Klarinet Archive - Posting 000469.txt from 1998/09

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Pitch standards
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 01:29:03 -0400

At 05:08 PM 9/13/98 -1300, Dan Leeson wrote:
>> Dan,
>> I'm at a loss here. If in fact a pitch standard is set at a'=440, where
>> does temperature come into effect? It is a vibrational standard only.
>> The currently adopted _standard_ of a'=440 (in 1939) is irrespective of
>> temperature; while the setting of an orchestra's tuning pitch may be
>> other than a'=440 for physical reasons (including that of temperature),
>> we can only say that they are tuning to something other than the
>> standard; say, 2 Hz above or 2 Hz below the _standard_. If otherwise (if
>> the _standard_ is allowed to vary) then there would be no such thing as
>> a standard at all.
>>
>> You can have a pitch standard of 442 Hz, but to call it a' would be
>> incorrect. It could only be called a vibrational standard of 442 Hz or a
>> standard vibrating 2 Hz faster than the official standard of a'@-----.
>> An orchestra may call it A, may finger it as A, may huff and puff and
>> whatever - but it isn't the official a'; at least, not until a
>> contentious bunch of grumpy people decide to call a'@-----. _Then_
>> A'@-----.
>
>I think it to be a matter of physics. If something is vibrating
>as a certain speed, that same material will vibrate at a different
>speed if the temperature is changed. Thus the pitch will change.
>
>Also, I believe that the standard for pitch states a material
>of a certain nature (such as a tuning fork made of platinum or
>gold or whatever) vibrating at a certain frequency produces a
>specific pitch at a given temperature. Change the material,
>the frequency, or the temperature, and you affect the pitch.
>
>If I remember correctly, the first attempt at having a standard
>pitch was called "Stuttgart pitch" and it specified a vibration
>of 430 at a temperature of 18.6 degrees centigrated. I once
>had to look it up in Groves (which I do not have a copy of
>at home) and was surprised to see the temperature so carefully
>described.
>
>Any orchestra would complain about their ability to achieve
>a predefined pitch if the room were too cold or too hot. My
>orchestra even had it in the contract; i.e., if the temperature
>was too hot (for outdoor concerts, obviously) we did not have
>to play, it being considered dangerous for the instruments and
>the inability to achieve a specific pitch standard.
>
The temperature comes into play because a device, such as a tuning fork, or
even a clarinet, will vibrate at it's exact designed frequency ONLY at the
designed temperature. If it is too hot or cold, it will tend to vibrate
sharp (or flat). That is why it is so HARD to get one's instrument to play
at the correct pitch in temperature extremes, but once it is adjusted to
play at A=440 (or 442 for that matter) then that IS the pitch, the number
of cycles per second, that will come out, regardless of what the
temperature is.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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