Klarinet Archive - Posting 000241.txt from 2005/10

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Upward Creeping pitch
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2005 23:46:24 -0400

At 09:38 AM 10/21/2005 +0100, Joseph Wakeling wrote:
>Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
>>Personally, I am all for a return to the sanity of a standard concert
>>pitch, and A = 440 is as good as any and better than most, especially
>>since it has history. But how are you going to make these fools conform?
>
>
>Exactly when in history has there ever been a "standard" concert pitch?
>I know that a bunch of people got together and agreed that there *should*
>be such a standard and it should be A440, but I don't see much evidence
>that it actually became set in stone in terms of concert usage.

I don't know exactly who were parties to the original international
agreement in 1939, but based upon that, the manufacturers were BUILDING
wind instruments that tuned properly to A = 440. String players, who have
almost limitless flexibility in tuning, are the ones causing the
trouble! If they are unwilling to PLAY at the international standard, what
are the rest of us to do?

>Ultimately the only questions of real relevance are, "Can the orchestra
>play together in tune?" and "Does it sound good?"---and if departing from
>the "standard" by a couple of Hertz helps an orchestra to achieve a
>performance closer to their ideal, then there really isn't much wrong IMO.

And they CANNOT play together in tune if the strings exceed the tuning
range of their wind instruments. So must we go back to the days when wind
players had to own multiple instruments with different tuning, so,
depending upon with whom they are playing, they can select the right one
for the occasion? Not if *I* have anything to say about it (unfortunately,
I don't).

>Of course, *you* might not like it, but you're not obliged to go to their
>concerts. ;-)

Not a problem at all if I am LISTENING to the concert; only if I am trying
to PLAY in it with an instrument built to A = 440.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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