DAC and real musical instruments

[Caloroso, Michael E]

> > > Yeah, and how accurate is a piano, Hammond organ, clarinet, violin, etc?
> >Usually, around 0.5% to 0.3%
> 
> I don't think so. Not in any real world situations. At  least our piano isn't that accurate right now. And even if we have it tuned, how long will it stay that accurate?
> The Hammons organ uses a fixed division ratio that introduces errors. I don't remember the integers, I suppose somebody else can fill us in. The exact errors should be simple to calculate.
> The intonation of the violin and clarinet is dependent on the skill of the player. Maybe a really good player can achieve 0.5% to 0.3% error on a good day? Or maybe not.
> And in any case, the entire tempered scale is a compromise. So very high accuracy is rather pointless. Some intervals sound less than perfect even if they are theoretically totally in tune. An remember that pianos are stretch-tuned, so they deviate from the true scale on purpose.
> 
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!

We're applying accuracy at the wrong end of the hoss.

Pianos are stretch tuned.  No wind or brass instrument can have a perfect scale.  And strings can purposely deviate from equal tempered scale, IE the minor third is often played slightly flat to add emotion to a phrase.

Talking about accuracy of these instruments is pointless.

The *issue* is, if I ask my VCO controlled by a DAC to emulate the scale of any of these instruments, *that's* where I'm concerned about accuracy.

MC
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Opinions (and mistakes) expressed herein are my own and not those of my employer.