"A Clay on Words" for December 14th

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear that Clay is "under the weather" but it sounds like he acted like a real professional and kept his performance date. Speaking again from personal experience, it takes even more energy to perform when sick and after listening to the audio clack of the show, the average fan would never suspect a real problem. I wish he had another day off sooner than Sunday but just keep drinking those liquids and stay still between show, darlin' -- works everytime!

Now, after having to download the audio so I could get the word du jour (most boards weren't sure what he was saying and too busy worrying about his health) I am ready to enlighten my readership of all things musical. The word was...

Flutter-tone

Ok, we have a little problem here because there are actual TWO definitions in the music world for this term. The first is what was demostrated at last night's concert by a flute, trumpet, trombone and french horn:

A technique of tonguing where the player rolls an "r" while blowing into an instrument. This technique is usually used on the flute.

Now, in the world of audio sound there is also a definition of this term:

In hi-fi, home theater, and even most recording studios, the parallel wall surfaces are within the range of 15 to 30 feet apart. That means we don't hear flutter echoes but do hear the flutter tones. Flutter tones are sounds that have a low-frequency character, but they are not to be confused with room modes, which also are low frequency in nature. The control of the low frequency flutter tones, as we will soon see, is accomplished with high-frequency type diffusion or absorption. Of course, control of the low frequency of room modes is accomplished only by means of larger-sized bass traps, usually best located in the corners.

The low-frequency flutter tone is a pseudotone - a trick on our hearing system played by the rapid staccato of high-frequency noise pulses. Sometimes a careful listener can become confused as to how a seemingly low-frequency sound can be eliminated by the introduction of a paper thin reflector or fabric, especially when common sense leads us to expect that only those large-sized bass traps should have been needed. In order to eliminate the detection of a flutter echo pseudotone, we need only to break up the flutter echo process. It takes very little scattering or absorption of high-frequency sounds to break up the flutter echo sequence, and thereby eliminate the accompanying impression of the low-frequency sounds of the flutter tone.

I felt the need to include both here because, well, like Clay, we strive to educate and not just entertain! ;-)

Since Mr. Aiken is encoutnering more folks who have stolen my idea of the music dictionary or are concentrating on I-talian words, I will offer a GERMAN musical term for my contribution to higher musical learning:

Schleppend
A directive to perform the indicated passage of a composition in a dragging manner. More commonly, the directive nicht schleppend is seen which means; in a manner that does not drag

I dare Clay to use this fine term in one of his upcoming concerts -- in fact, I wish he would use my very favorite term semihemidemisemiquaver, but that might be just too much to ask.

Let see what happens...

Carry on but do so in good health!
J