I have perfect pitch. Perfect pitch is basically rounding the frequency to the nearest pitch in your resolution. As a pianist, my resolution is more or less half of a semitone, so I can tell that a note is off, but it doesn't get really annoying until it's so off that it's close to rounding to the next note.
This resolution differs from person to person, mostly based on how they use it. I had a piano tuner visit my house yesterday as it so happens and his resolution was to about 10 cents. It was amazing.
I had some fun with my piano tuner to 'check' his tuning using a stroboscope for each individual string (not a choir) after he was done and it was quite amazing to see how accurate he was. And what blows me away is how fast an experienced tuner can work, what would take me hours - and with tremendous fatigue in hearing afterwards - takes him 1/2 hour and with much better results.
What is your reaction to some of the historical-tuning recordings that have proliferated in the past decade or so, especially on piano? Do you see aesthetic value in those tunings, when taken as a whole piece, or are you so locked in to equal temperament that it's irritating to hear alternative tunings?
I have a pretty decent relative pitch but not perfect pitch... to me these tunings sound interesting but I can't say I derive any more pleasure from them. Sometimes they give me the feeling of not quite having my footing underneath myself. They're more of an oddity.
Those tunings are not so off as to be annoying, so I don't really have much of an opinion of them except to think that they're kinda silly. Other tunings (like 31 EDO) I just can't handle.
Do you think that over time you could "re-tune" yourself to different pitches, e.g. if you listened to a ton of music that's detuned by half a semitone that eventually you'd think that that's the new normal? Or maybe it's something that gets hardwired at a young age and then you're stuck with it?
Actually I'm now in my 50s and perfect pitch starts going south as you get older, at least for me and a number of others I know. I easily get locked into thinking things are a half-step lower than they really are.
This tracks exactly with my experience. I'm in my 40s and my pitch is definitely no longer perfect -- it's close, though? It's not uncommon for me to be semitone off these days.
Is this a studied aspect of perfect pitch? I've never read about it but, talking to friends, it seems like a common experience.
This resolution differs from person to person, mostly based on how they use it. I had a piano tuner visit my house yesterday as it so happens and his resolution was to about 10 cents. It was amazing.