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Perfect Pitch

Don’t know how many of you have seen this video… I find it quite mesmerising. Start at 2:30 if you don’t want to watch the preamble…

Be interested to know if any of you good people have perfect pitch? I know mine is non existent 🙁

Comments

  • Yeah it's very impressive. Rick made a video a few years ago about how Dylan developed perfect pitch, essentially by listening to complex music from a young age.

    It's probably not possible to learn as an adult, at least that's what the current consensus seems to be. You can learn relative pitch as an adult, but to really learn perfect pith you need to start very young.

  • I never picked up an instrument until I decided to learn the guitar at 21. By then it really was an uphill battle to develop a good ear and a sense of rhythm. It would definitely have been a big advantage to learn some kind of instrument as a child.

    Last summer I met a concert violinist in Croatia, she learnt violin aged 5 and developed perfect pitch.

  • I don’t see much utility in it. Being able to tune to an arbitrary standard is necessary for good musicianship. Having your ear trained to a fixed standard might have occasional uses, but in situations where the music is tuned to a different standard then being so locked into the fixed standard could become a liability.

  • Yep, that kid is awesome! However, I have met several people with perfect pitch throughout my life, and even though to many musicians it would appear to be a desirable attribute, every one of them described how irritating and frustrating it is. When the vibrations/frequencies of any sound are slightly off pitch - be it musical or any other everyday sound - it grates on their ears making them feel extremely uncomfortable and on edge. One pianist I worked with told me how some people's voices, in conversation, would drive him crazy because they spoke off pitch - if memory serves, I apparently talk in Eb.

  • Only care about relative pitch. But when In an acapella singing group I was using a pitch fork a lot, to my surprise I noticed that after a while I could pitch A–440 out of the blue.
    Full perfect pitch must be very irritating

  • @pbelgium : I know that some people with perfect pitch make complaints like that…though none of my friends with perfect pitch has ever complained. One of them has pointed out that such complaints are ridiculous because there isn’t a correct pitch to speak off. There is no objectively correct A. I think people finding people being out of tune being hard to take are not thrown by the pitch not conforming to A440 but more likely, they are also very sensitive to relative pitch and noticing people being out of tune with each other or themselves -- which comes from good relative pitch.

    He said that it is very much like color discrimination. There are lots of shades of red and some people can distinguish very slight variations of color and accurately match them. But having color discrimination doesn't make you dislike colors that are different from some convention.

    A440 Hz is not some objective standard for what in-tune is. It is a fairly recent convention. And even then plenty of ensembles and orchestras don't use it.

    Plenty of people , btw, have unbelievable note discrimination without having perfect pitch. I have friends who can immediately identify the voicings of weird chords who do not have perfect pitch.

  • Relative pitch here. And still waiting for the 75% off sale on the Beato Book!

    Rick and his kids are amazing btw.

  • Many musicians who studied kbd seriously when they were young have perfect pitch. However, any instrumentalist can possess the ability as well. There are some Yamaha programs for young kids that aim to develop this ability. Many students who were in these programs do actually have perfect pitch. Alas, many of them have only "white key" perfect pitch, making it useless. Yes, it's great to have PP but only if you couple it with good relative pitch understanding. Alone, it's not that useful. 👍

  • Rick Beato himself says he has only relative pitch. He has also done a video on how people with perfect pitch invariably lose it as they age, and this creates problems for them.

    Adam Neely also has a youtube video on "Why you don't want perfect pitch".

  • I've often played with the A440 pitch fork an my grandma's when I was 5.
    I seem to remember that pitch because I can blindly tune an oscillator or frequency generator knob to 440Hz quite exactly.
    Does this help in being a good musician? Certainly not.
    Does this make me over-sensitive to bad pitch? Oh yes, I think so!
    When we were playing in amateur bands, I was usually the one who complained about the bass/guitar tuning first when it was off, as well as off-pitch vocals that are not always as easy to "fix" 😄

  • @sisterkate said:
    Only care about relative pitch. But when In an acapella singing group I was using a pitch fork a lot, to my surprise I noticed that after a while I could pitch A–440 out of the blue.

