Monday, June 28, 2010

Shades and Tones

Rhythm, vibration, frequency, tone, timbre, shade…


If we had pianos that could play 40 octaves above the ones in our concert halls, where we'd tune to A483785116221440 instead of A440, and that would produce electromagnetic-waves rather than sound-waves, we could play colors. Imagine a MIDI controller that signals a group of LEDs - it's totally workable, but I don't have the programming skills. Anybody want to help build an instrument?


Also - take note of the colors present in different chords.


e.g.,  a major chord, G B D  = RedGreenBlue …
This example, I think, only works for lifeforms with at least three kinds of photoreceptors (trichromats), like us humans. Dogs, for example, are dichromats; sorry dogs.


In music, an octave consists of a low note and a high note (and those encompassed), the higher note being exactly twice the frequency of the lower.


The human ear can detect roughly from 20Hz to 20KHz: about 10 octaves - this varies a bit from person to person, and the upper range diminishes with age.


The human eye detects light roughly in the 384 - 769THz range.


384 * 2 = 768


Isn't it interesting that the human eye can detect approximately one octave of light?
That's funny…



Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Dear lady I met at the Palestrina Choir concert this evening,

I was waiting in line to buy my ticket for the concert, only about three people away from the purchase when suddenly you approached me and asked if I were waiting for a ticket. I told you that I was and you handed me one that your friend, who didn't make the concert, would have used. I was really surprised, and though I thanked you, I neglected to mention that it was one of those things that could really make a person's day.

Thanks again, ticket-bearing lady!

 - the kid on crutches at Battell Chapel

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hey, pie!!




Tuesday morning: woke up, felt like pie, bought blueberries, made a pie.

mixed berries, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, lemon juice
flour, butter, sugar, salt, ice-water

Crust

  • 2 1/2 C flour, I replaced some of this with whole wheat flour, it makes it a little heavier
  • Mix in sugar (a tablespoon) and salt (a teaspoon)
  • Cut up some cold butter (I used a little less than two sticks) Use a pastry blender or a couple of knives to cut the butter into the flour/sugar/salt mixture. Leave biggish/flatish pieces of butter for something flakier.
  • Add water, a tablespoon at a time and mix it in with your hands… you want the dough to just barely stick together. I ended up using somewhere between four and five.
  • Put it in the fridge for a bit, I only did for 15 minutes, but it might benefit from longer.
Fruit


  • Unlike with the crust, you can pretty much go to town and do whatever you want.
  • I found some fairly small blueberries, but there weren't enough to fill the deep dish, so I added some blackberries and strawberries as well.
  • Mix together some sugar (1/2 - 3/4 C), cornstarch (3 - 4 Tbsp) and salt (pinch). Add some cinnamon if you feel like, I like it (a little less than half a teaspoon)
  • Pour this mixture over the rinsed and dried fruit (4 - 5 C of fruit), mix it up, throw some lemon juice on it, too.
  • Let it sit for a little while, turn the mixture now and then, kind of like folding so you don't break too many berries

  • Pour the fruit into the pie crust
  • If you want a top crust, put one on. 
  • Latticing isn't hard, just start with three going in each direction and work it out from there.
  • Bake in a preheated, 400° F oven for about 50 minutes. There is some variance here, just look for a browning crust and filling that is starting to bubble. If the crust is browning too much, take some foil and put it on top.