Pipe Organ Pitch Variation

Conrad Hoffsommer hoffsoco@martin.luther.edu
Tue, 01 Dec 1998 05:15:09 -0600


At 23:59 11/30/98 EST, you wrote:
>
>It is common knowledge that the pitch of a pipe organ varies with room
>temperature, but just how much?
>
>Occasionally I will be asked to tune a church piano with the pipe organ when
>the sanctuary is much cooler than it will be on performance day. I check the
>organ and it is off pitch. The question is, is there some formula that will
>tell me where the organ pitch will be at normal room temperature. In other
>words, if the room will be 10 degrees warmer when the piano and organ will be
>played together, how much will the pitch change?
>
>Dave Bunch

 From:

"The Art of Organ-Building"
George Ashdown Audsley - 1906, Dover reprint 1965

Vol II, p. 637:
Chart-

"Vibration-numbers according to diapason normal at different temperatures"

59F - 435.0
60  - 435.4
61  - 435.9
62  - 436.3
63  - 436.7
64  - 437.2
65  - 437.6
66  - 438.0
67  - 438.5
68  - 439.0

A fancy numeric formula didn't jump out at me, but may be deduced from the
text when my eyes open fully, but from that short list it looks almost like
4/9Hz per degree F.



Conrad

Conrad Hoffsommer 	mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu
Luther College		(319)-387-1204
Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045

The best things in life aren't things.



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