Subject: Re: The climb of absolute pitch From: Martin Braun <nombraun@xxxxxxxx> Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:29:16 +0100 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>"a phenomenon that the French calls the "climb of the tuning fork" ("montee du diapason")." I am not aware of any useful description of this in the literature, which does not surprise me. As some members have suggested, this issue may be related to the processing of mood rather than to auditory processing. It is generally known that all musicians adapt their categories of pitch to the instruments that they work with. From A4 = 440 Hz to anything lower or higher. What varies is the speed of adaptation. This implies that any long term alteration in the auditory system that might affect pitch height is counterbalanced by owners of absolute pitch through "relearning". The impression that the A4, or any other note, sounds too high, or too low, may be similar to the impression that the shouting of small children is louder today than it was 50 years ago. Martin ------------------------------------------- Martin Braun Neuroscience of Music S-66492 Värmskog Sweden email: nombraun@xxxxxxxx web site: http://www.neuroscience-of-music.se/index.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pierre Divenyi" <pdivenyi@xxxxxxxx> To: <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:10 PM Subject: The climb of absolute pitch Hi, Several older persons who have had absolute pitch in their young years experience perceiving a pitch by at least a half-tone (minor second) higher than what it actually is < a phenomenon that the French calls the "climb of the tuning fork" ("montee du diapason"). Since I am one of those unfortunate individuals, I have been wondering what its physiological explanation is. Can anyone on the list offer one? -Pierre Divenyi