 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-05-29 21:22
OK, why is A=440 the low end of the scale? Why don't some groups tune higher and some lower? Why is there debate on the subject at all? (Why can't we all just get along? [sarc])
In other words, where did this mess come from? Something tells me that its a concern for most wind players (excepting trombones). Is it worse for us than most? What is it that encourages symphonies to tune high? Better tone from the strings? Higher pitches from air conditioned concert halls on old volins? What is wrong with any particular standard anywhere near A=440 that one can't be settled on?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-05-29 22:12
Strings tend to want to tune higher to penetrate better. The tuning "creeps" up from there. Most string players don't give a whit about woodwinds and brass not being able to keep in tune over a scale - they can compensate, so the rest of the world should ...
Unless they have to play along with a keyboard insrument ...
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Author: wes
Date: 2001-05-30 03:05
The oboe that you buy at your local Loree store is nominally meant for playing in the 440 ballpark, regardless of the rumors about higher pitches. The orchestra or band deserves an accurate 440 for tuning(or the equivalent Bb). While the pitch of the group may wander up some, the group can recheck the tuning. For this, the oboe player should always use a tuner.
Although the oboe can play at higher pitches for some notes, he will find it difficult or impossible to make a stable reed that will allow him to play on a Loree consistently at an average 442 or 443 unless he has a oboe made for those pitches as they are said to do in Europe. Thus, the oboe is very limited in it's pitch center while other instruments have more tuning range. In Los Angeles, there seems to be little serious argument that the tune-up pitch should be 440 and the piano at the Local 47 rehearsal/recording main studio is kept right on 440.
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Author: Gretchen
Date: 2001-05-30 03:31
Back in the 1700's, the standard A was more in the 415 Hz range. In recent years there have been accounts of Stradavarius violins that have exploded due to too much tension in the strings. They just weren't made to play 440 Hz or higher.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-05-30 04:36
That's great for a recording studio, but check your local orchestra's pitch. I think you might find they tune sharp - or at least are sharp by the end of the night.
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-05-30 11:59
I had to tune to A=442 at the school I'm preparing to leave. The percussion keyboard instruments were purchased tuned to A=442. Some middle school band directors prefer this tuning because the young cornet players usually pinch the notes sharp (Bb5 and above) and helps them "stay in tune"...but wreaks the tuning in the woodwinds and doesn't help the young brass to relax and play with a good airstream instead. I hope to go to a school where common sense prevailed and the percussion keyboards are pitched to A=440 or replace them.
John
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Author: William
Date: 2001-05-30 15:24
Quote--"Good intonation is good cooperation, by all." A. Nonnie Maas.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-05-31 12:24
A=442 this year. A=445 in 2005. A=450 in 2010, and then all current preset tuning instruments will be obsolete. It has to be a conspiracy! The world agreed to a standard after international travel by musicians required it. It seems so crazy to deviate from it.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2001-05-31 12:40
I know some old flutes tuned to A = 455 Hz, and I'd guess other instruments like clarinets were tuned to match the flutes tuning. I believe this was late 1800s, so it may be a 100 year cyle .
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Author: clarinet713
Date: 2001-05-31 12:41
This might sound REALLY stupid, but could someone please explain to me what exactly A 440 is? I understand that A440 is higher than A 415, but I don't really understand what it means and what that means to me as a clarinet player...no one has ever explained this to me before, and I think it would be a good thing to know. Thanks
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Author: Stephen Froehlich
Date: 2001-05-31 13:29
It means that the A in the staff is at 440 Hz (Cycles per second). As the second is a worldwide standard (yet another thing to thank the French for), it establishes a rock-solid standard for what normal pitch is.
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Author: Meredith
Date: 2001-05-31 23:12
My band tunes slightly flat as our Musical Director thinks it helps us to sound a bit more mellow but it is a brass band so that may be the standard I'm not too sure. Even then with the band tuned slightly flat the tubas have their tuning slides pulled out so far that they have actually fallen out during competition.
In high school the band was tuned to me as the 1st chair clarinet which I always thought was crazy as I tended to be a bit sharp so the less experienced clarinets had no chance of being in tune.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-06-01 06:56
440 Hz.
Hz = Hertz = cycles per second = vibrations per second.
A=440 means that the air vibrates backwards and forwards 440 times each second and our ears interpret this as a particular particular pitch (note) - "A" - in tune.
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