Klarinet Archive - Posting 000481.txt from 1998/09

From: merlinw@-----.ca
Subj: Re: [kl] NEW THREAD!
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 08:06:23 -0400

On 09/15/98 07:12:09 you wrote:

>I agree with a standard being static. No matter what temperature or tuning someone does, 440 is standard A (at least in the books, for the most part,) while A doesn't have to be 440 when pitch and tunings differ. I guess >the point is standard shouldn't change with the whim of a concertmaster, nor with the temperature outside. If >it is over 100 degrees or below 40, most instruments cannot get near a common pitch anyway. Clarinets and >Saxophones are flat when cold, brass instruments are sharp when cold (exchange pitch tendencies when hot.)

Sorry, but the last statement is incorrect. Brass instruments are flat when cold. The temperature of the air column has a greater effect on the pitch than the contraction of the metal. I once saw this quite vividly demonstrated on a British science program called "Don't Ask Me!" The host of the show took two identical tubas, one at room temperature, and one that had been placed in a large freezer. He had a tubist play both instruments. The one in the freezer was very flat. As the tubist played the horn, you could hear the pitch rising as the air column warmed up. It was a very revealing demonstration!

Merlin Williams
merlinw@-----.ca
http://www.netcom.ca/~merlinw
(A member of the Sax Ring!)

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