www.popsci.com/technology/what-the-ear-hears-and-doesnt-richard-mainwaring/
tl;dr The Mac startup chime is neither a major nor a minor chord.
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jonbob loves you, Sun 23 Mar 2025, 12:16,
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Any melody can be transposed up or down the musical scale and still be recognisable.
If you ignore the whole system of flats and sharps and treat each octave as a simple mathematical progression of 12 semitones (the 'chromatic scale'), so that a 13th semitone step gives you a doubling or halving of frequency (that's what octaves are). You just add 1 or more semitones to each note. People do it all the time to adapt tunes for instruments that have a limited range of notes. A prime example being a kiddy's xylophone with just six or eight bars to it.
Things only really sound out of tune if two different instruments or a singer are performing the same tune but with a different offset. Though offset by a whole octave and they sound in tune again.
You could just as easily apply a fraction of a semitone shift. You'd need a synthesiser or custom-tuned instrument to play it. Most people wouldn't notice. Though you might confuse / annoy anyone who's trained themselves to hear perfect pitches.
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joefish It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks, Mon 24 Mar 2025, 19:45,
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J S Bach spoiled all the fun with 'The Well Tempered Clavier'.
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FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Tue 25 Mar 2025, 18:44,
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