A443

[Newton Hunt]

My God, Avery, where did you dig that thing up?  I remember it,
barely.

When we forget that we want to impress people with our music making
prowess not with the "brightness" of our playing then we are all on
the road to chaos such a Babel experienced.

		Newton

Avery Todd wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
> =======================================================================
> 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.