Live does this already as built in feature AUDIO->MIDI and all DAWs that have a tuning feature can do this as well. Melodyne, etc, can also convert your tones to midi notes.

 

Also please take into account that "absolute pitch" or "relative pitch" are not skills that you can have or not have. This boolean duality is just not what it is. If you spend time with it, you will be better at identifying stuff.
In other music systems there are more than 12 notes per octave, or they are not evenly distributed, etc.
Besides, some instruments have different overtone structures than stringed or wind instruments (e.g. bells), therefore they cannot be played simultaneously using the same intervals or chords as the common music system suggests.

 

Absolute pitch: You pick up an instrument and tune it or at least get within 10-20 cents with no help. I used to be able to do this easily, but it seems to be waning with age a little. Or

Relative pitch means you identify an interval once given a root.

Singers do this naturally if they are singing in key or harmonically in mode. It is also the ability to tell when someone has played a wrong note or recognize non-harmonic dissonance, most of us can do this to some extent and all of us can get better at it. Relative pitch means you can recognize the same tone is being played an octave up/down, identify a third, ect...

 

No i'm talking about perfect or absolute pitch. Relative pitch is what you learn when practising intervals, triads, scales etc. I'm aware that it's fairly rare, but my point is, many people can learn it, contrary to what people thought ages ago. I'm not saying it's necessary, but it helps.

 

Church bells are tuned, tubular bells, Alpine Cow Bells and of course the most magnificent bell instrument that I personally ever heard in the flesch, the Carillon at Rochester University...so yes, bells can be played using intervals or chords as the common music system suggests.

 

Last edited: Mar 3, 2021

@Lois Lane

I don't think @RealBananas implied that bells can not be tuned.

They do have a different harmonic structure and overtones from some more purpose built instruments especially in the sustain and decay of notes and when played together mono phonically it creates a dissonance in the decay of the tones.

This is not always undesirable or unpleasant though. Think of the difference in decay and sustain that singing bowl exhibits when struck versus when it is bowed, it is basically a violin and a bell at the same time.

 

I still disagree as shown by the dampening technique shown in the Carillon video. As well, a xylophone which is very close to a bell and akin to one albeit in a flattened shape, can be played with other instruments. A fuzzed out/loud distorted, compressed guitar can sustain infinately but through technique be controlled. And of course there is this which I must have listened to 500 times as a teen...

And I sing along with the church bells as they clang away in my village from time to time.

 

I see what you are saying and like I said it's not necessarily unpleasant and dampening removes the issue completely.

I think we are classifying different things as bells, but hey the more the merrier as long as it sounds good I dig it.

 

..

 

Last edited: Mar 4, 2021

Let's get technical

Check out this paper from 1987:
https://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~compi/demos/AuditoryDemonstrations/402660.pdf
(Still one of the most amazing works in the field of auditory perception.)

Of course it is hard to understand the stuff without the sound demonstrations from the CD, which is hard to get:
https://www.discogs.com/No-Artist-Auditory-Demonstrations/release/2854226

Therefore, please feel free to download it from here as long as it is available
http://www.rctn.org/bruno/data/auditory_demonstrations/ASA-auditory-demonstrations/

I am referring especially to the demos 58 to 61 ("Tones And Tuning With Stretched Partials").
Makers of bells, and mallets or percussion instruments in general, have a hard time in "finetuning" their instrument's sound to make the overtones just right.
But it is easy for synthesizers to control the overtone structure in a way that pitch recognition in the traditional sense will fail.

 

Well, what works for me is just recording myself singing for the ideas. Even if I don't get it correct, there's still the rhythm and dynamics to work with.

Also, if you do play an instrument then when practicing sing the notes out as well if possible. Say I'm playing E-minor on the guitar then I play E F# G A B C D E and I'll sing "Eeeeeh Fiissss Geeee Aaaah" and so on. I found out that for me it makes easier to record those "in my head" bits way easier.

 

I was always able to play what I heard in my head, but I was barely able to hit correct keys/notes,
I guess it's matter of practice, nothing mysterious

 

I decided very early on when learning the guitar to always have it next to me when at home so I could try to play along with the TV or radio. I stuck at it, (started by picking on single notes and guessing what pentatonic shape might fit) and a few years on, now it's pretty much second nature to play along with random pieces of music.. If you can play what you hear, you can play what you hum, or sing.

Find a way that you find rewarding to train your ears to work with your fingers. Apps, learning songs, playing one note at a time to music you've never heard before to work out a scale that fits, whatever works for you. Take it slow and enjoy the journey

 

Most methodologies for learning and performing music correctly are still mysteries. One of those secrets is this secret.

If these methods were not a secret, everyone would be a prominent composer now.

You may perform simple melodies with newfangled methods, but when it comes to complex tasks, very systematic and intelligent methods are needed which are not handily accessible.

Unfortunately, not all the training that a musician needs to produce prodigious music is available. Instructional videos also usually teach very general contents, and there are no specific ways to learn music properly.

 

My sister took piano lessons for three years.
One day I sat down at the piano and was playing better than her in five minutes.
Since I had attention deficit disorder as a kid I didn't know I was supposed to be afraid of failure

 

I can't pretend I actually know the answer to this problem because I don't think I can just pull the music out of my head naturally & quickly either. It comes from years & years of practicing for me.

But what I find helps me is doing just that, taking time to jam & practice whatever it is you do daily. That's it, no real rules other than to do something every day. Once you hit a roadblock, then take a a week or 2 off if you can.

Personally I struggle to disconnect from what I'm doing. I preach to others about taking breaks so well but never do a lick of it myself. Well HA! I took 2 weeks off & played a game without worrying about anything & it felt great.

I told myself to not feel guilty about it. I looked to see when was the last time I played a video game & it was 2017. I actually didn't realize it was that long, but now it's time to return to the work again, but this time more refreshed.

 

Sorry I should have given examples of what I mean. I like to write in a jam based sort of way. Just sitting down with my instruments & banging out riffs then building onto them as I try different variations.

If you are dry for ideas, then crank your radio up a bit then steal a riff from that as you play along, then give THAT variations until it's your own riff. Once you have that, the rest of it kind of writes itself.