A 440 Hz Standard

David Ilvedson ilvey@sbcglobal.net
Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:24:50 -0800


Boston Symphony at 442 or New England Conservatory Tech program?   

David I.



----- Original message ---------------------------------------->
From: Mark Dierauf <mark@nhpianos.com>
To: <caut@ptg.org>
Received: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 19:09:00 -0400
Subject: RE: A 440 Hz Standard

>Interesting - when I went through the New England Conservatory tech
>school in the late 70's they were tuning to 442. I guess it's the pitch
>du jour.

>- Mark

>-----Original Message-----
>From: dabell58@earthlink.net [mailto:dabell58@earthlink.net] 
>Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 1:56 PM
>To: caut@ptg.org
>Subject: Re: A 440 Hz Standard

>Dear Friends,

>So can a string instrument. 

>Boston Symphony tunes to A441. It always seems to me that this
>difference
>(between A440 and A441) would be masked by the string players'
>intentional
>vibrato, but what do I know, when I got to North Bennet I thought I knew
>how to tune because I had been tuning string instruments for 50 years.
>Not
>so.

>Regards,
>Dorrie Bell
>(PTG associate and also a string player)
>Original Message:
>-----------------
>From: Don A. Gilmore eromlignod@kc.rr.com
>Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 12:23:30 -0500
>To: caut@ptg.org
>Subject: Re: A 440 Hz Standard


>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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