A440 under fire

[Richard Brekne]

Thanks Ed... I needed a wee bit of support there.. grin.. But ACTUALLY... hehe..
I was just wondering if any of you guys off the top of your head knew where I
could get a copy or and address to get a copy of this international standards
deal from 1939. I know how to handle these folks here and I know this is what I
need. I have been plowing through the internet seas looking for something direct
about this and cant get past the American adoption of the standard a bit earlier
on. And believe me.. these folks wont give a hoot about what a bunch of crazy
americans think... grin.. Provincial town Bergen is dont you know.. Home of
Edvard Grieg you see... Norwegians can be very proud folks... I just love em....
still I have to be able to wift a official looking piece of paper at them...
preferably one that is signed by some Norwegian officialdom....

So.. which international organization is likeliest to have authority in this
regard ?? Anybody ??

A440A@AOL.COM wrote:

> Newton writes:
>
> >Why bother!  Tell them different pitches cost you more time
> >therefore more cost to them and charge it.  If it gets them where
> >it hurts they change their tune quickly enough.
>
>    Hmm,  not to advocate no devil or anything,  now tripping over this
> soapbox.......
>
>      As far as 441 goes,  that is just 4 little bitty cents away from 440.
> In a stage environment, with people, horns, and lights  all getting heated up
> during a performance, it isn't uncommon for there to be a two or three cent
> change over the course of the evening. Pianos are often cooler before the
> show,  so 441 to start might be what these people have found effective in
> minimizing problems.  With a machine that compensates for the difference,  4
> cents is easy to do in one careful pass.  (Any more than 5 and I go through
> twice).  It is one beauty of the ETD.
>
> On the other side of machina,  I got this soap right here..............,
>      (IMHO), a tuning machine is of little value when the piano has "sagged"
> unevenly   throughout its scale during a hard first half under the lights and
> inspiration of, say, Liszt and Brahms and the tuner has perhaps 10 minutes to
> deal with it.
>      It is at these times that the judgement and ear of the tuner must make
> the maximum repair to the harmony in a triage sort of way. Sometimes unisons
> absorb all available time and the octaves are left alone, perhaps  in some
> "angelic",  choral stretch.  I have heard beautiful music out of a piano
> that "expanded" between tuning and performance. (think an extra 20 cents over
> three octaves!)
>     When there is time to do more than unisons, the piano's worst octaves
> will have to be thrown together, but there are some very harsh thirds waiting
> for the tuner that haphardly makes octaves out of things.  ( don't ask me how
> I know)
>
>    This is a point that the beginning tuner should grasp;  that the machine
> will get you up and tuning very quickly, but if you neglect learning how to
> tune aurally, there will be a place you can't go, i.e. the performance
> platform.  If you do find yourself in this situation, and have only a machine
> to give you information,  the odds are very good that you will do  damage to
> your reputation.
>    There is no substitute for being able to aurally judge all the normal
> interval widths, and being able to arrange them in one or more consistant,
> acceptable temperaments.
> Regards
> Ed Foote RPT
>

--
Richard Brekne
Associate PTG, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway