Re: Absolute frequency / Absolute color (Martin Braun )

Subject: Re: Absolute frequency / Absolute color
From:    Martin Braun  <nombraun(at)POST.NETLINK.SE>
Date:    Sun, 6 May 2001 14:45:12 +0200

Christian, are you joking, or do you like to put me to a test?

You wrote:
"A hemitonic absolute pitch memory covering a musical relevant range of
frequencies would correspond to an absolute memory of roughly 90 color
shades (only hue, same saturation and brightness)."

Reply:
Small children, up to 5-7 years of age, only have to learn the 12 tones of
ONE octave. We don't have more than these 12 tone names, by the way. When
talking about different octaves we have to add an octave name to one of the
12 tone names (A3, A4, A5, etc.). To my knowledge, all music cultures have
tone-name systems of this type.

Once a child has learned the 12 tones of one octave it can transpose them
into all other octaves without problems. In tests, absolute-pitch possessors
often commit octave errors, because they don't learn the tones of all
octaves. They learn the tones of one octave and take them as the pattern for
all other octaves.

Martin


----- Original Message -----
From: Christian Kaernbach <chris(at)PSYCHOLOGIE.UNI-LEIPZIG.DE>
To: <AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA>
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 7:28 AM
Subject: Absolute frequency / Absolute color


> Martin Braun wrote:
> > ...this is not possible. There are millions of colors. Most of us,
> > however, would have an absolute memory of 12 colors. Color circles
> > of 12 colors are quite common and can be learned in a few minutes.
> > The 12 tones of our octave can not be learned in years (with
> > extremely rare exceptions), once you are older than 5-7 years
>
> An absolute memory of 12 colors corresponds to an absolute memory of
> pitch for 12 categories spanning the entire range of audible frequencies
> from 20-16.000 Hz (at my age). I suppose this can be learned in a few
> minutes. A hemitonic absolute pitch memory covering a musical relevant
> range of frequencies would correspond to an absolute memory of roughly
> 90 color shades (only hue, same saturation and brightness).
>
> - Christian