Sketch For Dawn

"...long spirals upwards in perfect fiction"<br /> <br /> I can guess how this error originated. One of the song titles on LC is a reference to a volume in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Though--if I recall correctly--a recent translation has new and supposedly-more-accurate English versions of the titles: both of the work as a whole, and of each individual volume). For example the "Budding Grove" volume: its title refers to how preadolescent girls grow into adolescents and young women...a topic which earlier translators no doubt felt was too touchy to render plainly. Not sure whether "The Sweet Cheat Gone" is slated to be changed; I don't think the new translations have gotten that far in their release schedule yet.<br /> <br /> Such a giant fictional work ought to have long (directional?) changes in tone. So I imagined, anyway...while listening to these words in my head (oblivious to what Vini was in truth singing).<br /> <br /> I have perfect pitch. Unless you're a performing singer--in, let's say, the classical realm (thus allowing you to sing on demand an F# over middle C)--there's not much benefit. I don't perform music so it's useless. (I learned I had it when I was younger & singing in a chorus.) In fact it can be a liability for musicians.<br /> <br /> About all I can do these days is whistle, but even that rudimentary ability is sufficient for me to grasp how perfect pitch can throw you off. I hear melodies as absolute frequencies--rather than relative differences among notes--which makes it impossible for me to transpose into another key. Maybe I can do it for a couple notes: but then I always lapse into the key of the performance of that song with which I'm most familiar.<br /> <br /> The only practical aspect of this dubious "gift" which I've been able to find: I can tell if a turntable or tape deck is too slow or fast and therefore needs adjusting. If it's inaccurate by as much as a semitone, it just sounds wrong.