An Examination of the Intonation Tendencies of Wind Instrumentalists Based on Their Performance of Selected Harmonic Musical Intervals

Abstract

This study is an examination of intonation trends of expeienced wind instrumentalists with regard to harmonic intervals. Factors of interest were tuning system, location, interval type, direction of deviation from equal temperament, and group. Subjects (N =16) were experienced wind instrumentalists (8 professionals, 8 advanced students). Subjects recorded a duet, first playing the melody with a synthesized harmony line, and then vice versa. Target intervals were analyzed, converted to cent distance, and compared. Results indicated that deviation was greatest when compared to just tuning and least when compared to equal tempered tuning. For cent deviation from equal temperament, thirds and sixths were performed slightly less in-tune than fourths, fifths, unisons, and octaves. Location affected direction of deviation as subjects played sharp and less in tune when performing below the stimulus. The student group performed less sharp than the professional group when performing below the stimulus and less in tune when performing above.Intonation, or the ability to perform in tune, is among the primary factors that affect the quality of a musical performance. Intonation is a term that can be used to describe, qualitatively, the result of tuning or the degree to which musicians achieve in-tuneness. Intonation can also be used to describe a system of tuning, that is, the mathematically derived ratios of pitch relationships that produce intervals. When a musician or ensemble consistently performs with accurate tuning, good intonation is the result, although the degree of tuning required to achieve good intonation is subjective. One can follow Western musical Brant Karrick is an assistant professor of music in the

Consonance and prevalence of sonorities in Western polyphony: Roughness, harmonicity, familiarity, evenness, diatonicity

“…Since the Renaissance, ratio theorists and like-minded composers have tended to favour Just ratios over Pythagorean, perhaps because they involve smaller numbers and therefore seem more plausible (Barlow, 1987;Gilmore, 1995;Hasegawa, 2006) -in spite of the practical impossibility of justly tuning all intervals between all tones in a regular diatonic scale. But modern empirical research on intonation in music performance has repeatedly shown that in the performance of Western tonal music tuning tends to be closer on average to 12 equal subdivisions per octave (12-EDO) or Pythagorean than to Just (Devaney, Mandel, & Fujinaga, 2012;Duke, 1985;Greene, 1937;Karrick, 1998;Loosen, 1993;Mason, 1960;Morrison, 2000;Nickerson, 1949;O'Keefe, 1975;Rakowski, 1985;Sundberg, 1982).…”

Simultaneous consonance in music perception and composition

“…24 This approach was presumably chosen because Bowling et al's (2018) periodicity/harmonicity model requires just tuning, but it should be noted that just tuning itself is not commonly adopted in Western music performance (e.g. Karrick, 1998;Kopiez, 2003;Loosen, 1993). It should also be noted that tuning a chord in this way does not ensure that the intervals between non-bass notes are just-tuned, and certain chords can sound unusually dissonant as a result compared to their equal-tempered equivalents.…”

The effect of singing on the intonation of middle school flute players.

“…As suggested by several studies, accompaniment can also affect the intonation of performers (Karrick, 1998;Geringer, Madsen, & Dunnigan, 2001). Several studies have been undertaken to estimate the value of accompaniment in a performer's intonation.…”

“…The topic of intonation has been investigated by many researchers and most often in relation to performance (Geringer, 1978;Geringer & Worthy, 1999;Kantorski, 1986;Karrick, 1998). As part of intonation research, studies have often focused on aural skill training and the abilities of young musicians.…”

“…For example, Karrick (1998) examined selected intervals in a duet where the musician performed one line and a computer partner performed the other electronically. Participants (N = 16) were experienced wind instrumentalists (8 professionals, 8 advanced students).…”