Experiment controls

Just about two months ago, I wrote about how I had been listening to McCoy Tyner's Afro-Blue and Mrs. S, over a period of a couple of days, kept coming in the middle of it, going "Is that Eldar?" and how I considered the two different enough, even though they are both block chord specialists (of a sort), that I could tell them apart just by listening. But, I further commented, I was usually the one who picked the music and I was familiar enough with Eldar's Blue Note album and some of Tyner's other stuff that maybe I was telling them apart by subconscious clues. I devised an experiment where I would buy one CD each of Eldar and McCoy Tyner that I didn't have and wasn't familiar with, and I wouldn't look at the song list, and Mrs. S would load them in iMusic and randomize a selection of their songs and I would attempt to identify the pianist.

Here are the controls for the experiment:
1) Like I said, I haven't looked at the CD's and don't know what songs are on them. I can somewhat suspect the Tyner plays more standards and Eldar plays "free" stuff, so I will ask Mrs. S to try and mix in mostly just standards, but not knowing what's on the CD's, I'm not sure this is even possible.
2) When the Eldar self titled CD arrived from amazon, I didn't even open the packaging. I just gave it to Mrs. S. When Time for Tyner arrived, same thing, though I happened to see the Eldar CD sitting on the computer keyboard stand. So, I just piled it on top, again, not looking at either one.
3) In preparation, I have been listening to nothing but jazz pianists for the past week. Yesterday, my CD's finally arrived from yourmusic.com (what a story that was) and in addition to the Tyner, there was Jarrett Peacock DeJohnette's Live at Montreaux, which is what I've been listening to this morning. This past week has been a steady diet of Oscar Peterson and Thelonious Monk, but no Tyner or Eldar.
4) When conducting the experiment, I will arrange the room so that I can't see the computer screen or even a reflection of it. Basically, I'm going to sit with my back to the screen (so I can hear all the speakers, sub woofers, etc.) and, I'm guessing, have Mrs. S play ten songs (or more) for a minute or two each, listing them in order, and I will write down who I think is playing each one. She will not tell me if my guess is right or wrong until after I have listened to and guessed at all of the songs so that I don't use any feedback to tell who is playing.

Obviously, if the sounds and songs of the CD's are vastly different, like if one is live and the other isn't, the experiment will not be a success anyway. Same goes if the tonality of the instruments used is very pronounced or unique: I may not know who is playing, but I will know which piano it is and be able to match it up with previously heard songs and my pianist guess.

I suppose someone with a lot more experience than me couldn't even perform this kind of experiment, which is why I think this is such a great opportunity. Some time from now, who knows when, one hopes that my jazz knowledge and experience would be sufficient that I could guess virtually any pianist after hearing just a few bars. Then again, I'm not sure THAT is even possible in the first place.

The experiment is going to be this weekend. Stop back soon to find out how it went.