Lisa Rainsong may be of help with your questions. She occasionally posts to this list. Patty McKelvey Sheffield Village; Lorain Cty Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would I fly away and be at rest. > Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:43:14 -0400 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [Ohio-birds] Pitch: Name that bird note! > To: [log in to unmask] > > I really enjoyed the "what's the two-note bird sound" (chickadee) thread on > the Michigan list! I think it is the first time I saw someone post the > actual notes. > > > > What particularly impressed me was the number of people who pulled out > instruments to hear the notes once the notes were identified. Oh, THAT note! > Yes it is a . > > > > (I am always amazed by people who know what a note really is - perfect > pitch!) > > > > As one who still cannot get grounded on bird sounds by reading written > descriptions in books, I finally figured out that the books also need to > give pitch (the note) and duration (as well as any rising/falling nuances). > A musical score for birds! > > > > The clincher came last year when I finally heard the Eastern Towhee's "Drink > your teeeee". Just reading a phrase in a book did nothing for me. Everyone > uses the phrase, so I thought I finally heard it. I remember asking the list > about something I had heard that did this, and learned a Robin was drinking > tea as part of its repertoire. Finally after hearing the towhee I knew what > it all meant. So different! I now have my own "score" to go with the words. > > > > Also I guess we need to add notes about other characteristics. For example, > "peent" is really a buzzy/buggy or nasal sound ("pzeeent"). Even with pitch > and duration, you would not be able to play the note without having the > right instrument (think kazoo here). > > > > So. does anyone know of any references to bird sounds with actual musical > notes accompanying the written phrase? I would love a compendium where I > could look up the written phrase describing a sound and get an idea of the > pitch, duration, and instrumental factors as well. Hey! If nothing exists, > it would make a great thesis - and also certainly would be a contender for a > viral video. ;) I'm kind of kidding, but be sure to send me any royalties > for my idea and recognize me in the credits! > > > > Another interesting side note is that last year I corresponded with Ryan > Steiner (Ohio list) about a note he posted. He had written an interesting > paper on chickadee sounds. Here is a short quote from his original note: > > "I proceeded to take recordings of the Black-capped Chickadee fee-bee song, > several of which I recorded here in Ohio. I analyzed these recordings and > found a statistically significant difference in songs sung from coniferous > and deciduous trees, with the songs sung in conifers being higher in pitch > than those sung from deciduous trees. More interestingly, there was a > clustering pattern in the pitch of the songs when they were graphed. This > may indicate that chickadees can assess the density of the tree around them > (taking in factors such as where they are on the branch: the middle as > opposed to the end of a > > branch) and then pick a song pitch from a set of pitches that will allow > them to be best heard." > > > > So ultimately we will possibly need to know the habitat as well. (Oh, it's > so complex!). But for now, just give me a starting reference with at least > normal pitch and duration. I can tune up my old guitar to try to play a bird > tune. Or maybe just find my pitch pipe. > > > > I also want to acknowledge Macklin Smith's great reply (May 25, 2010: see > mich-listers archives) to a note I posted last year about single note calls. > He suggested I try to vocalize the written word while feeling the vocal > chords. Yes, it works! (Now that would be a great viral video as well!) This > is what led me to "pzeeent" vs. "peent". He addressed duration and > "instrument" very well, but not the pitch. I note that this was for calls > which are harder than songs to discriminate in text. > > > > Just ramblin' . yet, very interesting! > > > > PS, Just as I was going to hit enter, I saw the note from Thierry. YES! The > instrument is important as I indicate here! Bagpipe indeed! J Maybe that is > the goose secret? > > > > "Dr. Bob" Setzer > > Streamwood Estates, Rochester Hills (Crooks & Hamlin), Oakland County > > > > "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day." Teaching a man to "bird" > is much harder! > > Blog: <http://drbobsbirdblog.blogspot.com/> > http://drbobsbirdblog.blogspot.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]