Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!uc!shamash!timbuk!hickory07!dpm From: dpm@hickory07.cray.com (Donald P. Maghrak) Newsgroups: comp.music Subject: Re: Guitar Sounds (Guitarists read this...) Message-ID: <103302.17514@timbuk.cray.com> Date: 12 Jun 91 19:09:04 GMT References: <1991Jun4.104901.1@dev0d.mdcbbs.com> <1991Jun10.091019.23198@uservx.afwl.af.mil> <109722@sgi.sgi.com> Organization: Cray Research, Inc., Eagan, MN Lines: 39 In article <109722@sgi.sgi.com> daveh@xtenk.asd.sgi.com (David Higgen) writes: >In article <1991Jun10.091019.23198@uservx.afwl.af.mil>, galetti@uservx.afwl.af.mil writes: >> >> >> >> The intonation of a standard >> >> keyboard is tempered, and is quite different than on a guitar. >> > >> > Not so. Think about it. The frets on a guitar are straight, remember: >> > ignoring such complications as string tension & end-effects (and assuming the >> > fret spacing is correct), the guitar *is* an equal-temprement instrument. The frets spacing on the guitar is based on the same 12th root of two relationship as the equal-tempered scale so it qualifies as an equal-temperment instrument. Trouble is that when tuning the guitar, one can tune the open strings to where there is no beating between e.g. low E and A. (by listening to the interval) This is not the same as using the 5th fret on low E to tune the equal-tempered A. Guitars can be quite funky to tune sometimes IMHO. > >Interesting question is, how *does* a guitar, given that it's essentially >an equal temprement instrument, get to sound good through certain types >of distortion processing? (Comparing it with a keyboard patch which >doesn't, that is?) Different harmonic content of the original signals? > If you magnify to a great degree the signal from an undistorted guitar and a sample of the same you would see that the sample (or any digital waveform) already has subtle distortion when compared to a real physical sound. This could be one reason you hear a difference. Of course I'm assuming the keyboard patch is not from an analog-synth :-). > >I suppose if we fully understood this, we'd finally *really* be able >to replace tubes... 8-) > I remember reading in a very old issue of Guitar Player that part of the sweetness of tube distortion comes from those huge matching transformers between the output of the tubes and the speakers. The distorted signal from the tube is fed to the transformer which passes mostly the odd harmonics. The odd harmonics are pretty musical 3rd 5th 7th 9th .... Anyways, the article was very good. sorry I don't have the issue #. > Don Maghrak dpm@cray.com