----- Original Message ----- From: <Bdshull@AOL.COM> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 3:27 AM Subject: Re: Short scale (was re: Decal for 1866 Steinway...) > Hi, Ric, > The single most comprehensive resource on the history of pitch is by > physicist Alexander Ellis, "On the History of Musical Pitch," Journal of the > Society of Arts 28 (1880): 293-336, 400-403. I understand that both the > Steinway A-457 fork and the A-454 fork are documented there. Mendel has > added his work to Ellis in "Studies in the History of Musical Pitch" > (Amsterdam: Frits Knuf, 1968), so Ellis is currently available in this form > at your local library. A history of pitch is given in the appendices of _Sensation of Tone_ by Helmholtz which Ellis translated and added to that with his appendices. Whether it is vervbatem to "On the History of Musical Pitch" I don't know. > > I would like to know how important this pitch was for Steinway. As I > speculated in an earlier post, certainly something must be in the Steinway > Archives about this. > > Bill Shull, RPT Yes! this is the crux of the matter. Without consulting Steinway for a verification of the existance of a 457 "Steinway" fork and that it was actually used for concert pitch, that their instruments at that time were designed for 457, we are merely hypothesizing. Of the hyps so far I like Clark's that it may very well have been a chipping fork.---ric ps who is Mendel? mbc
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