[CAUT] International standard?

[Chris Solliday]

Well, I think it's time we took a stand. 440 is high enough. Enough tension
in the world, etc. IMHO we as tuners have some clout and we ought to use use
it. Chris Solliday
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm@unm.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 6:23 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] International standard?


> Another bit of info, FWIW, from the International Organization of
> Standardization (generally uses ISO as its international acronym),
> www.iso.org
> "ISO 16:1975 Specifies the frequency for the note A in the treble stave
and
> shall be 440 Hz. Tuning and retuning shall be effected by instruments
> producing it within an accuracy of 0,5 Hz."
>
> Who is ISO? This is how they describe themselves:
>
> "ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 150 countries,
on
> the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva,
> Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
>
> "ISO is a non-governmental organization: its members are not, as is the
case
> in the United Nations system, delegations of national governments.
> Nevertheless, ISO occupies a special position between the public and
private
> sectors. This is because, on the one hand, many of its member institutes
are
> part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by
> their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots
uniquely
> in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of
> industry associations.
>
>  "Therefore, ISO is able to act as a bridging organization in which a
> consensus can be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of
> business and the broader needs of society, such as the needs of
stakeholder
> groups like consumers and users."
>
>     As I understand this, standards set by ISO are commonly adhered to,
but
> have no force of law (well, there are probably exceptions). In the case of
> musical pitch, my own take on the current situation is that practically
> speaking 442 has become the international standard by virtue of the major
> manufacturers of percussion and winds making it their default pitch. They
> have responded, presumably, to international market forces. There is more
> demand for instruments at 442 than at 440.
>     It doesn't really matter to me what the standard is, as long as it is
> reliably standard. Unfortunately we live during a period when the standard
> seems to be in flux. Fortunately there is less flux now than during many
> periods in the past.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
>
>
>
> On 4/27/05 1:42 PM, "Fred Sturm" <fssturm@unm.edu> wrote:
>
> > I just found this, which confirms the Goebbels connection
> > <http://groups.msn.com/Todakcrew/musicarticles.msnw>:
> > The first effort to institutionalize A=440 in fact was a conference
> > organized by Joseph Goebbels in 1939, who had standardized A=440 as the
> > official German pitch. Professor Robert Dussaut of the National
Conservatory
> > of Paris told the French press that: ``By September 1938, the Accoustic
> > Committee of Radio Berlin requested the British Standard Association to
> > organize a congress in London to adopt internationally the German Radio
> > tuning of 440 periods. This congress did in fact occur in London, a very
> > short time before the war, in May-June 1939. No French composer was
invited.
> > The decision to raise the pitch was thus taken without consulting French
> > musicians, and against their will.'' The Anglo-Nazi agreement, given the
> > outbreak of war, did not last, so that still A=440 did not stick as a
> > standard pitch.
> >
> > A second congress in London of the International Standardizing
Organization
> > met in October 1953, to again attempt to impose A=440 internationally.
This
> > conference passed such a resolution; again no Continental musicians who
> > opposed the rise in pitch were invited, and the resolution was widely
> > ignored. Professor Dussaut of the Paris Conservatory wrote that British
> > instrument makers catering to the U.S. jazz trade, which played at A=440
and
> > above, had demanded the higher pitch, ``and it is shocking to me that
our
> > orchestra members and singers should thus be dependent upon jazz
players.''
> > A referendum by Professor Dussaut of 23,000 French musicians voted
> > overwhelmingly for A=432.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Fred Sturm
> > University of New Mexico
>
>
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