Flat A

[Horace Greeley]

John, et al,

I had this C fork/A fork discussion with Franz Mohr over 15 years ago.

He allowed that if I could "properly" tune from C, that was OK - but that
one "really should" tune from A.  (He clearly wanted me to switch.)  As I
repeatedly had no trouble meeting this requirement, he left me alone.

If your technique is sound, you "should" be able to establish a given pitch
(A=440Hz, if one needs that) from just about any reasonable starting point.

What bothers me in these tuning discussions is the _seeming_ lack of
concern for music.  "As good as a machine."  When was the last time you saw
someone sitting in an audience watching flashing lights during a
performance?  (Other than a misplaced recording engineer.)

A tuning machine, or a fork, for that matter, is only a tool, and as such
is efficacious only to the  extent that it is used as a tool, and not a
crutch.

Yes, I do own, and occasionally use, a couple of different machines for
tuning.  My favorite tool, however, is still my trusty Deagan C fork.

Best to all.

Horace

>At 10:02 AM 5/11/97 -0500, Richard wrote:
>
>>If a tuner references a C fork and tunes by ear, the A might be off.
>>Like wise with a A fork, the C can off.    Unless of course you are
>>as good as a machine  ; )
>
>My father (and grandfather) always tuned with C=523.3 fork. Whenever I'd
>check my dad's A against my fork it was always dead on!
>
>I didn't like tuning from C much and switched to A shortly after Dad taught
>me to tune. When he'd check my C it was "reasonably close"... B-})
>
>                        John
>
>John Musselwhite, RPT
>Calgary, Alberta Canada
>musselj@cadvision.com




Horace Greeley			hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu

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