"Richard Brekne" wrote: > From a strictly philosophical point of view.... why would anyone want any particular pitch ? I fail to see that 440 is any more or less absurd then 430, 457, 492.643, or Pi R^2 for that matter. > It is entomologically absurd, in that it is not reasonable to have a completely irrelevant set of pitch levels; the absurdity does not lie with the assignment of pitch to frequency, that is naturally a philosophical debate. The problem is specifically with pitch itself. Musicians need to be able to align pitch levels is such a way that it is possible for them to function together. For whatever reason, for good or bad, the international standard (Physics) is A4=440; most modern instruments are designed around that standard, which of coarse has some degree of flexibility. Orchestras that I performed with recently have given A4=439-443, so I do understand that the standard is anything but 'standard.' Bradley M. Snook
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