John: The only reason I've heard for cranking up the pitch is that the strings sound more brilliant. I will say that when I pull a piano up to 442 or 444, there is a change in the tone of the piano toward a brighter more penetrating sound. But my feeling is that an orchestra shouldn't have to resort to a gimick (ie, higher pitch) to achieve a unique or brighther sound. But that's not my decision to make so whenever an orchestra requests the higher pitch, I comply. I find that I can pitch raise and stabilize the piano in around 2 hours. I accept the fact that the job needs to get done and do it without stressing myself out about it. The orchestra has the power in this situation. Ultimately they can refuse to perform. I would find it extremely uncomfortable to be at the center of that kind of arguement. The administrators of the performance areas that I work in know my feelings about tuning to higher pitches and express those feelings to orchestras. There is a house policy that states that 440 is the standard pitch. But the show must go on. The people I work with treat me well and I would feel bad putting them in an unreasonably difficult situation. As a general rule I pick my battles. Fighting over pitch isn't one I want to fight although I will state my opinions forcefully. Richard West
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