Perfect Tuning is a Mathematical Impossibility

[AngelCrusher]

If the topic of the OP bothers you, do not get an analogue synth. If you do happen to own one, please PM me and I will provide you with my personal address so we can properly dispose of it.

 

[dragon68]

I could have saved all of you 6 pages of discussion by citing 3 words: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.

 

[redwingxix]

So any instrument is tuned perfectly as long as it is not heard?

 

[jmlee]

I could have saved all of you 6 pages of discussion by citing 3 words: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.

Oh we know where this thread is, but it's unclear how fast it's going...

 

[JoeWPgh]

 

[Flamingo21]

There is a theory that vibrato evolved in order to emulate the impossible perfect pitch

That's what my violin teacher told me!

 

[CGremlin]

If the topic of the OP bothers you, do not get an analogue synth.

Not an older one, anyway. My Prophet-600 goes all over the place for the first 10 minutes after I turn it on, but settles down and behaves once it's warmed up. The newer ones tend to be easier to deal with because the computer is constantly retuning them, instead of having to manually hit the "tune" button every so often.

 

[Element Zero]

liberal

TRIGGERED!

 

[CGremlin]

My electric piano has the option of changing the tempering - I played around with it one day. Some songs sounded pretty normal, while others had notes here or there that just stuck out.

That was one thing that I loved playing with when the DX7II came out in 1987 - it was one of the first instruments that let you set the temperament to whatever you wanted.

 

[mikewalker]

'fretlessness' can compensate for this --- fretted cannot = you're stuck with where the fret stops the string.
View attachment 3277091

...............

Fretted can swing it on a viola Da gamba... the gut frets are moveable...

 

[Flamingo21]

Fretted can swing it on a viola Da gamba... the gut frets are moveable...

What!? And here I am, thinking I know all there is to know about baroque instruments...

 

[AngelCrusher]

Not an older one, anyway. My Prophet-600 goes all over the place for the first 10 minutes after I turn it on, but settles down and behaves once it's warmed up. The newer ones tend to be easier to deal with because the computer is constantly retuning them, instead of having to manually hit the "tune" button every so often.

The tuning on an analogue synth is rarely perfect though if you go up and down the keyboard. But thats why they sound so awesome, imo.

 

[higain617]

I remember, as a young aspiring bassist in the late 70's, trying to learn tunes by playing LP's on a turntable. I had to re-tune the bass for nearly every song, even ones on the same album, because songs were routinely pitch shifted up or down during recording or mixing because they sounded better that way. Solution: bought a variable speed turntable with a strobe light, worked a treat and cured me from worrying about perfect tuning. I had a friend who got a Peterson Strobe Tuner, drove himself crazy with it because NOTHING was EVER perfectly in tune. Most people cant hear anything that's not blatantly out of tune, particularly at low frequency, so pursuing perfection is a complete waste of time.

A bass has to be noticeably out of tune before I can tell. But as soon as a guitar string is slightly flat/sharp, I notice immediately. This is rough considering that I play a Les Paul.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

I remember George Harrison saying that when he tuned his 12 string Rickenbacker, he did it so the double strings of B and E were slightly off from each other in order to give it a larger sound.
It worked for George.

 

[Robscott]

The other night I had my rack up in front of me while I was doing some recording. At one point I made the mistake of being distracted by my tuner mid-way through the track, and I drove myself a little nuts that take.

I ended up propping up my phone in front of my tuner to block it for the next because it was distracting me so much, but I guess some whiskey would have worked just as well.

Sounded fine regardless of the minor discrepancies - good enough for rock and roll!

I never knew you were supposed to tune for rock n roll! When did that come in?

 

[Robscott]

I disagree with everything said on this thread.

So do I ..... oh no, wait, I just agreed with you.... but if I disagree with you, that means.......oh boy!

 

[Slevage]

I'd love to invent a tuning system involving i (square root of -1).

Start by factoring out a -j and you're well on your way.

The math is the same in all disciplines—
Mechanics, electrical, chemical, acoustics, physics........
Don't need calculus when algebra will get you there.

 

[mellowinman]

I remember George Harrison saying that when he tuned his 12 string Rickenbacker, he did it so the double strings of B and E were slightly off from each other in order to give it a larger sound.
It worked for George.

That always bothered me.

 

[Slevage]

Yes indeed!

Also, as our fingers transmit warmth to the strings and changing their temperature, the strings stretch. Constantly going out of tune as we constantly play.

Ya know, I don't think a perfectly in tune instrument is going to sound right anyway. That's what makes the violin section sound so beautiful. Everybody is a little bit out of tune.

Except the good ones that compensate on the fly. Good thing they don't have frets.

 

[Slevage]

Even if you could get your bass perfectly in tune, most basses are affected in some degree by the temperature, humidity and how hard or soft you play so the note you actually played still could be out of tune. I'm not saying we shouldn't tune our basses, but of all the things that will make you a great player, worrying about this has got to be at the bottom of the list.

That's why Jaco ripped the frets out.