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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Analog Bliss, Digital Blues
Analog Bliss, Digital Blues
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lor
41 posts
Nov 28, 2011
8:53 AM
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Back in the "Forkord Turnaround" topic, last posted on Nov 7, '11, nacoran and I proposed a computer program (or possibly a website) that would let you design harps with non-standard (or standard) note arrangements, and be able to 'play' the notes and chords to hear how they sound.
Well, I've been working on that program and have run into an interesting problem, suggested by the title of this topic. I can simulate the sounds of the harmonica quite nicely, but tuning the computer is a bitch, and I'm pretty sure even if I get mine tuned, it would be different from yours.
How the heck do I tune the computer? Well actually the computer isn't being tuned. The program is being tuned to produce correct pitches on the computer, by trial and error.
I play the sound according to the pitch frequency and check it with a Fender "Audio Chromatic Tuner LX-12" (guitar gear). If the pitch is off I play another frequency above or below the normal frequency until I find a nominal frequency which the computer delivers as the correct frequency. The ratio of the normal to nominal is then put in a table of correction factors which the program applies to the construction of the dynamically built .WAV stream. This is crazy time consuming, and worse, probably won't translate to anyone else's computer.
And worse still, up in the higher ranges of pitch, it is impossible to get an exact factor. One frequency will be flat, and even only one more cycle per second (added to thousands of Hz) will deliver a sharp tone. I've been keeping the sharp ends.
The problem arises because of the digital nature of the mathematical mechanics. It's not a continuum like the analog tuning knob for a string. All I can say is I'm getting 'close' approximations, but it's a good thing only relatively few people have "perfect pitch".
My questions are twofold: 1. How do people with "perfect pitch" react to what they hear from a computer? I'd guess it would drive them nuts. 2. Does anyone know of a solution to this digital problem?
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lor
42 posts
Dec 01, 2011
9:02 AM
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Just in case you're interested: I've got the tuning down perfectly by an improvement in the math. Momma done tol' me to 'do the math'. Go figure. Now concentrating on perfecting the tones. Also contemplating letting the user select the way it is tuned, i.e., Richter, 12TET, Just (5,7,19 limit), Compromise...
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