Dear Kevin,
Consonance and dissonance, "IMHO", are based not only on memory and learning, but also on the physiology of the cochlea in the inner ear. My new book "Introduction to Cochlear Waves" was originally planned to have the title "Musical Consonance and Cochlear Mechanics". The CM-part grew to more then 400 pages, so I left out the part on consonance. A short description of the main ideas, however, is published: R.F., "Psychoacoustic Experiments on the Sensory Consonance of Musical Two-Tones", Canadian Acoustics Vol. 35, No. 3 (2007) 38-45.
Reinhart.
----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----
Von: kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Datum: 25.09.2010 17:54
An: <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Betreff: Re: Why it has to be played loud
Perception, you see, is a cultural phenomenon, and is based upon learning and memory. There are musical cultures where many of the sounds are based on inharmonic structures (Bali). Western ensemble music too is based on inharmonic (dissonant [sic]) structures, such as the sound of an inharmonically vibrating set of strings (piano), or large groups of instruments that play heterophonically (such as the first violin section of the Berlin Philharmonic.
I propose a sound that is not well-known in most of the world, the "tune" being Little Bob Maximus.
http://www.matfrygbr.co.uk/sounds/Bristol_bells.mp3
In some communities, Xenakis' piece, Bohor is considered revolutionary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ZKpISpF2U
In another life, I would have sat in lots of pubs in London, or beer parlors in Munich listening to Lili Marlene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUsePoATbrU. The band would be "out of tune" [sic], and out of time, but most listeners [sic] would prefer either the english or the german song, at around 3 minutes to being force to endure Act II of Parsifal, or a slow movement of a Berwald Symphony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlbP1UA3ArU&p=A4926CB844E51802&playnext=1&index=39
For those new to Berwald, his cousins were Mendelssohn and Schumann, and he was an uncle of Bruckner.
Regarding why "imho" more people prefer poutine to tofu, I think it has to do with the high levels of fat and salt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine
With regards listener preferences for pre-1900 concert-music, "imho", greater familiarity with the language.
Schoenberg Op 19 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Schoenberg+Op+19&aq=f requires that the hearer listen. It's a bit like reading Ulysses.
... and what has western tonality got to do with sound?
Kevin
--------------------------
Reinhart Frosch,
CH-5200 Brugg.
reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx .