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Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 03 Jun 2022 22:49
by Hugh-AR
Are you TONE DEAF?

Well, if you are a Member of this Forum then the answer must be "No". You would hardly be playing music on a keyboard if you couldn't distinguish one note from another. Even when playing a song you know well from sheet music, I'm sure you would 'hear' if some of the melody notes you were playing were the wrong ones. And then what about the harmony of the piece you are playing? Would you play Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade with just the chords of C, F and G and think it sounded right?

I have come across this little test on YouTube, and the first part of it (determining if one note is higher or lower than the next one) brought back memories of when I was a student up in Dundee, Scotland. An American company had come over and set up some equipment in our vast hall and asked 200 students if they would take part in a little experiment they were doing .. which was testing just that. After the first round I reckon about 4 students dropped out. They couldn't determine the pitch of one note as compared with another, even when the notes were played far apart. Gradually, they reduced the frequency between the two notes they played until there was barely any difference between them. And why do I remember all this? Because out of 200 students, I was the last one left in! Couldn't do that now (I don't think) as I wear hearing aids, and without my hearing aids I don't hear the topmost frequencies at all. I have noticed this particularly on my AR80 organ when I have a 1' drawbar set up and play notes far over to the right. The keys 'clunk' .. but no sound comes from the organ at all. Until I put my hearing aids back in!

But this YouTube TEST isn't just about frequencies. There are other thing to do with recognising music. This is one of the comments from under the video:
10/10. I listen to music everyday and sing in a band. If I were not so interested in music then I might not have done so well. This says to me that the results are based on a person's ability to listen in detail to music and "deconstruct" what they're hearing, which is something that most people won't do intentionally .. but I think we actually do pick up these differences subconsciously.

ARE YOU TONE DEAF OR MUSICALLY GIFTED? (A simple test for non-musicians)



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Hope you find this as fascinating as I did!

Hugh

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 04 Jun 2022 00:20
by barwonfan
That's fascinating, Hugh.I am especially interested in this subject because I never had ANY hearing aids until about 6 months ago. When I got them I discovered that many of my favorite styles that I had downloaded from the PSR Tutorial Forum sounded terrible when I wore hearing aids .So I took them off and, thankfully all sounded great.

I am told that +++in a few weeks time my brain will be retrained, and all will be well. But, do I want my brain to be retrained???
And of course the question arises----How will my rendition of a song played by me , without hearing aids ,sound to other people.
To paraphrase the great Scottish poet Robert Burns "Oh could some power gift us the power to hear ourselves as others hear us."

One of my favourite Yamaha Keyboard players on youtube is Said Taha, and he always adds a note to each of his posts which says " EARPHONES RECOMMENDED". By earphones I assume that he is referring to headphones.

I enjoy listening to many of the posts on this Forum, but I NEVER depend on the speakers which are built into my laptop. I ALWAYS go and find my HEADPHONES and plug them into my laptop.

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 01 Jan 2023 10:57
by dentyr
I ALWAYS go and find my HEADPHONES and plug them into my laptop.

That's sad. You have great StagePa speakers. Plug them in and listen to what it really sounds like.
Through headphone it is like curdled milk - separated.
Den

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2023 03:37
by barwonfan
Sometimes I hear a song that a member has posted that especially appeals to me , and I go to the effort of taking my lap top out to my music room and listen to it on my Stage Pass Amplifier instead of staying in the house and listening to it on the tinny speakers on my lap top. I have the speakers on the Stage Pass Amplifier set several metres apart and the quality of sound is wonderful. So much so that I have downloaded some things so that I can listen to them again, from time to time.
The strange thing is that I can get the same excellent result when I plug a pair of headphones into my laptop. My headphones are not expensive ones . I find it strange because my ears are only about 10 inches apart when my headphones are on, and yet the Stage pass speakers are several metres apart. J.T.
As I type this I notice that my ears are still about 10 inches apart.J.T.

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 10 Feb 2023 00:42
by Hammonder
As one who used to be the main audio technician at a large dealer of radio/tv/audio, and one who did the repairs, and spoke with the general public about their needs/problems, i can say that they were all very different in what they thought was a "good" sound-----many would set the controls on the amplifier to "flat" sound, believeing this is the perfect setting---I had to agree with them as they were spending tons of money with us,----but that was not really the case for me ---we should all set it to what we think is correct for us----lots of the "good tone" types wanted little treble and lots of bass---great if thats what you want----most big audio systems sound good if you give it a good level of volume with plenty of bass and a reasonable amount of treble (basically attenuating the "middle" component)----listen to audio on a big system every time---little speakers are nothing more than bedroom monitors and don't do justice to the sound-----Sound takes on a new dimension when its got some volume to it, and you can "feel" the bass as well as hear it---i have built systems for my own use (stereo keyboards mainly) which consist of a bass channel---a middle channel---a treble channel---5 channels and 5 speakers in total---all individually controlled, so i can set the mix to what i think suits me best----will not be the linear sound wanted by audiofiles, but the main thing is it sounds good to me---just as i want it, and most who hear it are impressed with it---go for it!!!!!

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 10 Feb 2023 08:53
by KenH
An exellemt topic!

Sound, amongst many things, is a very subjective subject!!! :shock:

I guess it is something like 'art' ~~~ "I know what I like". :roll:

I remember many years ago (1966 to be precise) when I was contemplating the purchase of a new fangled 'thing' called "Stereo"...
Always one to do some research and not waste but obtain the best value for money I used to buy a 'HiFi' magazine with loads of technical stuff that I just did not understand anyway. What 'tickled' me one week was a cartoon in the magazine that showed two nerds in a garage/workshop with a turntable with an oscilloscope connected ~~~ a wavy line across the screen ~~~ the caption was "Why would I want to listen to it when I can see it's perfect!"

I became a bit more pragmatic after that 8)

Happy listening (with the wick turned up!).

KenH

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 21 Feb 2023 21:44
by Ron
No, I am not but I know several people who clearly are.

Ron

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 21 Feb 2023 22:30
by Hugh-AR
Nothing amiss with any of these songs then.

TONE DEAF SINGING?



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Hugh

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 21 Feb 2023 22:53
by Hugh-AR
Glad we have picked up on this topic again. Here's another really interesting bit of research.

Are You Tone Deaf?



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Hugh

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 22 Feb 2023 22:55
by Hugh-AR
And then there is one song that is deliberately sung 'out of tune'.
(Must be very difficult to do that!)

Desafinado - Slightly out of tune

    If you tell me I sing out of tune my love
    You should know it hurts me to the core, my love
    It’s just the very lucky few that have an ear like yours
    I have only what God gave me, nothing more
    If you insist my singing is unusual
    Call me what you like, say I'm not musical
    How can I defend myself and make you understand7
    That this is bossa-nova, this is how it's meant to sound
    There's something you might see, if you’d just do your part
    That even if I sing off key, I have a gentle heart.
NOVA - Desafinado (Antônio Carlos Jobim & N. Mendonça)
(12 million views)



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Thanks Ron for reminding me of this one.

Hugh

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 13 Mar 2023 00:04
by dentyr
Loved that song and the video. Great. Den.

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 31 Mar 2023 22:16
by Hugh-AR
Another TEST to find out if you are TONE DEAF. It's similar to the one I had posted earlier .. but 15 questions this time.

Are you TONE DEAF or MUSICALLY GIFTED? (A FUN test for non-musicians)



Hugh

Re: Are you TONE DEAF?

PostPosted: 11 May 2023 22:06
by Hugh-AR
Here's another test to find out how 'musical' you are.

I reckon I have a pretty good 'musical ear' .. but some of the tests further on had me really stumped!



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