Re: Riffmaster and notation questions

Reed Kotler Consulting ( reed@reedkotler.com )
Tue, 04 Feb 1997 08:22:39 +0000

At 08:42 AM 2/4/97 -0500, you wrote:
>In a recent Just Jazz post Reed Kotler <reed@justjazz.com> said
>
>> I finally recieved my RiffMaster unit and got a chance
>> to try it out a bit tonight.
>>
>> (For those that don't know this is a device which will slow
>> down recordings to as slow as 1/4 speed without a change in
>> pitch.)
>
>Greetings,
> Will this device work on CDs, cassettes, albums or any combination
>of the above? Thanks for your help and a great mailing list. By the way,
>could you point me to an explaination of I ii iii IV V... and how this
>notation relates to jazz? I believe the lower case roman numerals are
>minor chords but I don't know if it means a m7 or what. Thanks again for
>your help.
>---

The device has a place to plug a line input which can come from
a CD player, cassette player, whatever. You can also I believe
substitute the headphone output of any unit for the line input device.

The only thing I wish it had is a cutoff switch for the output.
You could make such a device very simply and maybe if there is enough
interest someone on the list will post the exact parts needed from
say some national chain like Radio Shack or whatever.

You can get the same effect by just turning the nob down on an
amplifier, which is what I do, but except for that one problem, the
unit is entirely standalone.

You need the cutoff switch so you can stop all sound at the next
note you want to get. (You don't want to be confused by the following
note [although sometimes you can be confused by a note until you
hear the following note]).

It has line in/line out, headphone jack, left/right separation switch,
etc.

As for the roman numerals, there is more or less a standard notation
however people often use hybrids. I do mostly because I'm afraid that
people may not know the standard.

Capital roman numerals are for major chords, lower case for minor
and lower case with a little o symbol for diminished.

Unfortunatly it gets very unwieldy for jazz chords like minor 7b5 etc
so I tend to add in the rest of the chord.

in C.

I C
ii D minor
iii E minor ...

i7 C minor 7 or also im7 somewhat redundant
im7b5 C minor 7b5

When figured bass notation was invented, triad harmony was what was used
mostly (no non dominant seventh chords as such) and anyway it doesnt
do very well as more complex harmonies are introduced.

reed

>Chris Hardin AT&T chardin@attmail.com
>
>
>Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\WINMAIL15.DAT"
>

Reed Kotler
http://www.reedkotler.com