gaspar@urz.unibas.ch (04/11/91)
In article <1094700003@cdp>, lucy@cdp.UUCP writes: > > Jumping into the "perfect pitch" (I prefer "pitch memory") fray: >>The ear is capable of hearing a range of up to 10 octaves. >>This makes it possible to us to hear all the overtones that enable us >>to distinguish vowels (understand language). > Speaking as a person with the genuine article, if by that is meant that > I've been able to name notes since age 5, I agree that the color analogy > is not adequate. Notes never sounded like colors to me; in fact, they > always sounded like vowels! > I'd be curious to know more about this vowel-overtone relationship... > > Lucy There is in fact a relationship between vowels and overtones. If you sing the vowel A and the vowel E at the same pitch it's the overtones that are forming the different sound of the vowels. That is also the way you distinguish different instruments, by the overtones. So it's very understandable that you hear the tones or better the sounds as vowels. This is maybe the secret behind perfect pitch: to hear the sounds as vowels and understand the 'language of a piano or another instrument'. This would also explain the question of a person who asked about instrument related perfect pitch. Different instruments have different overtones at the same pitch. So, in the terminology used above 'they speak another language.' laci