The Art of Recording

6	Evaluating Pitch in Audio and Music Recordings

Pitch relationships shape musical materials more than the other artistic elements. This is obvious when we consider melody as a succession of pitch relationships, and chords/harmony as simultaneously sounding pitch relationships.

With the exception of percussion instruments, nearly all musical instruments were specifically designed to produce many precise variations in pitch, far fewer variations in timbre, and a continuously variable range of loudness. Most Western music places great emphasis on pitch information for the communication of the musical message. Pitch is the central artistic element of most music, with the other artistic elements most often supporting the activities occurring ...