    Same here. We often had "pitch fork induced, temporary perfect pitch for A440" 🤣 at choir practices, but at least in my case it never stuck.

  • @espiegel123 said:
    @pbelgium : I know that some people with perfect pitch make complaints like that…though none of my friends with perfect pitch has ever complained. One of them has pointed out that such complaints are ridiculous because there isn’t a correct pitch to speak off. There is no objectively correct A. I think people finding people being out of tune being hard to take are not thrown by the pitch not conforming to A440 but more likely, they are also very sensitive to relative pitch and noticing people being out of tune with each other or themselves -- which comes from good relative pitch.

    He said that it is very much like color discrimination. There are lots of shades of red and some people can distinguish very slight variations of color and accurately match them. But having color discrimination doesn't make you dislike colors that are different from some convention.

    A440 Hz is not some objective standard for what in-tune is. It is a fairly recent convention. And even then plenty of ensembles and orchestras don't use it.

    Plenty of people , btw, have unbelievable note discrimination without having perfect pitch. I have friends who can immediately identify the voicings of weird chords who do not have perfect pitch.

    I agree and I think it's much more a question of training than posessing perfect pitch.
    Musicians like Jacob Collier are exceptional in this regard, on top of his perfect pitch, he has practiced working with chord voicings so much that he can virtually play any chord he hears.

  • @espiegel123 said:
    @pbelgium : I know that some people with perfect pitch make complaints like that…though none of my friends with perfect pitch has ever complained. One of them has pointed out that such complaints are ridiculous because there isn’t a correct pitch to speak off. There is no objectively correct A. I think people finding people being out of tune being hard to take are not thrown by the pitch not conforming to A440 but more likely, they are also very sensitive to relative pitch and noticing people being out of tune with each other or themselves -- which comes from good relative pitch.

    He said that it is very much like color discrimination. There are lots of shades of red and some people can distinguish very slight variations of color and accurately match them. But having color discrimination doesn't make you dislike colors that are different from some convention.

    A440 Hz is not some objective standard for what in-tune is. It is a fairly recent convention. And even then plenty of ensembles and orchestras don't use it.

    Plenty of people , btw, have unbelievable note discrimination without having perfect pitch. I have friends who can immediately identify the voicings of weird chords who do not have perfect pitch.

    Good points @espiegel123. I'm inclined to agree - nevertheless, there are still complaints. Interesting analogy with color discrimination. Many years ago I saw an interview with Olivier Messiaen, who had color/sound synesthesia - perhaps he had sound and color discrimination. Any synesthetes here?

  • I've never understood how perfect pitch is supposed to work with stuff like folk music that uses different tunings. Like if something being a few pitches off the 'correct pitch' bothers you, then folk music would presumably drive you insane.

  • @cian said:
    I've never understood how perfect pitch is supposed to work with stuff like folk music that uses different tunings. Like if something being a few pitches off the 'correct pitch' bothers you, then folk music would presumably drive you insane.

    See my comment about color discrimination. Perfect pitch isn’t that they are locked to some particular tuning convention. It is simply that they have a sense of what the absolute pitch is. No absolute pitch is better or more right than another.

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @cian said:
    I've never understood how perfect pitch is supposed to work with stuff like folk music that uses different tunings. Like if something being a few pitches off the 'correct pitch' bothers you, then folk music would presumably drive you insane.

    See my comment about color discrimination. Perfect pitch isn’t that they are locked to some particular tuning convention. It is simply that they have a sense of what the absolute pitch is. No absolute pitch is better or more right than another.

    Sure, but I'm always seeing comments that people with perfect pitch will be bothered by somebody's voice being a few cents off an Eb, or whatever. And if that's true then Just Intonation sounds like a bloody nightmare.

