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From: roz@l.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: tone deafness
Message-ID: <461@l.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: Tue, 18-Nov-86 21:51:50 EST
Article-I.D.: l.461
Posted: Tue Nov 18 21:51:50 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Nov-86 09:07:22 EST
References: <1355@PUCC.BITNET> <1420@trwrb.UUCP>
Reply-To: roz@l.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (Vu Qui Hao-Nhien)
Organization: Purdue U. Dept. of Mathematics
Lines: 46

In article <1420@trwrb.UUCP> suhre@trwrb.UUCP (Maurice E. Suhre) writes:
>In article <1355@PUCC.BITNET> D0430@PUCC.BITNET writes:
>(discussion of singers drifting flat from white notes to black,
>but not black to white).
>>I'd be interested in the experiences of others in this area.
>> 
>>Paul Lansky                                 bitnet==d0430@pucc
>>Music Department                            uucp == princeton!winnie!paul
>>Princeton University
>
>they would usually drift flat, anywhere from a quarter
>tone to a full step!  I believe that it was primarily the bass section
>at fault.  That is, they would go too low when they went down to the
>low notes.  That would drag everyone else down with them.
>
>-- 
>Maurice Suhre
>
>{decvax,sdcrdcf,ihnp4,ucbvax}!trwrb!suhre

/* I'm cross-posting this to rec.music.misc, as the discussion is becoming
   less appropriate for sci.med */

My own little experience: I was assistant director of an amateur church
choir, and the same thing happened.  Actually, it happened both ways:
without accompaniment, the bass section went too low on the low notes and
the soprano section went too high on the high notes.  Now, since most choral
works go low in the bass more often than high on the soprano, the choir
drifted flat (eg. a piece may have bass singing low G, A or B continuously
for several measures, but it would make soprano sing high E, F and G only a
few beats at a time).

Once we sang a piece that required the soprano section to sing several G major
scales in a row, and when they sang without accompaniment during rehearsal,
they drifted sharp so quickly the scales got out of their range ! Which goes
to show that no section has the monopoly on sloppiness.

===========
Hao-Nhien Q. Vu (pur-ee!stat-l!vu)
                (vu@l.cc.purdue.edu)
[That's stat-"ell", not stat-"one"]

-- 
Hao-Nhien Q. Vu (pur-ee!stat-l!vu)
                (vu@l.cc.purdue.edu)
[That's stat-"ell", not stat-"one"]