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mistuning

mistuning

6.7
A wrong setting of a machine or musical instrument
  • noun
  • /ˌmɪsˈtjunɪŋ/
translation icon : desafinación
  • Due to a mistuning in the orchestra, the violin section was not harmonizing with the rest of the instruments.

Examples

  • She quickly adjusted the piano keys to correct the mistuning before the recital started.

  • She found that the ability to recognize mistuned intervals varied considerably depending on the particular interval, the direction of mistuning, and music training.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Mistuning of sections within a given example was either in the sharp or flat direction, not both.

    Academic text (2015)
  • We were interested in whether music students with primary performance experience in voice, wind instruments, or string instruments would judge intonation errors of equal magnitude in the three types of stimuli as equivalent or different in degree of mistuning.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Proposed cognitive factors appear specific to human voices: listeners may be more forgiving of mistuning because we recognize that it is a voice (Hutchins et al., 2012).

    Academic text (2015)
  • They found evidence for a vocal generosity effect in both melodic and single-tone conditions; greater mistuning was necessary for listeners to perceive that sung tones were out of tune compared to violin tones.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Their experienced listeners accepted errors of 50 to 70 cents as in tune; listeners were tolerant, especially when mistunings were sharp, in metrically unstressed locations, and when found in emotionally prominent points in the song.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The musician realized that a slight mistuning of his guitar strings caused the sour sound during the performance.

Synonyms

detuning
vsmistuning
7.4

Changing the pitch of instruments to make a darker, richer sound

is the incorrect result of tuning not the intentional process

Antonyms

tune
  • Specialized
109 4.9

The setting of a device that makes its signal clear

How Tuned

tuning
7 3.5
mistuning
6.7
detuning
7.4

Surface Forms

mistuning singular
mistunings plural

Morphology

mistuning = mistune (transparent) = mis + tune + ing

Formed by the verb 'mistune' + '-ing'; the relation is a regular nominal/gerundive formation and clearly indicates incorrect tuning.

Etymology

Mistuning starts with the part mis- meaning 'wrong', as in mistake, and the word tuning from tune meaning 'to make the right sound or setting'. So a mistuning is a 'wrong tuning' and therefore an incorrect adjustment that makes an instrument or machine work badly.