    Also heard from lots of teachers over the years that it's surprisingly difficult to teach relative pitch stuff to students with perfect pitch. And in practice being able to hear a minor third, or whatever, seems a lot more useful.

  • @cian said:

    @espiegel123 said:

    @cian said:
    I've never understood how perfect pitch is supposed to work with stuff like folk music that uses different tunings. Like if something being a few pitches off the 'correct pitch' bothers you, then folk music would presumably drive you insane.

    See my comment about color discrimination. Perfect pitch isn’t that they are locked to some particular tuning convention. It is simply that they have a sense of what the absolute pitch is. No absolute pitch is better or more right than another.

    Sure, but I'm always seeing comments that people with perfect pitch will be bothered by somebody's voice being a few cents off an Eb, or whatever. And if that's true then Just Intonation sounds like a bloody nightmare.

    Also heard from lots of teachers over the years that it's surprisingly difficult to teach relative pitch stuff to students with perfect pitch. And in practice being able to hear a minor third, or whatever, seems a lot more useful.

    Tbh, these kinds of stories are also told of people that have relative pitch. I know quite a few people with perfect pitch and haven’t found this to be true of any of them. Human brains are wired for relative pitch (read Your Brain on Music) having perfect pitch in addition does not make that go away.

    I think a lot of stories about perfect pitch misattribute perfect pitch as the salient detail.

  • I have a close friend with Perfect Pitch. We were also bandmates. It was truly amazing. We would pick songs and he would know how to play them usually after one listen. (He was a smokin' keyboard player too.) But he also lamented about annoying sounds all the time. Your instrument had to stay in tune in that band,lol.

  • @dafrimpster said:
    I have a close friend with Perfect Pitch. . . . We would pick songs and he would know how to play them usually after one listen.

    Someone with good relative pitch could do the same thing. They might misidentify the key, though.

  • @hes said:

    @dafrimpster said:
    I have a close friend with Perfect Pitch. . . . We would pick songs and he would know how to play them usually after one listen.

    Someone with good relative pitch could do the same thing. They might misidentify the key, though.

    A pretty high percentage of studio musicians and other professional musicians can do that. At a certain level, you are pretty much expected to be able to identify chords and chord changes with ease (even if you don't know the chord names) -- this is even true of people not at the highest echelons of music.

    I took lessons for a bit with Tuck Andress (decades ago, before he was famous) and he told me that when he was in high school, he landed a job as the guitarist in a well-known funk band (all the musicians were also competent jazz players) and he was expected to be able to hear a song once and know the changes. They didn't use lead sheets. Because he was such a good player (and so young), they cut him a little slack -- but he said the pressure forced him to get his act together and learn to really listen. Since then, I have heard a lot of great musicians tell that same story.

    I think those of us that haven't had the focus and determination to master that school find it magical and surprising, but at a certain level, it is pretty much a requirement.

  • edited February 2022

    I think it’s more common than most people think, and similar to @pbelgium I have known people get irritated when music isn’t at concert pitch.

    One guy I knew could say what note was played on an instrument or on a recording instantly, and said that almost all recorded music he heard wasn’t concert pitch.

    Another would complain if pianos weren’t tuned to concert pitch, and would argue with piano tuners that instruments were not in tune (before the days of electronic tuners).

    A friend who played in a symphony orchestra (cor anglais and oboe) said he was glad he didn’t have perfect pitch, as he didn’t consider it useful.

  • In the days when I made my tunes on a 4-track recorder, I felt like I could tune my guitar to what sounded correct to my ear, and it always matched my electric piano when I played it later. I could hear something on the radio and play the right chords for it just “from ear”.
    Nowadays I’m so dependent on the built-in tuner on my DAW that I probably can’t tell an Am7 from a greasy fart.
    Yet I’m happy.

