A-440 Policy?

Avery Todd atodd@UH.EDU
Fri Oct 27 07:05 MDT 2000


My point, exactly.

Avery

P.S. Ask a singer how they feel about 442 or even higher! I did
     and if you want to hear a rant.......

>In that case rent a piano...
>
>David I.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]On Behalf Of David
>> Skolnik
>> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 8:39 PM
>> To: caut@ptg.org
>> Subject: Re: A-440 Policy?
>>
>>
>> Newton, Newton, Newton, Newton, Newton, and the rest of you-
>>
>> I fear a number of essential points are being missed here in the
>> service of
>> venting  over a different issue, namely administrative abuse... the same
>> issue Bob Grijalva started to address a few days ago in his 'proposal for
>> new staff' thread.   The issue here is not how long it takes to alter
>> pitch, or how much it costs, or who should pay.  The real issues are the
>> "sanctity" of A-440, and the acceptable mechanical tolerance of the modern
>> piano.   Both of these topics have, I think, been addressed previously on
>> this list, or on pianotech.  I'm too tired to check right now.
>> 440 did not
>> come from Mt. Sinai.  The politics of 440 is an interesting and arbitrary
>> story.
>> 440 is politics and psychology.  Why is there a propensity for elevated
>> pitch, and how much elevation has to take place before a reaction occurs?
>> What are the forces that propel high pitch or inhibit its
>> proliferation?  I
>> believe Ken's statement :
>>
>> 	It is, after all, easily within the tuning range of all orchestra
>> instruments as long 	as the oboe players bring reeds that are constructed
>> for this standard 	pitch
>>
>> to be misguided  By the time a player is at the level  to be a part of an
>> internationally recognized ensemble, he, or she, does not need a tuning
>> fork to know if they are at pitch or not.  They don't listen to pitch as
>> much as feel it.  The change Ken suggests would be as radical and
>> disturbing as would be suffered by any piano in a pitch altering
>> situation.
>>  Further, don't you think that the pitch a professional orchestra plays at
>> goes a long way in defining its distinctive personality?   Just because it
>> says "International Pitch" don't make it so.
>>
>> From a mechanical point of view there are only two questions.   How much
>> pitch elevation can a concert piano safely sustain, and, are there any
>> short or long term negative effects from such alteration  The
>> first part of
>> the question should be addressed by someone who knows.  I do not.  The
>> second is where I believe the problem resides.  Convenience, budget, and
>> energy aside, I doubt that the occasional pitch raise places any more
>> tension on the system than does a bad summer.  What will change in a pitch
>> alteration however is the string leveling and thus the open
>> string voicing.
>>  I have seen this happen.  Either in its raised or restored
>> state, there is
>> no assurance that the strings will be in the exact same place in relation
>> to the agraffe.  If strings were pulled level, this could make a
>> significant difference.
>>
>> This is the most significant effect I can think of.  OK Newton,  I'm ready
>> for you...sort of.
>>
>> David Skolnik
>> Columbia University
>> New York
>>
>>
>>
>> At 09:12 PM 10/26/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>> >> few viable options but to comply, although, you are certainly
>> >> entitled to be compensated for your time and effort.
>> >
>> >Get the fire retarders out.
>> >
>> >Ignore it.  The department, who's inventory is the piano and
>> >pays the salary of the technician, is not a signatory to the
>> >contract.  I doubt there is a department around that is
>> >willing to give up a day and a half, at least, of their
>> >salary line employee.  If the order comes, in writing, from
>> >the chair person then orders is orders but once they realize
>> >they will loose five or more department tunings the can get
>> >more stubborn than I.
>> >
>> >Time is money, time is energy and time is not being given to
>> >the students who deserve it more.
>> >
>> >		Newton
>> >
>>



This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC