Re: Pentatonic's RAWK!

On Feb 21, 11:51 am, RS <R...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:11:39 -0500, RS <R...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:03:46 -0800 (PST), Cyberserf
This goes to the
fundamental question of "Is it indeed a function of the brain (due to
its mathematical elegance, as you allude) or a function of the
culture?". That the experiment works everywhere seems to indicate that
it may be common enough to occur in every culture and thus can be
sufficiently described to the brain by three notes with it filling in
the other two and the octaves. Boggles the mind. Very cool.

Cheers, CS

Well, it's just kind of how the engine works in the first place.
Non-integral ratios occur frequently in nature...beating on two logs
or banging two non-tuned pieces of metal, etc. But our ears don't
latch onto it in the same way, so you don't hear of any 'floating
point' music being spontaneously adopted or formulated in cultures.
The amazing integer fraction decoder in the brain is the reason for
that.  Without that we wouldn't have music, at least as we know it.

I've always had to wonder what place that decoder had in terms of
Darwinian evolution, a random artifact, or a side-product of something
else.

---

Reading through my previous post, I realized that you and maybe two
other people will make it through that. <g> Thought I'd repost just
the last paragraph above, as I'd love to hear if anyone has ideas on
that: How did that decoding mechanism evolve--Or rather...why?

How would our engine for decoding pitch ratios help with survival.

I liked the answer to the sound in the forest question...that sound
(pitch, dynamics, timbre), is primarily a brain construct and
everything else is random deviations in air pressure...so if there is
no brain...there may be noise, but there is no sound because there is
nothing to decode it....quite compelling.

-CS
.

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