Klarinet Archive - Posting 000594.txt from 1999/03

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Pitch over the years
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 03:01:48 -0500

At 04:55 PM 3/10/99 -0600, you wrote:
>On Tue, 9 Mar 1999, Dee D. Hays wrote:
>
>> In some cases, yes there are tuning forks that have been preserved.
>> In churches, many times the old organs have been preserved and of
>> course these days we can go back and measure them.
>
>But, such organs would have been tuned and re-tuned hundreds of times. I
>think one could at best get an approximation of the pitch at which the
>organ was played at a given time in the past.
>
>> There are pianos, harpsichords, and a variety of wind instruments in
>> museums throughout the world and many of these have a documented
>> history. With the wind instruments, the pitch can be measured.
>
>Once again, I would feel much better about this statement if it included
>the word, "approximate." It's not always easy even today to tell if an
>instrument has been built to play at, for example, A@-----.

This is an interesting thread. My wife has a beautiful, very, very old
tuning fork that is nestled in a hand made chest (very small - for over the
mantle) that was imported from Europe - along with a very, very, very old
Bible. I believe the Bible dates from the 1600's, but I can't remember. I
know the tuning fork is not A440, but rather, it is a different pitch. I
will go home tonight and, if I remember to look, will post the pitch that
is labeled on the fork.

RG
______
Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director, Concert Band/Symphonic Winds/Titan Band
Advisor, Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University
Office: (309) 556-3268
Fax: (309) 556-3411

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