6 Apr
2007
6 Apr
'07
4:39 p.m.
On Fri, Apr 06, 2007 at 03:35:31AM -0400, Chuckk Hubbard wrote:
I was thinking of something a bit more automatic, where you don't need
a pedal or any other control, and the computer doesn't even need to know
what key you're in. It would just look at the notes being played and
make the necessary adjustments to bring them into tune with one another.
Since most chords are constructed by starting with the root and adding
major and minor thirds, I think the best way to do this would be to figure
out what the root of the chord is, and then adjust the thirds to perfect
thirds, flattening major thirds and sharpening minor thirds. Some overly
complex chords might need to be left untouched, but overly complex chords
probably wouldn't benefit much from just intonation anyway. The computer
might also need to figure out if there's a melody going on above the chord,
or if some of the notes should be considered passing tones, and treat them
separately from the chord, which might complicate things a little, but I
think it could be done.
That brings to
mind an interesting thought. With most electronic
keyboards being software-based, it seems it would be a simple matter for
the software to analyze what notes are being played, and adjust the notes
for perfect harmony in the same way those singers do. I wonder if that's
ever been done. Does anyone know?
I don't know about that one. Wendy Carlos spoke of and might have
created a keyboard that would retune with a pedal. With computers it
would be a snap, and could even be reprogrammed in real time. I like
the idea: when you hold down the foot pedal, the next note you touch
doesn't sound, but rather becomes the new tonal center. I programmed a Pure Data patch a while back that
allows me to compose
using a set of just frequency ratios, and will transpose with one
key-press, so that, for instance, the 7/4 element of one chord can
become the 1/1 of the next, and then the 5/9 of that tonal center can
become the next 1/1, and so on and so on. This way I don't need to
decide how many notes per octave I want, and I don't need to keep
multiplying and dividing when I change keys.
I think the ideal instrument for this would be a computer with a
touchscreen. Real-time scaleless microtonal improvisation together
with live coding. It would be unstoppable.
I think this would also be an interesting feature for experimental music,
but it should be treated as a separate feature from the automatic retuning
I was thinking of.
Chuck