Pitch in Paris ca. 1860

[Calin Tantareanu]

Hi!

I'll give you some comparative measurements, to see how I concluded that my 
piano was probably meant for a pitch at least as high as 440, if not more.
My Pleyel 1860 upright has the top note A85 4.5mm with nr. 12 wire.
My Steinway O 1910 has he note A85 5.4 with nr. 13 wire.
So, a shorter string with thinner wire, at a reasonable tension, should 
sound decent at a pretty high pitch, no? Certainly not at A 435 or so, as 
many suggest for old pianos.

There is no quick answer to your question, because it also depends on the 
thickness of the string used.


 Calin Tantareanu
----------------------------------------------------
 http://calintantareanu.tripod.com
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Vanderhoofven" <david@vanderpiano.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 3:12 AM
Subject: Re: Pitch in Paris ca. 1860


>I have a question which is probably pretty stupid.  How can you tell from 
>the scale what pitch to choose?  What is a short scale, and what is a long 
>scale?  Is it possible to tell the difference without doing a lot of 
>precise measuring?
>
> Does a long scale mean a lower pitch?  And does a short scale mean a 
> higher pitch?  Why is this so?
>
> Thanks!
> David Vanderhoofven
> Joplin, MO