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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM" =
title=Billbrpt@AOL.COM>Billbrpt@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"
title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, March 04, 2002 =
12:23
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: A440 Standard - =
SHIFT OF
LOCATION?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a =
message dated
3/4/02 1:05:01 PM Central Standard Time, <A
href="mailto:skolnik@attglobal.net">skolnik@attglobal.net</A> (David =
Skolnik)
writes: <BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"
TYPE="CITE">Oh yes, regarding floating pitch. While I practice =
it to a
degree, I think <BR>A439 - 442 is unacceptably wide for any but the =
loosest
of situations. To <BR>me, anything under 440 is unacceptable. =
I
think of floating as between 440 <BR>and 441.5 for a A440 standard.
The standard most likely represents the <BR>lowest acceptable =
pitch in
any particular pitch environment, thus, allowing <BR>the BSO piano =
to float
would seem to give a range of 442 to 44? ? <BR></FONT><FONT =
color=#000000
face=Arial lang=0 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><BR></FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"> Jeez, the pianos I tune =
in schools
are routinely at least 20 cents sharp (in the middle) at the end of =
the summer
and about the same amount flat after the heat's been on for a =
couple
months. I am not going to lower pitch every September and raise =
it again
for the Christmas program. I make exceptions for certain high =
school
orchestras and choirs, but not many. Now, if it were in the =
budget
to have the pianos tuned twice or more a year, things might be
different. But as it is, I leave 'em sharp at the beginning of =
the
school year, knowing from experience that if I lower 'em to 440, then =
they'll
need an even more drastic pitch raise in Nov. or Dec. I know =
many other
techs experience this, as the topic has been discussed before. =
But the
reason for the post is that I thought this was what was meant by =
"floating the
pitch", even if it's a range of almost a half-step.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"> =
=
=
=
=
--David Nereson, RPT, Denver<BR> <BR>>>>In my opinion, =
A440 is
an important standard to promote and uphold. I also concur with =
PTG's
statement in its informational material which says that nonstandard =
pitch is
"seldom appropriate". But I don't believe there should be any =
rigid and
inflexible rules. Such a rule would be unenforceable anyway. =
Whichever
decision is made about pitch ought to be left to the best judgment of =
the
technician, taking into account the circumstances. The =
consequences of
that decision should also be the technician's responsibility, =
including the
consequences of insisting on A440 when another pitch would have been =
more
prudent. <BR><BR>Bill Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin <BR><A
href="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b =
r e m m e r
. c o m =-</A> <<<<</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> I agree. =
When speaking
only of pianos and harpsichords, yes, I suppose there are times when =
another
pitch would be more prudent, e.g., when performing music from certain =
periods
in history when the commonly used pitch of that time, locale, and =
composer were known, or when using instruments that structurally =
cannot
withstand a higher tension. But this thing of tuning to 441 or =
442, I've
never understood. I've heard it argued that for a piano =
concerto, the
higher pitch of the piano allows it to "cut through" or "project over" =
the
orchestra, or that it makes the piano "brighter". Rubbish! =
It just
makes it sharper. Do they tune the piano to 442, then let the =
oboist
give 440 for the rest of the orchestra to tune to? If the pitch =
were
magically to drop back to A440 in between movements, no one would
notice.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> Besides, modern fixed-pitch =
instruments
such as xylophones, marimbas, vibes, most electronic keyboards, =
bells,
celestes, chimes, glockenspiels, etc. are tuned to A=440; also =
tuning
devices such as pitch pipes, tuning forks (the commonly available =
ones in
music stores), and electronic metronome/tuner devices all have A=440 =
as the
standard. Sure, some are variable, and many electronic keyboards =
now
have variable pitch and even historical temperaments, but the "musical =
world"
is tuned to A=440. The most common exceptions I've found are =
organs and
accordions, which are often sharp, including electric organs, for some =
reason. Why is this?
=
--David Nereson, RPT,
=
Denver &=
nbsp; &n=
bsp; &nb=
sp;
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