Absolute Pitch Education

[Locrian]

Good evening all, thought I'd share an interesting experience with APB:

I recently downloaded the ETC demo, just to try it for kicks. I started with APB and, after a brief 'learn the game mechanics' period, I quickly caught on and started ripping through the ranks. I made it to the end of the demo in like 15 - 20 waves or so- much faster than I feel I should have. Anyway, I tried it again the next night as a new user, only I had to use headphones. Well, with the headphones on I did poorly. Whatever I was identifying had disappeared with the headphones.

Maybe the headphones introduced a timbre element that fooled me, but it was the wierdest thing - I could hear the tone, could sing it back to you, could recognize it any other way I am accustomed to, but couldn't ID it at all. The next day I took the headphones off and tried it again, and it took me a couple waves to get back in the groove, but that note started unfolding, and I could rip right through the levels again. Like everyone else, it's hard to describe the experience when you hear it but I am hoping someone will say that it was likely the pitch chroma I was hearing and not some flaw with the speakers that the headphones didn't have.

Thoughts?

[petew83]

I hate using headphones in general. Something necessary is present in 'free-floating sound' to really feel it. High frequencies require your ears to vibrate and headphones take this aspect away. Unfortunately headphones are a necessary evil for multitrack recording.

[jpritch]

I've sometimes experienced that headphones give an odd perception of pitch. Playing guitar along with a recording using headphones can sound fine, but then switching to speakers you suddenly hear that your tuning is out. I don't have any problems doing relative pitch ear-training with headphones. They seems blur pitch perception at a micro-tonal level e.g. 5 cents out can be unnoticable on headphones but sound terrible through speakers.

[beatflux]

What kind of speakers and headphones are you using?

[lorelei]

Weird. At least my headphones don't do this to me... (using ipod headphones with my mac)