A443

[Avery Todd]

List,

   Maybe we should all reread this resolution and keep it available as
a handout for those occasions when we're trying to discourage anything
over A-440.

Avery

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Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 14:24:20 -0600 (CST)
From: DQEV60A@prodigy.com (MARSHALL B HAWKINS)
Subject: A440 resolution date

Following is the Press Release and the Resolution:


July 23, 1986

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                 TECHNICIANS RENEW FIGHT FOR  A-440 STANDARD


LAS VEGAS,NV ----- Piano Technicians meeting at Caesars Palace here adopted
a resolution calling for continued world-wide acceptance of A-440 hertz as
a standard pitch throughout the world.

          Citing problems caused by "excessive pitch adjustments necessary
to satisfy various orchestras and performers", technicians at the Piano
Technicians Guild's 29th International Convention and Institute adopted the
resolution.  More than 900 technicians and guests attended the convention.

          The pitch issue was investigated in a special pitch forum headed
by 1985-1986 Guild President Charles P. Huether, RTT, and Ron Harper, a
representative of the Australian Piano Tuners and Technicians Association.
Other participants in the discussion were from the United States, Canada
and France.

           The history of musical pitch over the last three centuries has
been one of confusion and misunderstanding. The pitch of  A  has ranged
from 312 hertz used in a 17th-century church organ to a high of 464 used
by some British military bands at the end of the 19th century.

            As early as 1834, a congress in Stuttgart, Germany,
unsuccessfully attempted to standardize pitch at A-440. In the early years
of this century, a number of groups in the United States formally adopted
A-440 as a standard pitch. These groups included the American Federation of
Musicians, the Music Teachers National Association, the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Piano Tuners, a
forerunner of the present Piano Technicians Guild.

              The United States Bureau of Weights and Measures adopted
A-440 in 1920, and it was adopted as the world-wide standard in a treaty
signed during an International Standards Association meeting in London
in 1939.

              Unfortunately, some musical groups insist on tuning to a
higher pitch of A-442 or A-445, according to participants in the Las Vegas
forum. They noted that raising and lowering the pitch of a piano can cause
serious stability problems in the instrument. The higher pitch also puts an
unnecessary strain on vocalists and other instrumentalists.

               The Piano Technicians Guild is an international non-profit
organization of more than 3,500 piano craftsmen and women. Membership as a
Registered Tuner-Technician is attained only by passing a series of
rigorous examinations. In addition to its annual Convention and Technical
Institute, the Guild also publishes a monthly technical journal on
piano-related topics. Its international headquarters is in Kansas City, MO.


RESOLUTION TO ENCOURAGE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WORLD-WIDE ACCEPTANCE OF A-440
HERTZ AS STANDARD PITCH AND CONSISTENT ADHERENCE TO THIS STANDARD:


WHEREAS:  a world-wide representation of more than 750 piano technicians
are assembled in convention at Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 23, 1986; and

WHEREAS:  it has been brought to the attention of the convention that a
serious problem exists in connection with the inconsistencies of the pitch
level throughout the world; and

WHEREAS:  a committee of the convention has explored the situation in great
depth and has unanimously recommended that the convention take action; and

WHEREAS:  the stability and well-being of the concert piano is constantly
being threatened by the excessive pitch adjustments necessary to satisfy
various orchestras and performers; and

WHEREAS:  other instruments and singers have problems because of these
excessive and frequent changes in pitch level;

BE IT THEREBY RESOLVED:  that the Piano Technicians Guild, Inc., states
that the standard pitch of A-440 hertz as established in 1939 by
international agreement be consistently observed world-wide; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:  that the Piano Technicians Guild shall cause this
resolution to be widely distributed throughout the world.