I'm not going to be able to do this right away, as the program isn't sufficiently automated for external triggers yet, and my MIDI DAW is on an older XP machine that is in storage.
What sort of analysis are you hoping to perform? Maybe there is a way I can support that more easily?
Phil,
Since the differences can be very subtle, it is best to eliminate any?unnecessary sources of variation to make an accurate aural?comparison.
This weekend I could redo the recording and double check that each step of the process is identical. I may have overlooked something. The timing of the start of each section will be me clicking "Go" while watching a timer. I'll try to use my "musician's" accuracy instead of treating the entrance timings casually.
A metronome perhaps?
As I've been listening more, I am noticing the following. I wonder if others hear the same thing?
1) When the high string drone first comes in, it sounds like it could be a little flat in both clips, but more so in the Equal Temperament clip.
2) When the arpeggio plays A3 or higher, the high drone sounds in tune to me, on the Railsback clip, though possibly it sounds a bit sharp when the arpeggio hits A5.
3) When the arpeggio plays A4 or higher on the Equal Temperament clip, the high drone sounds in tune to me.
Yes, the high string drone does sound slightly?“off” in the beginning and "falls into place" from A4 onwards. This is one reason I like to use real-time patch edits during mixing and live playing though other sources of variability also need to be considered (below).
I'm reminded of optical illusions where the color of a region varies based on the surrounding colors. It seems entirely likely that there exist aural parallels, where concurrent tones can affect perception. But the pitch perception effects here are a great deal more subtle than the optical illusions I've seen.
The implication is kind of stunning to me. It suggests that the pitch of a synth may need to adjust a few cents this way or that, depending on the context, to remain sounding "perfectly in tune". This would be rather difficult to encode! But at the same time, musicians probably are already doing a bit of this (some more successfully than others) automatically in response to what others around them are playing.
Aurally, other sources of variability like (multi-band) compression, EQ and FX chains also need meticulous adjustment in an actual mixing or live situation.
