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#172712 01/21/08 04:58 PM
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Quoted from O.Sack's Musicophila:

"The ability to maintain a sense of timbre constancy is a multileveled and extremely complex process in the auditory brain that may have some analogies with color constancy--
indeed, the language of color is often applied to timbre, which is sometimes referred to as "sound color" or "tone color".


Funny, that when you turn "tone color" around to "color tone", you find yourself in the field of visual arts concepts; "color tone " is 'the grey- the tone value' of a color.

In both art forms they affect "timbre" and "shade", though seing and hearing are located in different parts of the brain.

I don't know exactly what to make of this,(I know not much more about the brain than that like most people I got one), but when you add "shades of meaning " to it (from today's AWAD context), they are all three together: music, visual arts and language.


Last edited by BranShea; 01/21/08 07:36 PM.
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isn't that what he is saying?

btw, I just finished Musicophilia, and was underwhelmed.

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That's what he is saying , but what I'm trying to say (I think ) is that "tone color" and "color tone" are definitely two different things, although somehow related. (that's aside from the book)

I'm halfway now and just like in this "The Man who took....etc",
he's fluttering from one case history to the next, sometimes a bit incoherently. I find the various phenomena and symptoms quite interesting. Only I'd rather not have known all the problems one can get with one's hearing. I'm very fond of music and sounds.

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yes, fluttering, that's a good way to put it. what surprised me (and had I read any of his other books, perhaps I wouldn't have been surprised) is that he doesn't draw any conclusions from all this stuff. maybe that's being a good doctor/scientist, but give me some grist! speculate! go out on a limb! frankly, it was a pretty boring read, but I got through it. though I should have read it with a pencil in hand. I'll need to read it again (ugh!) and take notes. (pun only slightly intended)


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Right, it's what you call a rather flat read (pun only slightly intended), but the conclusion I draw for myself afer each case history is , mind your head.
Never go bashing or bumping it, if you care to keep your sound sound.

(He does take amusing side steps; the entomologist with absolute pitch, who can distinguish the sound pitch of insects in flight, the wind whisteling in D).It's not exciting, but I'm not bored.

Last edited by BranShea; 01/21/08 10:09 PM.

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