"The number of strokes to the inch controls the pitch of the note: the more, the higher the pitch; the fewer, the lower the pitch, the size of the stroke controls the loudness... the tone quality is the most difficult element to control, it is made by the shape of the strokes"
About this Quote
The specific intent is instructional, yet the structure reveals his priorities. Pitch and loudness get clean, almost comforting equations: more marks equals higher, bigger equals louder. Then he swerves. “Tone quality” becomes the hard part, the unruly variable that refuses to be reduced to a single slider. That pivot is the subtext: you can systematize the obvious parameters, but expression lives in the messy stuff - the contour, the grain, the micro-decisions of shape. In other words, craft is legible; artistry is stubborn.
Context matters. McLaren worked in an era when film studios prized polish and continuity, while he experimented with direct animation - drawing and scratching onto film stock, sometimes creating sound by drawing on the optical soundtrack itself. This quote reads like a defense of that hand-made audacity. He’s arguing that the artist’s gesture can literally become a note, and that the most human part of the process isn’t the measurable input, but the signature in the line.
The deeper implication is cultural: technology can quantify volume and frequency, but it can’t guarantee character. McLaren insists the soul of a sound - its timbre, its “tone quality” - is not a preset. It’s drawn.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
McLaren, Norman. (2026, January 15). The number of strokes to the inch controls the pitch of the note: the more, the higher the pitch; the fewer, the lower the pitch, the size of the stroke controls the loudness... the tone quality is the most difficult element to control, it is made by the shape of the strokes. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-number-of-strokes-to-the-inch-controls-the-158990/
Chicago Style
McLaren, Norman. "The number of strokes to the inch controls the pitch of the note: the more, the higher the pitch; the fewer, the lower the pitch, the size of the stroke controls the loudness... the tone quality is the most difficult element to control, it is made by the shape of the strokes." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-number-of-strokes-to-the-inch-controls-the-158990/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The number of strokes to the inch controls the pitch of the note: the more, the higher the pitch; the fewer, the lower the pitch, the size of the stroke controls the loudness... the tone quality is the most difficult element to control, it is made by the shape of the strokes." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-number-of-strokes-to-the-inch-controls-the-158990/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
