Re: virus: Nursery Rhyme Memes

sodom (Sodom@ma.ultranet.com)
Fri, 07 Aug 1998 10:16:28 -0400


Joe E. Dees wrote:

> Joe Wrote:
> The only major difference between scales is the number of steps in
> an octave; western or otherwise, they're all subdivided into octaves.
> There seems to be something universal in the human auditory
> perception of frequency doubling; methinks it has something to do
> with harmonics. Joe

Thats certainly possible (I never considered the fact that the octave is
common to all). Harmonics are pretty cool, no doubt, and you only need two
notes to make them. Perhaps if the math was done, we would find harmonic
similarities or differences that would impact this conversation. I am no
longer aware of all the rules for harmonics (I left music school about 10
years ago and many of the subleties have left me). If I remember correctly,
one of the formulas is: (f1 - f2)/2=h1

f=frequency
h=harmonic

basically if you take the difference between any two notes (actual Hz) and
divide it by two, you come out with the first sub-harmionic. The math gets
pretty hard to remember after more than 2 frequencies.

Gee, im actually gonna have to open a book, or look about on the web for more
info, but I like the line of thinking.

Are there similarities between the effects or where the harmonics fit into the
scales in differing regions?

Sodom
Bill Roh