Yonatan Zunger (zunger) wrote,
Yonatan Zunger
zunger

How to identify music...

I really wish there were some systematic way to identify music that you can partially remember.

I've got a bit of music that's been stuck in my head, quite literally, for several years. It's symphonic, with strings leading the melody and some fairly serious horns backing them up. I'm fairly sure it's late 19th- or early 20th-century Russian; it's fairly classical in its style, but has that special bombast of Russian nationalist music. More Tchaikovsky than Rachmaninoff. It sounds like the final movement of a string concerto or (more likely) a symphony, but I'm not sure if it's the main theme or a secondary theme. It's in a minor key -- I think f minor, but I don't really trust my ability to remember an exact pitch after this many years.

Now the question is... given all of this, and the ability to hum the melody (or even transcribe it, I suppose)... how the hell can I figure out what piece it is?

(I've tried going to Amazon and listening to as many samples of pieces as I could find that might match this. Not much luck. There's a lot of music out there.)

Anyone have any ideas?
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 34 comments

savorie

November 20 2008, 21:13:26 UTC 7 years ago

I've sent your question to my friend writerspleasure, who boasts both a phenomenal memory and a huge backlog of classical music knowledge (Lizt, Chopin, etc).

In the meantime, how much of it do you think you can transcribe? Or you can play the melody or theme on your piano and post it to YouTube for even more help.

writerspleasure

November 20 2008, 21:36:27 UTC 7 years ago

http://zunger.livejournal.com/164804.html?thread=817348#t817348

zunger

November 20 2008, 21:53:35 UTC 7 years ago

Hrm, I never thought of posting it to YT as a way of asking questions. That's an interesting idea. :)

As far as being able to transcribe, the hardest part is figuring out how to type musical notation. I could probably get down a good eight measures of the melody.

savorie

November 20 2008, 21:55:24 UTC 7 years ago

I think if you just turn on your iSight on your MBP, hum a few bars (or play a few piano notes in the key you hear in your head), and post it to YT (and to your journal and perhaps a few classical music LJ communities), you might have your answer in no time.