Steinway 457cps pitch

[Phillip L Ford]

Bradley,
Why do you find 443 absurd?  It's an interesting question.  Why does A 443 sound
more or less good than A 440 or A 457 for that matter?  I guess you could approach
this philosophically, psychoacoustically, or mechanically (practically?).
Philosophically, as Ric pointed out, there really doesn't seem to be any reason to
prefer one frequency assigned to any given note than another.
Psychoacoustically (is that the right word?  I'm sure someone will correct me if it's
not) is there a difference in the way our ear or our minds respond to scales based
on higher or lower frequencies?  I don't know.  Assuming an A 440 and an A 443
with the same relative partial or harmonic structure would we all, or would some of
us individually, prefer one over the other?  Which brings us to -
Mechanically, have we eliminated the variable of difference in tone of instruments
that were designed to be played at one set of frequencies being played at another?
A piano designed to play at A 440 and a piano designed to play at A 457 will
probably sound different to each other if tuned and played at A 443.  Does the
preference of one over the other mean there is something inherently good or bad
about that frequency or just that the piano doesn't really sound its best at a 
frequency other than that for which it was designed?

Phil F
---
Phillip Ford
Piano Service & Restoration
1777 Yosemite Ave - 215
San Francisco, CA  94124


On Wed, 27 Mar 2002 10:54:17  
 Bradley M. Snook wrote:
>Ok . . . it was a kind of joke, a pun if you will . . . but since no one really got it, then I guess it was a really bad one. None the less, I will explain:
>
>Normally when someone uses the word absurd, it is the context of something being 'completely ridiculous.' However, one of the earliest uses for absurd was 'bad sounding.' That is where the Etymology comes into play: I was speaking to the origins of the word absurd, not necessarily to its modern meaning. My point was to say that I thought such a high pitch was 'bad sounding;' every time I hear a piano a 443, I cringe. Personally, I find that absurd . . . no . . . . . Personally, I find that bad sounding.
>
>Bradley M. Snook
>
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>  Ok so lets plug that one in.... that gives us. 
>    
>    It is etymologically absurd, in that it is not reasonable to have a 
>    completely irrelevant set of pitch levels; ....... snip
>
>  Grin... and this better ???  What does linquistics or linguistic history have to do with the absurdity of one pitch over any other ? 
>
>  Etymology 
>
>  1.The origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, earliest 
>     known use, and changes in form and meaning, tracing its transmission from one language to another, identifying its 
>     cognates in other languages, and reconstructing its ancestral form where possible. 
>  2.The branch of linguistics that deals with etymologies. 
>    
>
>  From humour to confusion... :) 
>
>  -- 
>  Richard Brekne 
>
>


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