Perfect Pitch and Equal Temperament

[Xaladin]

This is mostly a musical musing and I don’t expect much discussion but if there are any music theory nerds out there, come on in!

So, I’m guessing most Returned (and people at the Second Heightening) would abhor music us normal people make because they would hear it “out of tune.” I want to take it a step further though. Modern pianos are tuned with what’s called Equal Temperament, meaning that all keys are just a little off, as opposed to one key sounding beautiful with some of the others sounding terrible. The discrepancy comes from the fact that 2^(1/12) is not rational. 
 

My question is would a Returned hate all modern piano music? How sensitive is their Perfect Pitch?

[Quantus]

I dont think they would (necessarily) hate it, I just dont think they would perceive it quite the same way since they are hearing literal Absolute pitches rather than the relative perception we do, and they'd get far more nuance. Would that ruin the experience?  Would it ruin Pizza if you were sensitive enough to taste all the individual ingredients instead of just the big notes of Salt, Greece, Marinara?  Probably depends on the indivdual Returned more than anything.

I do expect they'd be able to appreciate music that is written and performed by those with the relevant Heightenings, just as they do for paintings.  

[HSuperLee]

I honestly think heightenings wouldn't diminish enjoyment of music simply because their effect seems to heighten the perception of beauty rather than diminish it. You'd think having perfect color perception would make most colors they see be garish and ugly by comparison, but instead they seem to see the world as more beautiful as a result of the heightenings. I can only assume the same would apply for their hearing.

[Stick The Worldhopper]

When Vivinna (idk the spelling I listened to the audiobook) it said something like “ I couldn’t focus on what he was saying because his voice sounded like beautiful music” this would imply that breaths only enchants sound and doesn’t make it worse

[Echa]

Something somewhat related to this, I'm in a music theory class and the professor commented that a person without perfect pitch can only recognize about 7-9 pitches if they hear them (like a usual major or minor 8 note scale), but people with perfect pitch can recognize 12 or more (this was somewhat unclear because we were talking about the 12 note scale and not actually about people with perfect pitch), which I found interesting and immediately thought about the gods of Hallendren, naturally. Of course my original thought was wondering if they would listen to music with the 12 tones and if it would just sound like so much noise to people below the 3rd(?) Heightening rather than if the gods of Hallendren would find a piano's tuning Not Good.

[Sir Anthony]

No, a Returned wouldn't necessarily hate modern piano music. Though they might find it strange at first if they use a different scale. But more generally, having perfect pitch doesn't really affect one's enjoyment of music. I'm currently listening to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, and even though (having perfect pitch myself) I can identify what key each piece is in, and (with some focus and time) what each note is, I can still sit back and enjoy the music. And even if I'm listening to the same piece performed on a harpsichord in a historical temperament (instead of equal temperament) and tuned a half-step flat to my ear, I still enjoy it.