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The VT Musicians Thread


GarethRDR

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20 hours ago, BillyShears said:

Played a bit of open G tuning tonight on my guitar, nothing new there really, until the Youtube fella said, " Flatten the B string just a touch". Sounds absolutely ace.

**Nerd Alert**

It's to do with tempered tuning and pure tuning related to the harmonic series.

A modern piano (including synthesizers) are 'tempered' to make every octave 'sound' the same. So G major sounds identical to C major and to E.  However the tempering means that things are always slightly out of tune to make it 'fit' the same sound.

With pure tuning using the natural harmonic series C major has a different 'sound/color' to F major and every other key. That is why composers used to compose in different keys and the key relationships between movements were also very important. A symphony in Bflat major had a very different impact on the listener to symphony in A major. These days, in many respects keys are superfluous. 

To get back to you flattening your B in G major, you are flattened the 3rd of the chord which is what every major chord needs in order for it to have pure tuning. The 5th should be played slightly higher. In a minor chord however you have the raise the 3rd slightly to make the chord 'ring' or resonate. Dominant 7ths are the one that still to this day blow my mind as for it to really be in tune you end up lowering them almost a quarter tone flat.

It amazes me that the maths of the frequencies of the chords and the harmonic series is found all around us, in nature (spiral shells etc.) the golden mean, in space and the wider universe!! 

 

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Fibonacci numbers, innit? 

Must admit that explanation clears up my confusion about classical music key signatures. I never 'got' that business of some keys supposedly being 'darker' (or whatever) than others - to me, transposition on the guitar is just there to find a pitch I can sing in. But the tempering business might explain it. 

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1 hour ago, TheAuthority said:

**Nerd Alert**

It's to do with tempered tuning and pure tuning related to the harmonic series.

A modern piano (including synthesizers) are 'tempered' to make every octave 'sound' the same. So G major sounds identical to C major and to E.  However the tempering means that things are always slightly out of tune to make it 'fit' the same sound.

With pure tuning using the natural harmonic series C major has a different 'sound/color' to F major and every other key. That is why composers used to compose in different keys and the key relationships between movements were also very important. A symphony in Bflat major had a very different impact on the listener to symphony in A major. These days, in many respects keys are superfluous. 

To get back to you flattening your B in G major, you are flattened the 3rd of the chord which is what every major chord needs in order for it to have pure tuning. The 5th should be played slightly higher. In a minor chord however you have the raise the 3rd slightly to make the chord 'ring' or resonate. Dominant 7ths are the one that still to this day blow my mind as for it to really be in tune you end up lowering them almost a quarter tone flat.

It amazes me that the maths of the frequencies of the chords and the harmonic series is found all around us, in nature (spiral shells etc.) the golden mean, in space and the wider universe!! 

 

That is all truly fascinating. I know a little self taught theory and have put it into practice with really good results, all based on jazz cycle of fifths, and the relationship between roots, thirds and fifths (bass player). It also helps understand that weird feeling when playing a fretless bass and getting the notes sweeter by rolling the fretting finger up or down a little.

Maths, music, nature, vibrations.

What is the golden mean????

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If we're nerding out on frequencies, what is the importance of the 440htz/432htz shift in the 50's?

Is it just some conspiracy theory nonsense? Someone was trying their hardest to get me to understand this the other week.

 

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17 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said:

If we're nerding out on frequencies, what is the importance of the 440htz/432htz shift in the 50's?

Is it just some conspiracy theory nonsense? Someone was trying their hardest to get me to understand this the other week.

 

 

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1 hour ago, BillyShears said:

That is all truly fascinating. I know a little self taught theory and have put it into practice with really good results, all based on jazz cycle of fifths, and the relationship between roots, thirds and fifths (bass player). It also helps understand that weird feeling when playing a fretless bass and getting the notes sweeter by rolling the fretting finger up or down a little.

Maths, music, nature, vibrations.

What is the golden mean????

Something Trump enjoys a lot......

Also this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

 

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Have been writing some lyrics recently.

Pretty happy with one verse and have a few songs worth of material that I'll build on and probably rearrange.

Thankfully it's hip hop as I have a terrible singing voice.

A local artist who has toured with Ill Bill, Non Phixion and Ice Cube has offered me free recording time at his studio.

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Xann said:

For $895k all in, equipment and everything that’s actually not as bad as I expected.

I believe Lenny Kravitz bought the top 2 floors of the Setai Hotel (6 star) on South Beach, preconstruction prices, and built a huge studio looking out over the ocean.

I dread  to think what that is worth now.

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  • 2 weeks later...
20 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

It's JOHN FREAKIN' WILLIAMS!!! We didn't have much classical music in our house growing up (all on tape) but we did have the soundtracks to ET, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. I basically wore the tapes out listening to them when I was a kid. Getting to play some of that stuff and some of his more recent stuff this week has been nuts/awesome and overwhelming. I admit to having a lump in my throat rehearsing the Han & Leia Theme today.

That's amazing Dude :)

At the latter end of the 20th Century, whose symphonic music has left a bigger impression on the public in the West?

My other half progressed through school to county orchestras on clarinet.

Whenever music comes on the telly and she says "We played this", it's customary to respond with "Is it John Williams?"

It's a running joke. The Winter nights fly by here.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Xann said:

 

At the latter end of the 20th Century, whose symphonic music has left a bigger impression on the public in the West?

 

You can be a nerd and analyze John Williams and say, yeah he took that from Mahler, thats Shostakovich, that's Prokofiev and that's Stravinsky. But ultimately John Williams's music is freakin' cool, and he's incorporated multiple genres and multiple styles within those genres to create some of the most memorable cinema music of the last 50 years. His 1st big movie was Jaws in the 70's! Check out the soundtrack to "Catch Me if you Can" for the complete opposite of Close Encounters.

Happy to report that despite this evenings rain the crowd turned up in their thousands and they gave John a roar like he was a rock star. Truly, they were on their feet as soon as they saw him and it was an incredible reception. When we started the tunes from Star Wars people cheered with glee. Really glad I was there and got to do it - music is cool.

4 hours ago, Xann said:

It's a running joke. The Winter nights fly by here.

 

Sounds like a hoot (clarinet, hoot, get it?........I'll get my coat.)

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