Scale (music)

In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by decreasing pitch is a descending scale. Some scales contain different pitches when ascending than when descending. For example, the Melodic minor scale.

Often, especially in the context of the common practice period, most or all of the melody and harmony of a musical work is built using the notes of a single scale, which can be conveniently represented on a staff with a standard key signature.

Due to the principle of octave equivalence, scales are generally considered to span a single octave, with higher or lower octaves simply repeating the pattern. A musical scale represents a division of the octave space into a certain number of scale steps, a scale step being the recognizable distance (or interval) between two successive notes of the scale. However, there is no need for scale steps to be equal within any scale and, particularly as demonstrated by microtonal music, there is no limit to how many notes can be injected within any given musical interval.

Scale length (string instruments)

When referring to stringed instruments, the scale length (often simply called the "scale") is considered to be the maximum vibrating length of the strings to produce sound, and determines the range of tones that string is capable of producing under a given tension. In the classical community, it may be called simply "string length." On instruments in which strings are not "stopped" or divided in length (typically by frets, the player's fingers, or other mechanism), such as the piano, it is the actual length of string between the nut and the bridge.

String instruments produce sound through the vibration of their strings. The range of tones these strings can produce is determined by three primary factors: the mass of the string (related to its thickness as well as other aspects of its construction: density of the metal/alloy etc.), the tension placed upon it, and the instrument's scale length.

On many, but not all, instruments, the strings are at least roughly the same length, so the instrument's scale can be expressed as a single length measurement, as for example in the case of the violin or guitar. On other instruments, the strings are of different lengths according to their pitch, as for example in the case of the harp or piano.

Scale (physics)

In sciences such as physics, geography, astronomy, meteorology and statistics, the term scale or spatial scale is used for describing or classifying with large approximation the extent or size of a length, distance, or area studied or described. For instance, in physics an object or phenomenon can be called microscopic if too small to be visible. In climatology, a micro-climate is a climate which might occur in a mountain, valley, or near a lake shore, whereas in statistics a megatrend is a political, social, economical, environmental, or technological trend which involves the whole planet or is supposed to last a very large amount of time.

In physics, the concept of scale is closely related to the more accurate concept of order of magnitude.

These divisions are somewhat arbitrary; where, on this table, mega- is assigned global scope, it may only apply continentally or even regionally in other contexts. The interpretations of meso- and macro- must then be adjusted accordingly.

Order of magnitude

Orders of magnitude are written in powers of 10. For example, the order of magnitude of 1500 is 3, since 1500 may be written as 1.5 × 10³.

Differences in order of magnitude can be measured on the logarithmic scale in "decades" (i.e., factors of ten). Examples of numbers of different magnitudes can be found at Orders of magnitude (numbers).

Uses

Orders of magnitude are used to make approximate comparisons. If numbers differ by one order of magnitude, x is about ten times different in quantity than y. If values differ by two orders of magnitude, they differ by a factor of about 100. Two numbers of the same order of magnitude have roughly the same scale: the larger value is less than ten times the smaller value.

The order of magnitude of a number is, intuitively speaking, the number of powers of 10 contained in the number. More precisely, the order of magnitude of a number can be defined in terms of the common logarithm, usually as the integer part of the logarithm, obtained by truncation. For example, the number 4,000,000 has a logarithm (in base 10) of 6.602; its order of magnitude is 6. When truncating, a number of this order of magnitude is between 10⁶ and 10⁷. In a similar example, with the phrase "He had a seven-figure income", the order of magnitude is the number of figures minus one, so it is very easily determined without a calculator to be 6. An order of magnitude is an approximate position on a logarithmic scale.

Music (Erick Sermon and Marvin Gaye song)

"Music" is a 2001 hit single by Erick Sermon featuring archived vocals from Marvin Gaye.

The song was thought of by Sermon after buying a copy of Gaye's Midnight Love and the Sexual Healing Sessions album, which overlook some of the original album's earlier mixes. After listening to an outtake of Gaye's 1982 album track, "Turn On Some Music" (titled "I've Got My Music" in its initial version), Sermon decided to mix the vocals (done in a cappella) and add it into his own song. The result was similar to Natalie Cole's interpolation of her father, jazz great Nat "King" Cole's hit, "Unforgettable" revisioned as a duet. The hip hop and soul duet featuring the two veteran performers was released as the leading song of the soundtrack to the Martin Lawrence & Danny DeVito comedy, "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" The song became a runaway success rising to #2 on Billboard's R&B chart and was #1 on the rap charts. It also registered at #21 pop giving Sermon his highest-charted single on the pop charts as a solo artist and giving Gaye his first posthumous hit in 10 years following 1991's R&B-charted single, "My Last Chance" also bringing Gaye his 41st top 40 pop hit. There is also a version that's played on Adult R&B stations that removes Erick Sermon's rap verses. The song was featured in the 2011 Matthew McConaughey film The Lincoln Lawyer.

Music (Erick Sermon album)

Music is the fourth album and first album on J Records by hip hop artist Erick Sermon. It was received well critically and commercially. Its success was fueled by its title track "Music" which sampled vocals from Marvin Gaye and in terms of chart position is Sermon's most popular song, peaking at #22, along with inclusion on the soundtrack of the Martin Lawrence/Danny DeVito film What's the Worst That Could Happen?; the music video for the song featured scenes from the film intermixed with clips of Gaye performing in archived music videos and music programs. "Music" propelled the album to reach #33 on The Billboard 200 chart making it Sermon's second most popular solo album.

Track listing

Samples

Come Thru

Music

I'm That Nigga

615 Music

615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 615 Music composes television news music packages and custom image campaigns for many television networks around the world. 615 Music also operates out of Los Angeles. The name 615 Music comes from Nashville's Area Code (615), which is where the company is based.

The company composed the last three image campaigns for NBC's Today morning news/entertainment program: "Live for Today" (2005–2006), "It's a New Day" (2006–2007), and "Why I Love Today" (2008). The "Live for Today" theme was nominated for an Emmy. 615 Music also has a production music library.

The company, along with other composers of news music such as Gari Communications, have seen a surge in business since the third quarter of 2006. This is because licensing companies had raised the prices of licensing. In 2007, 615 Music signed a deal with Belo Corporation making them the exclusive provider of news music for the station group.

The company's music has also been licensed for use in movie trailers. Their track "Goth" was used in the domestic trailer for the critically acclaimed 2007 action film, Live Free or Die Hard.