keyless vs. keyed (a different slant)

[fyffer]

My flute is keyless.
It plays diatonically in the key of D major.
Therefore it is not keyless.

My friend's flute has 6 keys.
It can easily play fully chromatically.
Therefore it is keyless.

I'm confused.



Haiku:

Simple keyless flute
Diatonic, keyed in D
So keyless no more

[fluti31415]

My flute is keyless.
It plays diatonically in the key of D major.
Therefore it is not keyless.

My friend's flute has 6 keys.
It can easily play fully chromatically.
Therefore it is keyless.

I'm confused.



Haiku:

Simple keyless flute
Diatonic, keyed in D
So keyless no more

This statement is false.

[bradhurley]

Hmm, using this logic maybe all "keyless" flutes should be called five-key flutes, because without any half-holing or cross-fingering (other than the C natural) you can play in at least five keys easily, such as D, Em, G, Am, and Bm on a D flute.

Play more, key less, that's the key to less distress.

[fyffer]

This statement is false.

Shannon, please tell me you've read "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golded Braid" ....

[bradhurley]

do you walk to work, or carry your lunch?

[Wormdiet]

This statement is false.

Shannon, please tell me you've read "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golded Braid" ....

I got partway into that book and totally got lost. What I could deconstruct (humanities person here) was really interesting, but it is definitely not easy going.

[Doug_Tipple]

I'm clueless about the keyless definition. My open-holed, silver flute has 17 holes, all of which are covered with keys. It is clearly chromatic, playable in any key but still tuned in D with regard to the open holes, just like the Irish simple system flute. I wouldn't consider it keyless for that reason. If this is not correct, then I may be wrong.

[fluti31415]

I'm clueless about the keyless definition. My open-holed, silver flute has 17 holes, all of which are covered with keys. It is clearly chromatic, playable in any key but still tuned in D with regard to the open holes, just like the Irish simple system flute. I wouldn't consider it keyless for that reason. If this is not correct, then I may be wrong.

Maybe a better phrase would be omni-keyed?

[fluti31415]

This statement is false.

Shannon, please tell me you've read "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golded Braid" ....

I got partway into that book and totally got lost. What I could deconstruct (humanities person here) was really interesting, but it is definitely not easy going.

Yep, read it when I was an undergraduate, in the 80's. I agree, it's not easy going. You did too, didn't you, Fyffer!

[fyffer]

Shannon, please tell me you've read "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golded Braid" ....

I got partway into that book and totally got lost. What I could deconstruct (humanities person here) was really interesting, but it is definitely not easy going.

Yep, read it when I was an undergraduate, in the 80's. I agree, it's not easy going. You did too, didn't you, Fyffer!

Indeed -- I have read it three separate times, spaced by approximately 5 years between reads. As a matter of fact, it's about time to read it again. I read it, worked through it, agonized on it, wrote some programs, read more of it, laughed, cried ...

'tis a lovely thing.

[fluti31415]

'f y'wanna read it together, I'm up for it. But I'm a slow reader.

[Bretton]

Metamagical Themas is good too. I've read most of Mr. Hofstadter's books but wouldn't claim to understand more than 1/2 of what I've read.



-Brett

P.S. I've been trying to get myself to read A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram (Mathematica guy) but haven't made it very far...

[fyffer]

Oh my! Look, Shannon -- another self-proclaimed math super-geek has come out of the closet!
Brett, you may or may not believe this, but I started to plow through Metamagical Themas as well, and got very sidetracked along the way. I do still have it, and hopefully I'll get back into it. Wanna get on the GEB bandwagon with me and Shannon?? We'll start a flute-players/math geek book club.

There was one other Hofstadter book -- which I have long since lost, and forgotten the title. It was gold with black lettering on the jacket, and the cover art was a strangely scripted alphabet, and much of the book was essays and theses on intelligent computer programs, one of which was supposed to derive complete fonts based on a couple of example letters. Other essays were about programs to do "Jumble" puzzes. I really liked that book, and was sad to have it disappear (besides, it was a $30+ hardcover, first edition, uneven pages and all!)

FLUTE PLAYING MATH GEEKS UNITE!

Metamagical Themas is good too. I've read most of Mr. Hofstadter's books but wouldn't claim to understand more than 1/2 of what I've read.



-Brett

P.S. I've been trying to get myself to read A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram (Mathematica guy) but haven't made it very far...

[phcook]

I read it a few years ago, it'time to read it again and refresh the ram; May I join the club? (in French version)

[fluti31415]

I read it a few years ago, it'time to read it again and refresh the ram; May I join the club? (in French version)

Wow -- who would have thought?

Anyone who is interested, meet here for now:
http://godelescherbach.blogspot.com/