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Comment by bigstrat2003 | Hacker News Reader

bigstrat2003

I would say that this is way too technical for me, however, I also only have the slightest hint of music theory knowledge to begin with. It seems to me like that isn't a problem though, because this is a very technical topic by nature.

Unrelated to the writing, but I was kind of disappointed that when listening to the examples, I cannot for the life of me hear a difference between just intonation and equal temperament. I know it's there, but I can't hear it at all.

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I'm familiar with music theory and microtonal music and the first examples are just too close to really discern easily. The examples of "chord 1/2" in the section "The Far-Out Solution: Freestyle JI" are probably the first example that makes the difference clear, if you play the 12TET and the JI overlapping slightly. That's because subtle differences in tuning are much more perceptible in harmony (chords) than in melody (single notes), since notes playing together are perceived with noticeable effects introduced by our brains such as harmonic beating and feeling tone.

It's worth noting that part of the point is showing that the difference can be very small.

The one at https://www.osar.fr/notes/justintonation/#compare is really tiny, the largest difference being 3hz, you can kind of compare side to side using https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/ and see for yourself.

The difference is more perceptible below that, in the chord comparisons.

I have limited pitch perception, but I could hear the 12TET chords “beating” while the just ones fade out much more smoothly.

This beating occurs when two waves just a bit out of tune interfere, alternating between constructive and destructive interference.

I thought this video was good at explaining and showing the difference audibly https://youtu.be/zJTBT5u9AwQ?si=M3csNlck4El_eluH

Do you hear the differences when clicking the 275 vs the 277 in the third player? If so, you can try to focus on those frequencies and see if they stand out to you.

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