I just stumbled upon this forum and it looks perfect! The thing is, I'm going to be playing the flute (after having stopped lessons two years ago :-S) in a 'play with songs' (a musical, basically, but the director of our youth drama group is trying to stress the importance of acting...) I'm only doing one, but the songs that we're using don't have any sheet music - the guy who wrote them doesn't know how to write music I don't think so there's not much chance of me getting any sheet music!
I've been trying to transcribe this song but every time I think I've got it right, it fails somehow
It's in E minor. The opening notes that are sung are: F# E, E, E, F# G F# E
The sustained chord in the guitar is E minor, and the arpeggios that are played a few seconds in are E-B-E, E-B-E, E-C-E, so on and so forth.
I didn't use a tuner, I could just hear the pitches. Don't ask how I can do it, because I can't teach you. I can just hear any sound and tell you what pitch it is. (For example, you can actually hear electricity running in the walls and the pitch it makes is an A. You just don't realize you can hear it until it goes out, and then comes back on... that explains the silence and then subtle buzzing).
In the US, electricity is supposed to operate at 60HZ alternating current. Assuming A=440 HZ, A1 should be 55 HZ. 60HZ falls roughly halfway between A#1=58.27 HZ and B1=61.74 HZ.
The power company in your area must be off key. If they were operating at 60 HZ and you're hearing an A , that would make A=480 HZ.
Also, I suspect that rather than hearing the electricity flowing in the walls, what you are hearing is the hum of transformers in fluorescent lights. Transformers are notorious for emitting AC hum. They contain closely wound coils of thin wire that vibrate due to the electromagnetism generated by the current passing through.
"Never give a flute player a screwdriver."
--anonymous--
Ah! Good point! It COULD be the lights/other things. And it wasn't a genuine 440 A. I mean... things don't just 'play' in tune! Haha! It was 'sort of' an 'A'. That was the closest pitch at least. And when it comes to random sounds (rather than genuine tones) my ear can sometimes be off by a semi tone or so, but I'm pretty sure it was an A I was hearing. (It's been over a year so I may be off slightly in remembering this specific event as well...).
Either way, it's close! The buzz right now is an A/A# (it oscillates a bit).
I suspect that the 60 HZ AC is a typical value rather than a standard. In the U.S. AC voltage can vary between 110V and 120V, so I suspect that the same occurs with with the AC waveform and it varies from the typical 60HZ. It's well known that the voltage can vary during peak demand periods and sometimes brownouts occur where the voltage drops below the normal 110-120V. In Europe, they use a 50HZ waveform. The U.S. 60HZ wave probably can vary as well, so I can't recommend using it as a tuning standard.
On the topic of electrical/electronic environmental sounds, I've always been annoyed by the high-pitched whine emitted by old style CRT monitors and TV sets. Those have a 15.625kHz scan frequency for the horizontal lines that comprise a monitor or TV picture. That's roughly 2 octaves above B8, which is 1/2 step below the highest C of the piano. Some monitors and TV sets are louder than others. I find that sound far more distracting than the gentle 60HZ AC hum. I'm very glad that LCD monitors and TVs have nearly eliminated CRT tubes.
"Never give a flute player a screwdriver."
--anonymous--
Thank you fluteguy18!!!! So much! I've now got the first verse (and thus the basis for a lot I hope...) down!
Still struggling on the chorus (1:14 -1:43 ish - The Crane.....calling you home) I'll keep working on it but since it's so easy for you (;-)) and I have a leetle bit of a deadline, any more help would be appreciated!
Btw, your conversation: hilarious and compelling at the same time....!
Any tips? Anyone want to give me the first few notes 
