignore ads for courses that claim you can get perfect pitch. Save your
>money.

	I agree that the ads (in KEYBOARD MAGAZINE, for example) are pretty
hyped up and perhaps misleading in their enthusiasm and blanket statements.

>Although the concept of perfect pitch is interesting it is not
>important in the field of music.  Many top musicians, composers,
>producers, recording engineers, etc don't have perfect pitch.

	I hope you mean that it isn't "necessary", rather than "important".
It is indeed important in the field of music, depending on what you do.
(For example, have you ever had to be musical director at a theater and
teach 4-part harmony to the singers with no rehearsal piano?  I have, and
more than once.)  To some people, it is important to be able to analyze
music precisely while you are listening to it.  Perfect pitch makes this
easier.  Relative pitch can suffice in many cases, but the Real Thing makes
a difference.

>If you are not interested in the field of music and simply want to
>impress your friends at parties....

	I'm sorry that you think perfect pitch serves no purpose other than
party entertainment.  But I respect your opinion, even though I totally
disagree with it.
	Speaking from experience, I can say that perfect pitch really does
open up a new way to hear music, both good and bad.  It's good because,
combined with some musical knowledge, one can pick out individual musical
parts and understand what's going on a lot better.  It's also good because
each key signature has its own distinct sound, and one can make compositional
decisions based on this.
	But it's bad when you go to a concert and an instrument is JUUUUST
slightly out of tune, or when the radio plays a song a 1/4-tone too low
because their record player is JUUUST slightly too slow.  Agony at worst,
or weird unfamiliarity at best.

                                                        Dan

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