>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 > Although the higher tensions resulting from tuning above A-440 will make the piano sound brighter, I think it's more a matter of who's more important than whom, and who can prove it by getting the biggest concession, than either bright sound, or a tragically miscalibrated sense of pitch. I'd tend to chalk it up more to misplaced self importance and general childishness than anything else. Yea, yea, I know... I'll be hearing from the "temperamental artist" hit squad. Ron N
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