{"id":28955,"date":"2017-01-20T15:05:55","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T20:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/?p=28955"},"modified":"2017-01-20T15:05:55","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T20:05:55","slug":"notes-on-the-perception-of-imaginary-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/notes-on-the-perception-of-imaginary-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on the perception of imaginary differences"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s a MIDI file<\/a> of Scarlatti’s Sonata in A Major, K24\/L495\/P80, played on a physically-modeled virtual harpsichord tuned to A = 440 Hz:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scarlatti-K24-440.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Here it is again, this time with A = 432 Hz:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scarlatti-K24-432.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Did the first recording make you feel “self-centered, narcissistic, materialistic and aggressive<\/a>“? Did the second resonate with the Heart Chakra, repair your DNA and restore your spiritual and mental health? If so, I congratulate you on your acute sensitivity. (Be sure to wear protective headgear<\/a> at all times.)<\/p>\n

Or did the second just sound a little flatter than the first?<\/p>\n

Even if there is a real basis to the paranoid theories \u2014 extremely unlikely; the rise of the 440 standard<\/a> is so complicated that positing a vast international conspiracy is inadequate to explain it \u2014 the precise frequency of the “A” in a scale matters far less than the qualities of the intervals between the notes of the scale. <\/p>\n

The preset used for the two recordings above does not specify the temperament, which implies that it is equal-tempered<\/a>. Other presets offer different tuning systems. Here is the sonata again, this time at A = 415, using an unspecified “well tempered<\/a>” tuning:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scarlatti-K24-415.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

And again, at A = 392, using “Werckmeister III<\/a>“:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scarlatti-K24-392.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Even ordinary human beings who don’t wear tin-foil hats might be able to hear subtle differences in the character of the music now.<\/p>\n

(Via Dustbury<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a MIDI file of Scarlatti’s Sonata in A Major, K24\/L495\/P80, played on a physically-modeled virtual harpsichord tuned to A = 440 Hz: http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scarlatti-K24-440.mp3 Here it is again, this time with A = 432 Hz: http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Scarlatti-K24-432.mp3 Did the first recording make you feel “self-centered, narcissistic, materialistic and aggressive“? Did the second resonate with the Heart … Continue reading “Notes on the perception of imaginary differences”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mathematics","category-music","category-silly-people"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xam3-7x1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28955"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28982,"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28955\/revisions\/28982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shuffly.net\/zoop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}