Just Intonation - explained by Hansford Rowe (very interesting)

Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
I stumbled upon this yesterday. I found it very interesting. I remember reading Jeroen Paul Thesseling dabbles in this with his fretless Thumb. I'm sorry if this video is a repost, but here is Hansford Rowe explaining this concept on a custom JI Streamer. Very cool indeed, enjoy!

[video=youtube;W-9FNHz1ygw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W-9FNHz1ygw[/video]

I found it here:



microtone.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Augie

The Desert Bass-ape
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
2,225
Reaction score
203
My brain hurts trying to understand how it works, but my ears are happy listening to it. Kinda wanna learn how to work out the locations for these intervals to use with a FL.
 
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
My favorite quote from this video:

"It's extremely in tune - do you hear that?"
 

Florin

OG
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
17,893
Reaction score
2,096
Age
49
My brain hurts trying to understand how it works, but my ears are happy listening to it. Kinda wanna learn how to work out the locations for these intervals to use with a FL.

The tempered tuning we are using now is pure mathematical, and it is not always really "in tune". The string harmonics are not the same with the actually fretted notes.
So Hansford is using another system, where he has fretted notes to sound exactly as the natural harmonics of the strings. And he has more than one Bb for example, and he is using one or another one depending on the root note.

For example if the root is D, the 3rd is F#. On our basses, the fretted F# is different than the f# obtained by the D string harmonic. So he created a special fret, for that specific F# :)

I am not sure if this is exactly realated with Hansford's tuning, but somehow same goes with the piano tuning.
Our tuning system is perfect, mathematical, while the string vibration is not :) This is called "inharmonicity"

In an ideal vibrating string, when the wavelength of a wave on a stretched string is much greater than the thickness of the string, the wave velocity on the string is constant and the overtones are at the harmonics. That is why so many instruments are constructed of skinny strings or thin columns of air. However, for high overtones with short wavelengths approaching the diameter of the string, the string behaves more like a thick metal bar: its mechanical resistance to bending becomes an additional force to the tension, which 'raises the pitch' of the overtones. Only when the bending force is much smaller than the tension of the string, will leave it wave-speed (and the overtones pitched as harmonics) unchanged. The frequency-raised overtones (above the harmonics), called 'partials' can produce an unpleasant effect called "inharmonicity".
If you are using synthesizers, then the perfect tuned notes sound good together. But the piano has strings, and the strings are not perfect, because the harmonics are not perfect. That's why a piano is never tuned "perfect"
So basically the piano is tuned so the higher strings are tuned following the lower strings overtones. That's why, only the central A is tuned perfect at 440 hz or whatever. The pitch will actually go up for higher strings, and it will go down for lower strings. So between the lowest A and the highest A is a pretty big difference in pitch, still they sound good together.

Because the bass strings are shorter than piano strings, the innharmonicity is even bigger...

Anyway, usually on my summer hollidays I am usually in Turkey, and their popular music have a very interesting tuning system, for example they have Bb1 and Bb2 :) They even not that on music sheet.

I am aware that my post does not make things easier for you, haha!
 
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
899
Reaction score
0
Age
33
This is really cool, but alas my brain is but a puddle on the floor .....
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
214
Reaction score
5
Awesome.
Maybe also explains why I always feel like my intonation is off on the fretted, if I play it straight after playing my fretless for a while?
Unfortunately limited in practically as we have to be in tune with the other instruments unless we always solo.
Like many of our arts and sciences, our modeling of the nature are approximations constrained by our limitations.
I can't help thinking though, that a fretless would do the job as well, as long as you trust your ears.

On a lighter note,if I ever do a re-fretting that goes wrong I can pretend to be experimenting alternate tunings 8:
 
Top Bottom