Re: music vs noise

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@domain.elided>]

Jay Negrin writes:

> In my Alfetta, above 3,000 to 3,500 rpm is where the radio becomes 
> an interesting dash ornament, and the *real* music comes from the 
> engine compartment.

So... I *love* the low-end torque of my new-to-me '74 with the Spica-fed
2-liter.  I also love the way that it rips up through the RPM band.

And I'm trying to attune myself to the fact that it's so nice to be able
to hold a conversation in fairly normal tones while driving. :-)

Y'see... my first Alfa has the 1300 engine with twin Webers.  (I also
pulled the fan some time back and replaced it with an electric unit,
which is something I'm noticing about the 2-liter -- it sounds just a
bit like a turboprop at medium revs.)

At 3000 to 3500, the 1300 sounded okay, but there was very little power
that low in the RPM band.  

At 4000, it started to wake up, to make me realize that this was an
engine that was all about revs, about moving as much air in and out as
quickly as possible.

At 5000, it was as though a second engine had been hooked up to the
wheels, and the car would push me in the back a little harder even if my
foot had been flat on the floor already.

At 6000, it was clearing its throat and getting ready to make real
music.

At 7000, it was in full song.

At 7500 in second gear, accelerating up the on-ramp nearest my home one
morning, I had an Epiphany.  I'd been listening to Pavarotti the
previous evening, doing his signature piece, "Nessun Dorma" (from
Puccini's "Turandot," a *very* silly opera with some magnificent
music).  The main theme from "Nessun Dorma" is considered by many
(myself included) to be one of a handful of musical selections that
could legitimately lay claim to the most beautiful ever written.

The aria ends -- at least in Pavarotti's version -- with the tenor
holding an almost impossibly high note for almost impossibly long. 
Better still, the final word of the song (repeated three times) is
"Vincero" -- basically, "I will win," only with that inimitable Italian
flair.

So as I was tootling off to work one morning, I was singing "Nessun
Dorma" to myself, not able to hit Pavarotti's high notes but able to
hear them in my head.  The 1300 had warmed up as I approached the
ramp... 

"Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate stelle!  Tramontate stelle!
[4000 rpm]
All'alba vincero!
[5000]
Vincero!
[6000]
VinCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEro!" [7500]

And just at the point in the song where Pavarotti holds the next-to-last
syllable, I came all over gooseflesh (as the Britons would say) because
the penultimate, climactic note in the song *was the same note that the
Alfa engine was singing at 7500 RPM in second gear*.

And better yet -- the final note was, of course, where the engine came
in on the shift to third (right about 5000 RPM, if I recall).

So... I love my '74, but there may be a Hayden fan and an ANSA exhaust
in my future.  

 --Scott Fisher, Sunnyvale CA
   1967 GT 1300 Junior "Bella"
   1974 Spider Veloce "Tinuviel"

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