Unison

Unison
Perfect unison About this sound Play

In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance of one or more octaves; or to rhythmic patterns which are homorhythmic.[1]

Contents

Interval of the unison

unison
Inverse octave
Name
Other names perfect unison
Abbreviation P1
Size
Semitones 0
Interval class 0
Just interval 1:1
Cents
Equal temperament 0
24 equal temperament 0
Just intonation 0
Two pitches that are the same or two that move as one.[2]

Unison (also called a "prime"[3]) may refer to the (pseudo-)interval formed by a tone and its duplication (in German, Unisono, Einklang, or Prime), for example C–C, as differentiated from the second, C–D, etc. In the unison the two pitches have the ratio of 1:1 or 0 half steps and zero cents. Although two tones in unison are considered to be the same pitch, they are still perceivable as coming from separate sources, whether played on instruments of a different type: About this sound play unison on C, piano and guitar ; or of the same type: About this sound play unison on C, two pianos . This is because a pair of tones in unison come from different locations and/or can have different "colors" (timbres), i.e. come from different musical instruments or human voices. Voices with different colors have, as sound waves, different waveforms. These waveforms have the same fundamental frequency but differ in the amplitudes of their higher harmonics. The unison is considered the most consonant interval while the near unison is considered the most dissonant. The unison is also the easiest interval to tune. The unison is abbreviated as P1.

However, the unison was questioned by Zarlino as an interval for lacking contrast and compared to a point in geometry:

Equality is never found in consonances or intervals, and the unison is to the musician what the point is to the geometer. A point is the beginning of a line, although, it is not itself a line. But a line is not composed of points, since a point has no length, width, or depth that can be extended, or joined to another point. So a unison is only the beginning of consonance or interval; it is neither consonance nor interval, for like the point it is incapable of extension.[4]

"In unison"

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" melody doubled in four octaves. About this sound Play
Several singers singing a melody together.[2]

In orchestral music unison can mean the simultaneous playing of a note (or a series of notes constituting a melody) by different instruments, either at the same pitch; or in a different octave, for example, cello and double bass (all'unisono). Typically a section string player plays unison with the rest of the section. Occasionally the Italian word divisi (meaning divided, abbrev. div.) marks a point where an instrumental section, typically the first violins, is to be divided into two groups for rendering passages that might, for example, include full chords. Thus, in the divisi first violins the "outside" players (nearer the audience) might play the top note of the chord, while the "inside" seated players play the middle note, and the second violins play the bottom note. At the point where the first violins no longer play divisi, the score may indicate this with unison (abbrev. unis.).

When several people sing together, as in a chorus, the simplest way for them to sing is to sing in "one voice", in unison. If there is an instrument accompanying them, then the instrument must play the same notes being sung by the singers (in order for there to be unison). Otherwise the instrument is considered a separate "voice" and there is no unison. If there is no instrument, then the singing is said to be a cappella. Music in which all the notes sung are in unison is called monophonic.

From this sense can be derived another, figurative, sense: if several people do something "in unison" it means they do it simultaneously, in tandem, in lockstep. Related terms are "univocal" and "unanimous".

Monophony could also conceivably include more than one voice which do not sing in unison but whose pitches move in parallel, always maintaining the same interval of an octave. A pair of notes sung one or a multiple of an octave apart are almost in unison, due to octave equivalency.

When there are two or more voices singing different notes, this is called "part singing". If they are singing notes at different pitches but with the same rhythm this is called homophony. An example is a barbershop quartet or a choir singing a hymn. If each voice is singing an independent line (either the same melody at a different time, or different melodies) this is called polyphony.

Synthesizer

On synthesizers, the term unison is used to describe two or more oscillators that are slightly detuned in correspondence to each other, which makes the sound fatter. This technique is so popular that some modern virtual analog synthesisers have a special oscillator type called "super saw" or "hyper saw" that generates several detuned sawtooth waves simultaneously.[citation needed] This method is often used in techno and trance.

Sources

  1. ^ Rushton, Julian. "Unison (prime)"]. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/28790. Retrieved August 2011.  (subscription needed)
  2. ^ a b Benward, Bruce, and Marilyn Nadine Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, seventh edition, p.364. Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
  3. ^ Benward & Saker (2003), p.53.
  4. ^ Thomas Street Christensen (2004). Rameau and musical thought in the Enlightenment, p. 76. ISBN 9780521617093.

Further reading

  • Apel, Willi, ed., Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969. ISBN 674375017.

See also


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  • Unison — Unison …   Википедия

  • Unison — U ni*son (?; 277), n. [LL. unisonus having the same sound; L. unus one + sonus a sound: cf. F. unisson, It. unisono. See {One}, and {Sound} a noise.] 1. Harmony; agreement; concord; union. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mus.) Identity in pitch; coincidence… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Unison — (homonymie) Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. UNISON est un syndicat professionnel anglais. Unison est un logiciel de synchronisation et de sauvegarde. Unison: Rebels of Rhythm and Dance… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • unison — UNISÓN s.n. Executare de către un grup vocal sau instrumental a unei melodii la aceeaşi înălţime. ♦ fig. Acord deplin, comuniune de idei, de sentimente, de interese. – Din fr. unisson, lat. unisonus. Trimis de valeriu, 03.04.2003. Sursa: DEX 98  …   Dicționar Român

  • Unison — bezeichnet: Unison (Programm), ein Synchronisierungsprogramm Unison (Theater), ein Moskauer Theaterensemble Unison (Virginia), ein gemeindefreies Gebiet im Südwesten von Loudoun County, Virginia UNISON (Gewerkschaft), die Gewerkschaft für den… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Unison — U ni*son (?; 277), a. [Cf. It. unisono. See {Unison}, n.] 1. Sounding alone. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] [sounds] intermixed with voice, Choral or unison. Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mus.) Sounded alike in pitch; unisonant; unisonous; as, unison… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • unison — 1570s, from M.Fr. unisson unison, accord of sound (16c.), from M.L. unisonus having one sound, sounding the same, from L.L. unisonius in immediate sequence in the scale, monotonous, from L. uni one (see ONE (Cf. one)) + sonus sound (see SOUND (Cf …   Etymology dictionary

  • unison — ► NOUN 1) simultaneous action or utterance. 2) Music a coincidence in pitch of sounds or notes. ► ADJECTIVE ▪ performed in unison. ORIGIN Latin unisonus, from sonus sound …   English terms dictionary

  • unison — [yo͞o′nə sən, yo͞o′nəzən] n. [MFr < ML unisonus, having the same sound < L unus,ONE + sonus, a SOUND1] 1. an interval consisting of two identical musical pitches; prime 2. complete agreement; concord; harmony in unison 1. sounding the same …   English World dictionary

  • unison — index accordance (compact), agreement (concurrence), concert, consensus, consent, rapprochement …   Law dictionary

  • unison — англ. [ю/низн] unisono ит. [уни/соно] Unisono нем. [унисо/но] unisson фр. [юнисо/н] unisonus лат. [унисо/нус] 1) унисон, прима 2) указание играть всей группой инструм. в унисон после раздельного исполнени …   Словарь иностранных музыкальных терминов

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