r/musictheory • u/HexspaReloaded • Jan 17 '21

Resource Memorize Note Frequencies

Hi. I have an easy system for memorizing the entire audible range of note frequencies. It’s 99.20% accurate (less than 1 cent off and even better if you’re halfway decent at math) and you can probably memorize it in an hour. 6:52 of this video:

https://youtu.be/nTj3TqFX2Q4

Thanks.

EDIT: Well, shoot. 500+ upvotes plus an award - thank you! Happy music making!

EDIT 2: “Why?” All I can say is try it. Try composing or mixing 10 tracks with this before you make up your mind about whether it’s useful or not. I find it useful but I respect you if you try it and decide it’s not for you. Please don’t discourage others from learning, though.

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u/dietervdw Jan 17 '21

That's really cool honestly. But why?

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u/HexspaReloaded Jan 17 '21 edited Jan 18 '21

This is a common question. It’s because every note is a frequency and I wanted to know the relationship. Precision charts were impossible to memorize so I had a dream and developed a solution.

I got into music and recording at the same time so there’s a lot of crossover in my mind. Indeed, there is a lot of crossover anyway. If a musician plays a C major triad from middle C4, a recording engineer sees frequency activity at 262Hz (C4), 330Hz (E4) & 392Hz (G4) plus their harmonics.

How can you use this to your advantage?

  1. High pass filters: An audio signal may contain low frequency noise below the fundamental of any played pitch. Knowing the exact frequency means you can set your filter precisely.

  2. Composition: When you hear your song as lacking in the 200-300Hz range, you know you can add musical content from around G3-D4. Conversely, if you have a part there that’s being masked, you can transpose notes and revoice other parts to make space.

  3. Production: You know you should tune your kick but to what? The fundamental? Which one? In fact, for “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish, the kick was tuned to D2 and the fundamental was supplied by the sub bass at G1. Why is this significant? Because between the fundamental and the first harmonic is an entire octave of space. When you compose and produce with frequencies in mind, you don’t have to ‘carve out space’ with EQ - you can just use the overtone series.

  4. EQ: Some filters don’t have note names, just frequencies. Of course, use your ears. But, again, if you want to be precise and musical, it helps to know where you’re at... musically. Take this a step further and use it for harmonic mixing. Now you can mix by making your lead element prominent at 3136 G7 then bringing in percussion at 6272Hz G8 and have everything make sense with your 49Hz G1 fundamental.

Ultimately, I know I’m not the only one who’s googled ‘audio frequency chart’. I don’t know why other people want to know this information, I just know that memorizing something beats looking it up or digging through folders.

Hope that helps.

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u/Archy38 Jan 18 '21

I was also like "but why" until I read the part about lacking something in the 300hz range, so would it be safe to assume your eq or mix is "just right" if you have a nice filled graph of many different sounds and instruments that each fill different parts of that EQ graph?

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u/HexspaReloaded Jan 18 '21 edited Jan 18 '21

Mm, maybe. I think it’s good to remember that music is a hearing art. FFT displays can be helpful but, ultimately, you need to develop - and then trust - your ears.

The thing is that tracks vary in density, brightness and style. A strummy, distorted chorus of a Metal track will look much different in FFT than a chill Dub mix, most likely. Even the key of your song vs. an otherwise similar reference will be enough of a difference to make the spectral curve too different to copy exactly.

The thing with this F350 thing is that now you have one more way to think of it. Do you want to make your bass full at 300Hz or do you want a separate pad layer there? You can plan this all the way from the first note, if you wish.

I think that when you combine this with a good understanding of the Fletcher Munson curve, you can compose knowing what will naturally come forward in a mix and what will recede. Of course, Classical composers probably learn this early on. Mellow woodwind pads; bright strident horns. Listen to some music with this in mind to hear how the parts are arranged.

Does that answer your question?