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Mai Minase first notices this in _.hack//Liminality_ when she and Tomonari
Kasumi are attacked by the First Phase, Skeith.

The "A in C major" tone (ハ長調ラ音) seems to recur whenever some strange event
happened "The World" and it's subsequent iterations, like in "The World R:2,"
like when [Azure Kite
appeared](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SYkGvB7RI#t=86s), the appearance
of one of [the Phases](http://dothack.wikia.com/wiki/Category%3aPhases), or
activation of [an Avatar](http://dothack.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar_%28Phases%29).

Why does this tone play during these events in both the anime series and the
games?

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN987vxtiuQ>


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question
.hack
Why does the "A in C major" tone play whenever a strange event occurs in The World?


There are a few things that point to why the [A in C minor
tone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUvlamJN3nM) was chosen for this purpose.

# The Bell

The first is in a subset of the lyrics from _In the Land of Twilight Under the
Moon_. This part of the lyrics seems to reference A in C minor in that this
tone, which is unique enough to be commonly used for tuning instruments (via
tuning fork), is sometimes known for its similar sound to a bell (as in the
[video you linked](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN987vxtiuQ)).

> High and loud, the sound of your bell of the  
>  Twilight... ringing...  
>  All alone, it rings and echoes in twilight
>
> — [SIGN Original Soundtrack 2, _.hack_
> Wiki](http://dothack.wikia.com/wiki/SIGN_Original_Soundtrack_2#In_The_Land_of_Twilight_Under_The_Moon)

# Liminality

The second is somewhat more convincing; the sound may be considered a
manifestation of Liminality. The game can, of course, make contact with the
human mind, and the tone itself is subliminal. This means it was probably
programmed in by Harald, being key to this mental contact, much like hypnosis
(which uses specific types of lights for maximum effect).

In reality, there is nothing special about the properties of A in C minor
(with the exception of its ability to be easily differentiated from other
notes); it is heard at approximately 440Hz, though its range extends as low as
435Hz. However, in the [_.hack//Liminality_
OVA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.hack//Liminality), it is (incorrectly)
stated that the tone is the highest note a human can hear. In the _.hack_
universe, most people are unable to hear this tone, but Mai can.

# Overall

It seems that the note itself was chosen for its uniqueness (especially in
that it is easy for the human ear to hear), as well as its faux property of
being the highest note humans can hear. The A in C minor tone itself is not
exceptionally notable outside of the _.hack_ universe.

The note itself is also the first letter in the musical scale and its use is
somewhat akin to [déjà vu in _The
Matrix_](http://matrix.wikia.com/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu), though these are not
as likely to be related.


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