A440 under fire (1986 PTG Press Release and Resolution)

[Richard Brekne]

I love it... the more of this you all can dig up the better.. grin..

thanks muchly.

kam544@flash.net wrote:

> >Richard Brekne wrote:
> >...I was just wondering if any of you guys...
>
> FWIW Department:
>
> The following is a Press Release and a Resolution concerning A440 published
> July 23, 1986.  I was in attendance during this event.
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> TECHNICIANS RENEW FIGHT FOR  A-440  STANDARD
>
> LAS VEGAS,NV ----- Piano Technicians meeting at Caesars Palace here adopted
> a resolution calling for continued world-wide acceptance of A-440  hertz as
> a standard pitch throughout the world.
>
> Citing problems caused by "excessive pitch adjustments necessary to satisfy
> various orchestras and performers," technicians at the Piano Technicians
> Guild's 29th International Convention and Institute adopted the resolution.
> More than 900 technicians and guests attended the convention.
>
> The pitch issue was investigated in a special pitch forum headed by
> 1985-1986 Guild President Charles P. Huether, RTT, and Ron Harper, a
> representative of the Australian Piano Tuners and Technicians Association.
> Other participants in the discussion were from the United States, Canada
> and France.
>
> The history of musical pitch over the last three centuries has been one of
> confusion and misunderstanding.  The pitch of A has ranged from 312 hertz
> used in a 17th-century church organ to a high of 464 used by some British
> military bands at the end of the 19th century.
>
> As early as 1834, a congress in Stuttgart, Germany, unsuccessfully
> attempted to standardize pitch at A-440.  In the early years of this
> century, a number of groups in the United States formally adopted A-440 as
> a standard pitch.  These groups included the American Federation of
> Musicians, the Music Teachers National Association,  the Music Industries
> Chamber of Commerce,  and the National Association of Piano Tuners, a
> forerunner of the present Piano Technicians Guild.
>
> The United States Bureau of Weights and Measures adopted A-440 in 1920, and
> it was adopted as the world-wide standard in a treaty signed during an
> International Standards Association meeting in London in 1939.
>
> Unfortunately, some musical groups insist on tuning to a higher pitch of
> A-442 or A-445,  according to participants in the Las Vegas forum.  They
> noted that raising and lowering the pitch of a piano can cause serious
> stability problems in the instrument.  The higher pitch also puts an
> unnecessary strain on vocalists and other instrumentalists.
>
> The Piano Technicians Guild is an international non-profit organization of
> more than 3,500 piano craftsmen and women.  Membership as a Registered
> Tuner-Technician is attained only by passing a series of rigorous
> examinations.  In addition to its annual Convention and Technical
> Institute, the Guild also publishes a monthly technical journal on
> piano-related topics.  Its international headquarters is in Kansas City, MO.
>
> ==========================================================
> RESOLUTION TO ENCOURAGE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WORLD-WIDE ACCEPTANCE OF A-440
> HERTZ AS STANDARD PITCH AND CONSISTENT ADHERENCE TO THIS STANDARD:
>
> WHEREAS: a world-wide representation of more than 750 piano technicians are
> assembled in convention at Las Vegas, Nevada,  on July 23, 1986; and
>
> WHEREAS: it has been brought to the attention of the convention that a
> serious problem exists in connection with the inconsistencies of the pitch
> level throughout the world, and
>
> WHEREAS: a committee of the convention has explored the situation in great
> depth and has unanimously recommended that the convention take action; and
>
> WHEREAS: the stability and well-being of the concert piano is constantly
> being threatened by the excessive pitch adjustments necessary to satisfy
> various orchestras and performers; and
>
> WHEREAS: other instruments and singers have problems because of these
> excessive and frequent changes in pitch level;
>
> BE IT THEREBY RESOLVED: that the Piano Technicians Guild, Inc., states that
> the standard pitch of A-440  hertz as established in 1939 by international
> agreement be consistently observed world-wide; and
>
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the Piano Technicians Guild shall cause this
> resolution to be widely distributed throughout the world.
> ==========================================================

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