Klarinet Archive - Posting 000689.txt from 1996/02

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Pitch vs Temperature
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 13:09:33 -0500

On Thu, 22 Feb 1996 niethamer@-----.BITNET wrote:

> On Fri, 23 Feb 1996, John Jarvie wrote:
>
> > In several recent postings, there have been references to pitches
> > varying from 440 to 442.
> >
> > I know some German/Austrian orchestras play at 446 or higher but I had
> > thought that 440 was well accepted everywhere else.
> >
> > I'd like to canvas the list's experiences on current pitches that we
> > have to conform to.
> >
> > Is the 440 standard dead?
> >
> My understanding is that these pitches are measured at 72 degrees
> Farenheit. At 65 degrees, my fingers don't even move! Our stage, under
> full concert lighting, is more like 78-80 degrees, and thus we creep ever
> higher as the concert goes on. We tune at 442, BTW.

I would be interested to know how and why the decision was reached to
tune your orchestra at 442. And, in answer to part of the previous
message, I don't think the A=440 standard is dead, or at least I hope it
isn't. Actually, the 440 standard is a fairly recent one, in terms of
the history of tuning and temperament. I think it was only in the 1930's
that an organization called the International Bureau of Standards (or
something like that) tried to bring some order to the chaotic system of
tuning which existed previously. They decided that 440 was a good
standard to use, and a compromise between the various pitches then in use.

But, whenever a pitch is chosen, the string players in an orchestra want
to tune a little higher, because they think it makes their instruments
sound brighter. But then, the winds have to tune a little higher in
order to match the strings, who then want to tune a little higher still,
because their instruments no longer sound as bright within the texture as
they had previously. And, higher and higher temperatures on the stage
exacerbate the problem for winds, making them go sharper still. (But
higher temperatures cause _lower_ pitches in the strings, keyboard and
mallet percussion instruments, which is still a further complication.)

I have often observed the phenomenon that the winds in an orchestra
accuse the strings of forcing the pitch up, while the string players
accuse the winds of doing so.

The only solution I can see is to pick a certain standard and stick to
it. Since the 440 standard exists, I can see no reason to use any other
one.

In the orchestra in which I play, the tuning standard of A=440 is in
the contract. This phrase was added to the contract at the request of
the players. The contract also calls for the oboist to have a working
and calibrated electronic tuning device on stage at each service.

Musicians have been arguing about this for at least 400 years now, and
probably longer than that. I doubt that we are going to settle it here.
It's amazing to me how many varieties of thinking there are about the
topic, and the kind of reasoning that is used to support some of the
ideas, as well as the strong emotional attachment musicians have to some
of their positions.

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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