  • @Edward_Alexander said:
    Relative pitch here. And still waiting for the 75% off sale on the Beato Book!

    Rick and his kids are amazing btw.

    Valentine's Sale — The Beato Book Bundle at 60% OFF - Use code RB214 at checkout

  • edited February 2022

    @espiegel123 said:

    @hes said:

    @dafrimpster said:
    I have a close friend with Perfect Pitch. . . . We would pick songs and he would know how to play them usually after one listen.

    Someone with good relative pitch could do the same thing. They might misidentify the key, though.

    A pretty high percentage of studio musicians and other professional musicians can do that. At a certain level, you are pretty much expected to be able to identify chords and chord changes with ease (even if you don't know the chord names) -- this is even true of people not at the highest echelons of music.

    I took lessons for a bit with Tuck Andress (decades ago, before he was famous) and he told me that when he was in high school, he landed a job as the guitarist in a well-known funk band (all the musicians were also competent jazz players) and he was expected to be able to hear a song once and know the changes. They didn't use lead sheets. Because he was such a good player (and so young), they cut him a little slack -- but he said the pressure forced him to get his act together and learn to really listen. Since then, I have heard a lot of great musicians tell that same story.

    I think those of us that haven't had the focus and determination to master that school find it magical and surprising, but at a certain level, it is pretty much a requirement.

    Agreed.
    Though I started playing trombone at 11years old, I don't have perfect pitch.
    When our school ensemble played out of tune I knew it but couldn't describe it.
    I didn't have the language.
    I didn't know what that was until I was much older.
    I can hear chords but my mind instantly keeps on
    wanting to add more harmonies or shape them in the some way.
    If something is out of tune, it annoys the hell out of me.
    I've walked out gigs for that very reason and
    some of those were really well know Artists.
    I can't handle it.
    I was playing with the Netherlands Blazers Ensemble for a month
    and I had to bite my tongue in regards to our double bass player.
    His intonation was awful and we were playing
    with the best woodwinds in Holland, world class.
    If you ask me what key a piece is in or what note is playing
    I couldn't tell you without finding a reference note first so presumably
    I have really good relative pitch but regardless if something is out of tune?
    Nah.
    Go tune up or stop playing.

    I've had singers do take after take and told
    them go home and practice it is not in tune.
    Yeah, seriously, diplomatically obviously.
    I encourage not discourage.
    Hence "practice".

    I can hear in a split second whether someone has a "voice" or not.
    In one commercial studio they ran all the vocalists pass me.
    If I said "yes " then it was yes.
    "No" then no.
    "Potential with effort and training"
    They made their decisions based upon look and
    then I did the training when necessary.
    One singer looked absolutely stunning with a voice like chalk on board.
    I don't like Autotune, it's similar to being out of tune for me.

    When doing sessions I will find the main voicings by ear and then find my own,
    I know how to read chord sheets and tabs because I eventually had to learn
    I was playing so much jazz and I'll learn melodies and bass riffs and stuff by ear,
    I think the most challenging was learning fifty songs in a week
    but my focus has always been ultimately to write and play as original as possible.
    Learning other artists material is simply a necessity because I also work as a musician.
    I hear a constant flow of music.
    It doesn't stop.

    Everything else is a distraction including out of tune notes.
    It hurts.

    Oh yeah,
    I used to serve in Church when I was a kid and
    I could hear when members of the congregation sang out of tune.
    I almost forgot.

  • @hes said:

    @dafrimpster said:
    I have a close friend with Perfect Pitch. . . . We would pick songs and he would know how to play them usually after one listen.

    Someone with good relative pitch could do the same thing. They might misidentify the key, though.

    One evening after a show we were standing around backstage enjoying a few bottles of beer. We would whistle by blowing on the bottle. ten times out of ten he would identify the nearest pitch and if it was sharp or flat. After 40 plus years of playing I have really good relative pitch and can usually guess what key most rock songs are in but nothing like him.

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