Beat Cancelers was alternative temperaments

Richard Brekne rbrekne@broadpark.no
Sat, 07 Apr 2001 21:51:41 +0200


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Billbrpt@AOL.COM wrote:

>
> What happens is a canceling out effect in the Rapidly Beating
> Intervals
> (RBI), e.g., 3rds, 6ths, 10ths & 17ths that make them sound much purer
> than
> they really are.  This is not an imaginary effect.  It is the same
> effect
> found in such acoustical tricks as Noise Cancellation Systems and Beat
>
> Eliminators.  The gist of it is that when there are two sets of beats
> occurring at the same time, they phase each other out so that they are
> not
> perceived by the ear.
>
>

You know Bill,,, I am begginning to understand that this is a bit more
important then I origionally thought some months ago when I first heard
you talk about beat cancelling effects other then in unisons. Recent
discussions about Virgils "natural beats" and a couple not sooooo
distantly related threads about ETD's have gotten me to listening to
things a bit closer these past couple months... and I am becomming
convinced there is something to all this ...something that puts the
"natural beat" concept, and this beat cancelling effect... all into some
focus...

One little thing for folks interested in such to try. Take two strings
of a unison... tune it out so that there is a couple beats per second
going... then very slowly pull it close to clean... and listen real
close to whats going on as it gets past any discernable beating. To my
ear... the first thing that happens is that you get to this really slow
kind of "meeeeoooowwwww " point. Not really a beat there the "meow" is
way to slow can stretch over a few seconds.... then past that there is a
spot where you get what seems to me like a "beat" that happens only once
and isnt there afterwards.. This is a pretty quick "beat", and after its
one cycle the unison sound clean. When you get that quite the unison is
dead dead on. Now I am finding really similiar effects in octaves and
double octaves, and the effect on my tunings is like....wow....

I think really that this basic effect is available in some sense or
another in just about any temperament configuration. Depends perhaps on
what you are trying to create in each instance just where its usefull.

This is still pretty vague in my mind (and ears) yet.. but your
paragraph caught my eye and I thought you might like reading of this
experience I have had lately.


Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no

Just because we cant explain a thing doesnt mean it isnt there....
course it doesnt mean it is either but thats the just the flip side of
the matter.

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