A 440 Hz Standard

[Don A. Gilmore]

A wind instrument can be tuned to anything you like.

Don

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Mushlin" <gmushlin@mindspring.com>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: A 440 Hz Standard


> It has been called to my attention that wind instruments are now being 
> built to A-442. Does anyone have any any information to confirm this? 
> Are all wind instruments being built at A-442, or just a select group? 
> Or maybe my information is wrong.
> 
> This certainly would complicate the problem.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Gary Mushlin, MME, RPT
> 
> 
> On Monday, April 12, 2004, at 10:03  AM, stephen kabat wrote:
> 
> > Jim - I tune in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Cleveland Orchestra tunes to
> > A-440.
> > I also had the opportunity recently to ask the head tuner at the
> > Juillard School in NYC what they tuned to, and he told me that the head
> > of the school wanted A-441. From the way the tech described the
> > situation, it seems to me that he simply accepted the administrator's
> > decision rather than make waves. I can understand that, sortof. Having
> > said that, though, it seems to me that there really is a confusion in
> > the minds of musicians and orchestra administrators between what
> > constitutes pitch and what constitutes timbre. Several years ago, the
> > principal violist of the Philadelphia orchestra came here to do some
> > recording with our piano faculty head, and he wanted our piano raised 
> > to
> > 442, because that's what he was used to in Philly. I told him(with 
> > flame
> > suit at the ready!!)  that we tuned to 440 because if it was good 
> > enough
> > for George Szell it was good enough for me! He was surprised that the
> > Cleveland Orchestra tuned to 440; he thought it tuned to 442.  I 
> > assured
> > him that no, the Cleveland Orch. tuned to 440, thank you very much.
> > Sorry for the length of this post, but this topic is something
> > that gets my goat. Why is this (accepting standard pitch) so hard?  I
> > wish someone would write a scholarly article, couched in the 
> > appropriate
> > ivory-tower legalize, that would convince these people to leave the
> > pitch at 440 and tell the string players to deal with it. Maybe Owen
> > Jorgensen or someone else has already done so, and we could mail the
> > Administrators our thoughts.
> > A Petition, as it were.
> > Regards, Steve Kabat
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> > James Ellis
> > Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 10:08 AM
> > To: caut@ptg.org
> > Subject: A 440 Hz Standard
> >
> > The National Symphony Orchestra from Washington DC is giving a concert
> > in
> > Oak Ridge TN on April 23.  Their manager has informed the ORCMA manager
> > in
> > Oak Ridge that the piano must be tuned to A 442, and they even sent
> > general
> > instructions about how and when to do it.  I'm just wondering:  What
> > orchestras are there out there that play at various different pitches
> > other
> > than A=440 Hz, and what are those pitches?  If 442 is better than 440,
> > why
> > then is 443 not better than 442, or 444, 445, 446, or even 447 not a 
> > lot
> > better than any of the former?  Once upon a time, I'm told, a yard was
> > equal to the distance between the king's nose and the tip of his
> > outstretched finger.  I'm glad we got beyond that.  Whatever happened 
> > to
> > the idea of standards, anyway?  It seems to me that some people just
> > have
> > to be different.
> >
> > Sincerely, Jim Ellis
> >
> >
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