Subj : Why Dr. Dre tunes A to 453hz
To : Nightfox
From : LaRRy LaGoMoRpH
Date : Mon Nov 03 2014 09:33 pm
Re: Why Dr. Dre tunes A to 453hz
By: Nightfox to LaRRy LaGoMoRpH on Sat Nov 01 2014 09:51 am
> Interesting. My first thought is, doesn't each note have to be tuned to one
> specific frequency? I'd think the frequency is what defines a musical note,
> tuning it slightly off would, by definition, change the note. Also, why jus
t
> the A note? If he changes the tuning for just the A note, I'd think it woul
d
> be out of tune with other notes, making combination notes sound slightly off
.
> Why would it matter for it to be in tune with the ground hum of the speakers
?
> Ideally, I'd think the speakers shouldn't hum.
Yes, you are correct every note has to be tuned to a specific frequency,
usually A440Hz is the standard reference pitch for most instruments because we
are coming from a world with the piano as a reference instrument, and you can't
retune a piano, you can retune a digital piano, and if you changed that
parameter on an instrument it would 99 percent of the time show 440 as a
starting value. If you have a digital tuner that's alright, it should have a
calibrate function that also uses A as a reference. If you were to go into a
music store should you be fortunate enough to find one that stocks a tuning
fork, it will likely be A440, but you may be able to find one for middle C or
E330, or maybe something else, I haven't gone shopping for tuning forks in
literally forever.
So when I say Dr. Dre tunes A to 453.5, all the notes get changed relative to
that. It's like if you tune your guitar relative to itself and it's tune, more
or less, but your tuner might tell you its sharp or flat if you plug it in, or
you try to play something pre-arranged with your keyboard or flute playing pal.
So A440 is a standard that people stick to so all the instruments don't have to
be tweeked. Depending on the tools you use to produce music you can make it a
non-issue these days.
As far as speaker hum, I think I've experienced so much of it and damaged my
hearing enough that I only am made aware of it when someone points it out
otherwise I often chalk it up to echos of impending tinnitis. But it's there
in my system a lot of times. I've wired up a lot of intricate systems and the
hum usually finds it's way in. I'm not saying Dre has that issue or doesn't
have the finest sound system, but there's people who would say to really make a
hit single it's got to sound good in mono most of all. It's an important
principle to get your stuff to sound good on the worst stuff, not awesome on
the best stuff. Awesome on the best stuff = worse than average on the worst
stuff often times. That's why there's people who can make good money just by
mastering albums. There's also sorts of zen principles involved I only
understand on a very superficial level.
hope that clears things up a bit, supercheers,
ll morph G futureland.grudgemirror.com LaRRy LaGoMoRpH\-/
O
=M=
'not your average board check it out' /-\
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