On Tue, Apr 7, 2009, Peter Chubb <lily.u...@chubb.wattle.id.au> said:
> Here's my rough try at the three entries: kudos Mr Chubb, trust the son of a son of a scoundrel... I like em all, but as usual, i do have a couple of quibbles. > Notes like a, b, c etc., describe a relationship between themselves, > not an absolute pitch. The nature of the relationship is the > so-called temperament (q.v.). is the above needed at all? > To be in tune, a group instruments must agree > on the relationship between pitches *and* the absolute pitch of one of > the notes. In recent times that pitch, `concert pitch' has been > defined as 440Hz for the A above middle C, with other notes arranged > according to the temperament being used. 'arranged' strikes me as a little off somehow, maybe my confirmed inner batchelor is shivering in fear; perhaps 'disposed', 'tuned' or 'pitched'? we know when and by what body; might as well cite it. 1975, ISO 16, an international standard. Could mention that equal temperament is the common understanding. It doesnt affect the notation, only the tuning. > Temperament: the relationship between different pitches in a scale. > In the simplest case, an *equal-tempered* system has notes whose > frequencies are in the ratio of the twelfth root of two. Such a > system always sounds out-of-tune, because thirds, fourths and fifths > are not exact ratios. However it is widely used because all notes are > equally spaced, regardless of the starting note of a scale. Not sure equal temp is the simplest case, common yes. I would think natural to be the simplest case, and let the a-capella group drift as it will while following it. This is a toughie to do full justice to briefly, and the details are OT for our context (notation). Maybe expand a tad by nameing some of the scheme. > Transposing Instrument: If an instrument is usually notated at a > pitch other than its sounding pitch (whether out of tradition, or for > the convenience of the player) it is said to be a *transposing > instrument.* Bes and A Clarinets, many brass instruments, and some saxophones > are transposing instruments. Usually it the music which is notated? some brass instruments are engraved about the bell, but still :-). perhaps this - An instrument whose music is written transposed from its sounding pitch .. -- Dana Emery _______________________________________________ lilypond-devel mailing list lilypond-devel@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel
