Perception of musical pitch varies across cultures | Hacker News Reader

Perception of musical pitch varies across cultures

cosmosmagazine.com

85 pointstintinnabula16 comments

See also "Low-level percepts predict emotion concepts across modalities and cultures". https://psyarxiv.com/myg3b/

I have "perfect" pitch, except it's not as perfect as my brother's. We can both easily identify up to 2-3 simultaneous notes/sounds, but he's better than I am at tuning an instrument without a reference, and slightly better at producing correct notes on demand (i.e. whistling) as opposed to recognizing sounds.

I wonder if this has to do with us carrying two different copies of the responsible gene/mutation.

We both received musical training as kids but he had more than I, so that can't be ruled out.

How does it sound to you when somebody sings/whistles a song in the "wrong" (a different) key?

Similarly, how does it sound to you when people sing in a slightly detuned pitch grid (e.g. all notes a quarter semitone flat)?

Is one or the other more irritating? Are they irritating at all?

Edit: I suppose we do a combination of both, most of the time.

I don't have perfect pitch so I can speak by experience, but there is this video on youtube where the parent of a kid with perfect pitch detunes the keyboard without telling him, and then asks him to identify pitches.

The kid really doesn't care, he notices that the notes are detuned but is not a problem to him, at some point he says that the note he is hearing is a mix between two notes and he is ok with that

Sorry for not linking the actual video, but I can't remember which one is, is the channel of Rick Beato if you want to try to find it

Watch some Jacob Collier, he often changes tunings mid-song (i.e. on Hideaway, he starts with A432 and ends at A440 (?), and in In The Bleak Midwinter, he modulates mid-song to G-half-sharp, or A453 iirc). This is just mind blowing when you notice it, like it's a very detailed painting which shifts slightly right before your eyes, and the shapes are still familiar, but if you squint, you can see some weird colors

And he talks about it extensively in master classes, fascinating stuff

As for songs in wrong keys, for me they just sound kind of wrong(-ish). Like, correct, but not quite at the right place maybe?

Personally, it depends, but it’s not as irritating as people often imagine it might be. If I have a particular relationship to a piece, it can be strange hearing it in another key, just as it’s sometimes strange hearing something performed by another instrument. The cultural context also matters; it would definitely be odd going to a piano concert and hearing a Steinway not tuned to A440, but hearing a group playing on period instruments at Baroque pitch feels fine.

Is this assuming A = 440 Hz?

I also have perfect pitch, and it was actually an article posted here on HN that made me realize no, I'm not crazy, my perfect pitch has gone flat with age (I'm 29) and having not played violin regularly.

Me and a friend figured it out, I've pitched down from the 440 Hz standard to 428 Hz.

What was the reason?

Age, some people even lose it completely, there was a thread here on HN some months ago where this was discussed

So A = 440 Hz rather than 432 Hz is not a Nazi conspiracy; it was just Mozart hitting his 30th birthday vs. when he was young? We can finally be at peace that Justin Bieber's pop song is tuned to 440 Hz... /s

I am fascinated by people who can hear any of these properties. My wife will tell me "so and so (millions of records sold) always sings off key" and I'm left to wonder what it would be like if I could hear that. Never mind hearing good relative pitch (e.g. the frequencies are all relatively correct but the notes are A432 or A444 rather than A440). Someone once tried to teach me about I-V-VII in rock music and I think I can hear it but I don't know what I'm hearing really. I think I can hear discordance and I think I can tell when blue notes are used. My reference for 400 Hz is the high-pitched "hum" you used to hear in airline audio headsets. But these are just memories and not analytical tools. Congratulations to all of you who can sing in a choir without pissing off your choir-mates.

Michael buble is one of the worst offenders. To a studio trained ear the production and crude pitch correction is all over.

Its also interesting the history of musical notes, who decided which frequency is which note. Its amazing to think a few hundred years ago people didn't all use the same A->G notes. Also other cultures never adopted the modern temperament.

https://www.kylegann.com/histune.html

There is a reason most modern music uses it. It's very good.

The author had a pretty severe lack of understanding of other cultures it’d seem. Carnatic South Indian music is one of many cultures which had an “A->G” equivalent.

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