Short scale (was re: Decal for 1866 Steinway...)

[Richard Moody]

----- 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