gints@prophet.sgi.com (Gints Klimanis) (03/23/91)
Hi !! I wish I had a quantitative assessment of the tone colors. I don't believe that any frequency group really has a particular tone color. Rather thru training, perfect pitch tone "colors" are perceived and assigned to groups of frequencies. The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye is continuous. Somehow, we manage to pick out cornflower blue. I believe that our survival does not depend on identifying specific frequencies. I also believe that for this reason, our culture does not include this skill in our fundamental education. In pre-school and kindergarten, we are taught to name and identify colors. Since every member of our society is not trained to be a musician, a course in frequency "colors" is not considerd an essential basic. From my experience and success in a perfect pitch training course, I would believe that youngsters could be taught perfect pitch without the associated stigmas. When I have children, I will train their perfect pitch. To satisfy your curiosity, splurge and buy the course (I got it for around $40 in 1986), reading it (five minutes if you skip the audio cassette) and taking 30 minutes of your day for about two months to teach your children. However, I don't agree with one man's monopoly on the sale of this material. I do admire David Burge's will and persistence. And, he does have some of the cheeziest Velveeta ads in the business. Even with minimal experience, you will have yuppie table conversation for a good many dinners with your personal assortment of opinionated musicians (myself included.) Later.