Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2022 March 30

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March 30

For someone without a tin ear: what are the notes in Dramatic Chipmunk?

I am writing about the history of the "dun, dun, DUUUUUHN!" sound effect. One of its famous modern uses was in Dramatic Chipmunk. Lacking anything approaching musical talent, can anyone tell me what three notes are played in this clip? The article states it is "A minor, C♯ minor, and E minor", but when I play those on a piano it sounds very different. In contrast, when I play E♭, C, F♯, another variation on the string, it sounds exactly like what I find in recordings. Maury Markowitz (talk) 16:10, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

You're mixing different musical concepts. A minor, C♯ minor, and E minor are chords or scales, while E♭, C, F♯ are musical notes. Just relating your notes to the chords in question, E♭ is the sharp 11 (notated D♯, a tritone) of A minor, C is the sharp seventh of C♯-minor (and would be notated as B♯), and F♯ is the ninth of E minor. My ear-training is not up to snuff to pull those specific notes out of the sound clip, but those chords are fairly dissonant, and so likely contain many upper extensions, such that the notes in question may very well be in the chords as listed; the basic chords really only imply the core triad. Try to add those upper extensions into the basic chords, and see if it better approximates the sound... --Jayron32 16:46, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

So of what use is the passage in the Dramatic Chipmunk article? It appears to define nothing? Maury Markowitz (talk) 17:14, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

If it is correct (and I haven't checked) then it may be just outlining the core triad for each chord (the root-third-fifth). This is common in informal writing about music; any modifications or extensions to the triad may be left out in a cursory explanation of the harmony; sometimes those extensions are left up to the arranger or performer, and sometimes they are implied by the conventions of the musical style (for example, jazz chords usually always include the dominant seventh note, so much so that no one mentions it in general discussions of jazz harmony). --Jayron32 17:41, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

I'm not sure I'm using the proper terms. The "other variation" of the Dun Dun Duuun also uses three chords, the last rather dischordant. Yet it is translated into three notes, and when I play those three notes on a piano it sounds like the same thing. In the case of the Chipmunk variation being discussed here, I assume there is a similar series of three single notes that will do the same. The last one sounds a lot like a G? Maury Markowitz (talk) 13:59, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

The first two notes you play will imply a chord, and the third note will imply a different chord. If you play E♭ and C, that's two notes from the C minor triad chord (settling comfortably on the tonic). Then if you add F♯ (and emphasize it), that combines psychologically with the E♭ to imply that what you were really going for was the E♭ minor triad chord. What does the C mean, in that case? Which of the last two notes is the intruder? Is the C a major sixth in a minor scale? What key are we even in? It's so uncomfortable! And that's how dramatic chords work, only with entire chords that don't sit comfortably in sequence instead of single notes.  Card Zero  (talk) 14:35, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

In a minor chord, there are (at least) three notes that are sounded together, like when you depress three keys of an organ at the same time. So, for example, A minor — C♯ minor — E minor could be realized as A+C+E — E+G♯+C♯ — B+E+G. Inasmuch as you perceive a melody in this chord progression, it is probably formed by the notes of the highest voice: E — C♯ — G. That is, the contour of the melody is a rising minor sixth followed by a falling tritone. The contour of E♭ — C — F♯ is ... a rising minor sixth followed by a falling tritone. Unless you have perfect pitch, you'll perceive these as the same melody.  --Lambiam 13:41, 1 April 2022 (UTC)

Where is the Good Sam interchange?

This may not be the place to ask, but since it involves something that appeared on a TV series, I'll ask it here.

In a photo on the wall of an office in the TV series Good Sam is a photo of a highway interchange. Is there any way to figure out what this is?

This is where I saw an episode online (hopefully it's still there) and in this video the photo is shown at 37:48.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:08, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

It appears to be This image turned 90 degrees. That's the interchange between Interstate 295 (Florida) (formerly Florida Road 9A) and Florida State Road 202 (Butler Boulevard) in Jacksonville. Here. --Jayron32 12:22, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Is the show set in Florida? --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:44, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Michigan, apparently. --Jayron32 16:33, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

That's a pretty amazing interchange design. Seems like Wikipedia should say something about it.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 18:25, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

It does. WHAAOE. --Jayron32 18:32, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Are we certain the photo I described is the correct turbine interchange? And if so, shouldn't that be mentioned in the Interstate 295 (Florida) article?— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:34, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

The photo you cited is the same photo I cited, rotated 90 degrees, and the photo I cited is from a webpage that identifies the interchange I directed you towards. The layout can be confirmed via the map function of Google Maps. The Also, it IS mentioned there. In the "exit list" section, next to exit 53, it states "Unnumbered, freeway-to-freeway interchange on SR 202; turbine interchange; signed as exits 53A (east) and 53B (west) counterclockwise" (bold mine). The image I cited above has south to the right. I believe your image had south pointing up. If you use satellite view, you can confirm they are all the same, and that they are that specific interchange, by the distinctive way the pavement changes color, and by the way that in the southward direction along I-295, the road widens, and by the way that the trees and decorations are arranged. The satellite view DOES show a newer housing development in nestled in the southeast quadrant of the interchange that is not present in either your or my version; but the rest of it matches exactly. --Jayron32 12:27, 1 April 2022 (UTC)

Thanks. It's too much trouble to find a way to look at them side-by-side. It does seem like such a design should be in the article text, not the exit list.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 18:47, 1 April 2022 (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure why... It's is a not-uncommon interchange design. There are dozens of examples. They are rarer than other types of freeway-freeway interchanges (like a cloverleaf or multi-level stack interchange), but this one is not unique by any means. If you think it bears mentioning in the "route description", by all means, write a sentence about it. Other examples include the northern I-85/I-485 interchange north of Charlotte, NC. The I-787/US-9 interchange in Albany, NY. I-4/I-75 outside Tampa. The M-25/M-3 interchange southeast of London. E-313/E-314 outside Lummen, Belgium. I-12/US-190 outside Covington, LA is a half-turbine half-cloverleaf design. The Jane Byrne Interchange used to be a full turbine, but has been partially modified. These are ones I found in a 10 minute look through Google. This is not an exhaustive list. --Jayron32 12:13, 4 April 2022 (UTC)