English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Robusto

00:06

@tchrist Well, too bad you mistyped those for though.

tchrist

Oh well.

Can you tell me why the great octave is called that?

Robusto

Don'tcha hate when that happens?

tchrist

This is not a quiz. I don’t know the answer.

Robusto

I don't know either.

tchrist

hmms

Robusto

00:10

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_pitch_notation

It's because that octave begins with majuscule letters.

Hmm, why didn't the API kick in?

tchrist

Odd.

Now I wonder about a contrabass = double bass.

Robusto

Anything at the C7 level is usually written with ottava, and lower than C1 as well.

tchrist

No shit.

That's just what I was about to say.

C2 to C6 can be written in clef, but otherwise you need octave-diddling notation.

‭ 𝄟  1D11F      MUSICAL SYMBOL G CLEF OTTAVA ALTA
‭ 𝄠  1D120      MUSICAL SYMBOL G CLEF OTTAVA BASSA
‭ 𝄣  1D123      MUSICAL SYMBOL F CLEF OTTAVA ALTA
‭ 𝄤  1D124      MUSICAL SYMBOL F CLEF OTTAVA BASSA
‭ 𝄶  1D136      MUSICAL SYMBOL OTTAVA ALTA
‭ 𝄷  1D137      MUSICAL SYMBOL OTTAVA BASSA

Robusto

Although I have seen Richard Strauss flute parts with the normal ledger lines for F7 and so on.

tchrist

Gosh, that’s easy to read. Not.

Robusto

00:14

And hated it every time.

tchrist

Gosh, I can’t bring myself to ask. :)

Robusto

I had to sight read that shit for an audition. The Alpine Symphony, eh? Fuck that.

Somehow I got through it.

tchrist

Sight reading with lots of ledger lines? Blech.

Maybe sigh reading was better.

Robusto

Yeah. Adrenaline is a good motivator for playing in the altissimo register, though. They can't hear your heartbeat affecting vibrato.

tchrist

I always thought it interesting that the tenor voice is usually written in the G clef with ottava bassa, not in the, well, tenor clef.

Ouch.

I feel like I remember using tenor clef for cello, but that was 35 years ago. My god.

Robusto

00:17

Yeah. The clefs have pretty much been homogenized into treble and bass, though.

tchrist

Something uses alto clef. Woodwind, I think.

Robusto

Maybe clarinet?

tchrist

Could be. I never did woodwinds.

Robusto

Clarinet is an ungodly instrument.

tchrist

cause?

Robusto

00:19

Most woodwinds break at the octave. The clarinet breaks at the 12th.

tchrist

That seems awkward.

Robusto

I don't even know how they do that. They have stacks and stacks of side valves.

Have you ever looked at a clarinet up close? shudder

tchrist

Nope.

Robusto

Jul 25 '12 at 15:52, by Robusto

@Mitch "The clarinet is an ill woodwind that nobody blows good."

tchrist

Back to flutes, I see.

Robusto

00:21

> The lower register plays fundamentals, whereas the upper register, aided by the register key, plays third harmonics, a perfect twelfth higher than the fundamentals.

I like the sound for some things. But I can't imagine playing one of those. I like the sound of an oboe, too, but you can't just play an oboe. You have to cut reeds all day before you can start playing.

tchrist

Why cut reeds all day?

Robusto

Because unless you cut them perfectly they sound shitty.

A flutist who played with me in Civic was married to an oboist, and she said the sound of him "crowing" his reeds (which is how they test them) near drove her nuts.

KitFox

Is that a clarinet?

Robusto

Yup.

KitFox

My brother used to play.

Robusto

00:26

OK, quiz question: Why does a woodwind quintet have a brass instrument in it?

KitFox

Because your cock ring is made of metal alloy?

Oh. The flute?

Robusto

Way to wrestle the dialogue to the ground, Kit.

KitFox

I thought we were playing a game.

Robusto

@KitFox Flutes are not brass.

KitFox

I have to live up to my slutty reputation.

Or whatever *** is.

Robusto

00:28

@KitFox Way to wrestle the game to the ground.

KitFox

TO THE GROUND!

I don't know! I don't even know what's in a quintet! I just came through on my way to see if Select Count (Distinct ) was valid!

Robusto

Cocks are like tree trunks; the older they are, the more rings they have.

@KitFox Please, don't sully this talk of cock rings with SQL begging.

KitFox

I'm not! I wasn't! I was looking elsewhere!

You wouldn't know anyway.

You're a classy guy.

At least, a css guy.

Robusto

I hate database talk. I'm using the word hate.

tchrist

@KitFox Well, if you have something to flaut.

KitFox

00:31

Flout? You don't mean flaunt?

Robusto

Databases interest me not one iota. They interest me less then the tittle that turns an iota into an i.

KitFox

Oh. Flaut.

tchrist

No if you’re a flautist.

Robusto

You are flautulent.

KitFox

Used to be. But not accomplished.

tchrist

00:31

Skinny floots.

Practice with.

Robusto

Why are we talking about this stuff? I want to play my piano and I can't.

Anyway, the instruments in a woodwind quintet are (in order of beautifulness): flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn.

So why have a horn in there?

