RE 440 plus

[Kenneth Sloane]

To All- I don't think the requests to tune above 440 are necessarily
associated with the search for a brighter sound. Most of the music directors
that insist on 440 plus tunings have absolute pitch, and they probably grew
up listening to and playing in orchestras that perform at a pitch level
above 440. By conditioning, they carry around a "higher" A in their ears
that they "force" on other people.

To give my arguement some historical perspective, The American Fedration of
Musicians back in 1921 -- to combat all the musical groups and musical
instrument manufactures that were using an A that had risen, in many cases,
above 450 -- adopted 440 as their standard; but it was already too late. Too
many prominent musicians already had the A440 plus imprint in their brain,
and there was no going back.

Sorry, but the 440 battle is a losing one.     Ken Sloane, Oberlin
Conservatory