I appreciate all the comments and bits of information, some of which I did not know, where the first example is that in some types of Classical music C# is not the same as D♭, and the second example is not knowing that harpsichords had split keys for this purpose, although I have seen harpsichords that had two keyboards, which I am guessing might not be the same as splitting a single key to make two thinner adjacent keys, which is intriguing and something I plan to investigate . . .
On the other hand I know about (a) equal temperament, (b) well temperament, (c) just intonation, where the latter is what vocalists naturally favor and the former is the way an electric piano should be tuned, as is the case with electric guitars, although there are differing opinions even on this, with one of them being an intriguing company in Sweden that makes several different types of custom guitar necks for Stratocasters, including what most likely is a corrected equal temperament fretboard, which they do by bending the fret wire to follow patterns they determined by extensive testing . . .
True Temperament Fretting SystemI took a lot of mathematics and physics courses when I was in college, and this makes it easier to understand the various tuning systems, scales, modes, and all that stuff, especially since it is logarithmic, which is where "cents" comes into play in acoustic physics, and there also is the Pythagorean concept of tuning, but after doing as much research as I considered practical, I eventually decided that since I primarily play American style lead guitar, the most logical tuning system is the one on a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster with a two-point tremolo system, which basically is a variation of equal temperament, and it is a variation because the frets are parallel but the diameters of the strings vary based on pitch, where the low-pitch "
E" string in a set of Ernie Ball "Rock N Roll" Power Slinky strings (
a personal favorite) is 0.048 inches, while the high-pitch "
e" string diameter in the same set of strings is 0.011 inches, which (a) is a bit of a problem when you work through the physics and (b) is the problem that the True Temperament Fretting System folks strive to solve, which as best as I can determine they probably do . . .
After a number of years playing lead guitar, what happens is that lead guitar players who are not tone deaf develop an intuitive set of techniques that compensate for the problems caused by the way most guitar necks are fretted, and it is something one just does rather than being something with a clearly defined set of rules and procedures, but so what . . .
So what!On the other hand, while it is fine to suggest that C# is somehow different from D♭, I strongly recommend that everyone visit a authorized Steinway dealer and study the keyboard of a Steinway concert grand piano, where you will discover (a) that there is just one black key between C and D and (b) that you can call it C#, D♭, B##, and quite a few other names which become increasingly absurd as the number of flats and sharps increases . . .
And I use 440-Hz as "Concert A", which in NOTION 3 and NOTION 4 requires modifying the default reference tuning pitch . . .
Regarding the concept of being a "purist" or whatever, the folks who originally played Mozart stuff used a different reference tuning pitch and had entirely different types of strings on their violins, violas, cellos, string basses, and so forth, and there were a lot of other differences including but not limited to the total absence of the modern valve thingy for tubas, which I had to look-up, since I forgot the name of the fellow who devised it (Blaikley-style compensating valves), but so what . . .
I remember the tuba valve, because I thought it was interesting, and it might have been something someone explained in a post to this FORUM a few years ago, and for reference I like that type of stuff, which is like a harpsichord having separate keys for C# and D♭, which is an interesting thing to know . . .
Another interesting and somewhat surprising thing I learned only recently is that most Stradivarius' violins do not have the original necks and fingerboard, where instead the only original part is the violin body, which I suppose makes sense but was a bit of a surprise, if it is correct, which I have no way to verify at present. It makes sense from the perspective that having your hand on the violin neck tends to prevent it from doing a lot of vibrating, hence diminishes it contribution to overall tone, and it makes sense that a violinist would want a neck and fingerboard that were as perfect as possible (as contrasted to being warped, weakened, and worn with peaks and valleys, which would make it much more difficult to play), so I think this is accurate information, but I recall reading it in only one place, which is a bit troublesome . . .
THOUGHTSI understand the logic and desire for being able to be as precise as possible when doing what I call "Classical" music, which is fine with me, but while I enjoy that type of music occasionally and am amazed by it, the reality here in the sound isolation studio is that I play a custom-modded Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster with a finely tuned two-point tremolo system, hence for me "Classical" music really is
Rock and Roll from the 1950s and 1960s, which was a time when C# and D♭ were the same note played at the same fret. They are just two names for the same single note, and as observed in my previous posts to this topic, after pondering it for a while, I decided that I prefer to use sharps, although from singing in a liturgical boys choir, I am just as comfortable with flats as with sharps, and at least with minor keys it makes a bit of sense to use flats, except that it does not always work so elegantly, which is the case with A Minor, where the third when flatted is C, since the major third is C# . . .
In some respects, it might have been smarter to have used integers from the beginning, but after having a bit of FUN with a simple xylophone as a toddler I switched to piano, and by the time I knew enough about mathematics, physics, acoustic physics, and music I already knew most but not all the various naming conventions, hence I make an effort every so often to forget all of it, in part because it is too much information to be useful toward the goal of being able to compose and to play unique lead guitar solos in real-time on the fly, which basically requires rewiring the Frontal Eye Fields (FEF) region of the brain, since this particular region of the brain can handle audio information as rapidly as 24 milliseconds, which is considerably faster than the auditory cortex is able to process audio, and the only practical way to engage the FEF region is temporarily to suspend all immediately conscious thinking so that the unconscious mind can do what it already knows how to do . . .
Broadmann Area Map ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Brodmann Areas #4, #6, #8 (left to right)But the truly fascinating aspect of the FEF region of the brain is that it is bounded by Brodmann areas #4, #6, and #8, which are located at the top of the head, which makes the observation, "I played it off the top of my head" surprisingly accurate anatomically and neurologically . . .
OBSERVATIONIn some respects, the most intriguing aspect of this discussion involves determining how sampled sounds are tuned and intonated, as well as the specific rules NOTION 4 follows . . .
My expectations are (a) that pianos, keyboard synthesizers, guitars, and so forth are tuned to equal temperament--including NOTION 4, Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments), MachFive 3 (MOTU), IK Multimedia, and so forth and so on--and (b) that C# and D♭ are the same note in NOTION 4, which if this is the case maps to the folks who prefer C# and D♭ using NOTION 4 as an music notation engraving application rather than as an application to play the various virtual instruments . . .
In other words, if C# and D♭ are the same note in NOTION 4 by default, then it must require doing something extra to cause them to be different notes, which I suppose could be done with a VSTi virtual instrument which has a sampled sound library designed specifically for this purpose . . .
So, if anyone has insights into what NOTION 4 does in this respect, please reply, since I think this is an important thing to know . . .
For reference, my presumption is that C# and D♭ played on the NOTION 4 bundled Piano are the same note, as is the case with the pianos in Kontakt 5, MachFive 3, Addictive Keys, and all the IK Multimedia VSTi virtual instruments and sampled sound libraries, as I expect is the case for electric guitars and electric basses . . .
So, I did a quick test using the NOTION 4 bundled Piano, and C# is the same note as D♭ . . .
However, there are other accidentals in the NOTION 4 palette, so there is a way to play what I call "in-between" notes, and while this is
not something I plan to do anytime soon, it is interesting in a curious way, which is fabulous . . .
NOTION 4 Accidentals
Fabulous!