KitFox

So the ducks have somewhere to roost.

You need a round sound because of the resonance.

Robusto

@KitFox Getting warm.

KitFox

Really? That kind of thing excites you?

Robusto

You're getting warm, if you're guessing.

KitFox

00:37

I'm not guessing. I know plenty about acoustics and waveforms.

Robusto

Well, apparently you don't know the answer to my quiz question, because you ain't got it yet.

KitFox

Geezis. Listen to me. I am totally full of shit tonight. Usually I make it obvious.

tchrist

Are you trying to trick her with a French one?

No, the other one.

The English one.

KitFox

I have no idea. I made all that stuff up.

Is it a saxophone? Because that's not brass.

tchrist

Cor anglais

The cor anglais ( or ; ), or English horn (American English), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. The cor anglais is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe (a C instrument), and is consequently approximately one and a half times the length of the oboe. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais are essentially the same as those of the oboe, and most oboists double on the cor anglais. Music for the cor anglais is thus written a perfect fifth higher than the instrument actually sounds. Because the cor anglais normal...

Robusto

00:39

@tchrist If you call it a French horn, a horn player will slug you.

It's just horn.

tchrist

Pardon my French.

Robusto

►

This is awesome. Best recording of this piece ever, IMO.

KitFox

Did you watch the TED talk? I asked earlier and I forgot.

The one with Benjamin Zander?

Robusto

Are you talking to me?

KitFox

I posted it yesterday. For tchrist.

But you'd probably like it too.

This one

tchrist

00:42

Seems dumb to use a French word for an English horn.

KitFox

I played French horn for two weeks in high school.

Robusto

Well, oboe comes from hautbois (high wood).

KitFox

It was too big to fit on the bus.

So I gave it up.

tchrist

@Robusto Too easy.

KitFox

@Robusto Huh. Like the furniture.

Robusto

00:43

It's true.

tchrist

hot boys => high wood

KitFox

tosses vole to owl

Sorry, I have no idea what vegetarian owls would eat.

Robusto

amazon.com/…

RegDwighт

Steve Pinker did an AMA. @jsbձոգչ will be thrilled.

Robusto

I have this on vinyl, but I would love an MP3 recording.

I tried recording my vinyl to MP3, with mixed results.

KitFox

00:47

@RegDwighт He is tight with my ex-sister-in-law, supposedly.

RegDwighт

Who now, Pinker or Bangs?

KitFox

Pinker.

RegDwighт

What a letdown.

KitFox

No kidding.

RegDwighт

Like reading the script for Flightplan.

KitFox

00:48

NO, no, no.

starts rocking in corner

RegDwighт

You're Blondie now?

I'm not following these rapid developments.

tchrist

Yeah, I got in trouble for it earlier today. Peroxide, I guess.

KitFox

What? I'm no bottle blonde.

RegDwighт

You got in trouble for reading the script for Flightplan? Man, the writers should have gotten in trouble for writing it.

KitFox

Not in trouble. They should have been shot.

RegDwighт

00:50

Important addendum: prior to writing it.

KitFox

How are you, my feathery friend?

RegDwighт

Anyhoo. Looks like the AMA was mostly psychology. Not much about language.

Well, except perhaps reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1a67x4/…

KitFox

I almost have my husband talked into building an owlery at the new house.

RegDwighт

Fuck it dude, let's go owlin'.

Cerberus

Yay!

KitFox

00:53

It was that or a falconry, but I don't think we have many of those 'round these parts.

And the kids are big enough not to be mistaken for prey.

RegDwighт

Strange. That summoned the person who'd be the last to know what it even means.

Cerberus

So how do owleries work?

KitFox

Hahaha.

RegDwighт

@Cerberus:

►

Cerberus

I don't know what owl means?

tchrist

00:54

mews

Cerberus

@RegDwighт Ohh now it all makes sense!

As I always say,

in The Frying Pan, 55 mins ago, by Cerberus

I'm not a huge fan of pickles.

There.

KitFox

Aren't mews for hawks though?

Not other raptors?

I love pickles. For the record. In case you were wondering.

tchrist

I shouldn’t think it matters.

RegDwighт

Pickel is German for "pimple".

Cerberus

@Kit That TED Talk about music was not bad, better than most.

We have pukkel.

tchrist

00:56

I don’t think they distinguish the falcons from the accipiters from the buteos from the owlies.

KitFox

It makes a difference in the setup though.

They have different size grips for instance.

@Cerberus I enjoyed it quite a bit.

My ex-sister-in-law did one. I hate her soooo much.

RegDwighт

tchrist

Ooh.

KitFox

USA! USA!

RegDwighт

Let the mighty igel soar.

Cerberus

00:59

@KitFox Did what? A TED Talk?

KitFox

@Cerberus Yep.

Cerberus

You can just give her a stern look then let it go.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Why don't you make a black hole out of LEGO.

RegDwighт

That's a Danish set, just so you know. So don't get too excited unless you want to get annexed by Greenland.

tchrist

I only remember mews from The Once and Future King. There were lots of hawking words there.

KitFox

00:59

She looks like hell and she's famous for presenting her colleague's research.

So annoying.

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