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What’s up with the piano tuning?


Bif_

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5 hours ago, Reezekeys said:

 

 

Yes but I believe that's more in the classical/orchestral world. A smooth-jazzer in his home studio? Maybe – it's not difficult to do on a DP.

 

Well, the second video was basically in the same ballpark, so maybe he just likes 444? IDK.

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I'm clearly getting old.  When I started this music stuff, Europe and the Americas had pretty much settled on A440, with exceptions such as xylophones tuned to A442 for "brightness."

 

A440 was picked because it was brighter than the old A435.

 

And A432 before that.  (Now back in vogue, because it resonates with .. um ..  because reasons.)

 

Mozart apparently liked A421.

 

Trinity College (Cambridge)'s organ was initially tuned to A309 -- a good tritone flatter than today.  I would have been a heck of a tenor, singing up to C with no problem!  Of course, I would probably be dead from Cholera by now....

 

Many more fun references at www.piano-tuners.org .

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PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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I have an old Western Cottage Organ Co. reed organ that’s tuned to 452. I like it honestly.
 

As far as this thread, I notice the tonality/voicing of the piano as being more annoying than any sharpness. It’s not overbearing, but it’s definitely a very specific sound he must have been going for.

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9 hours ago, Tom Williams said:

I'm clearly getting old.  When I started this music stuff, Europe and the Americas had pretty much settled on A440, with exceptions such as xylophones tuned to A442 for "brightness."

 

A440 was picked because it was brighter than the old A435.

 

And A432 before that.  (Now back in vogue, because it resonates with .. um ..  because reasons.)

 

Mozart apparently liked A421.

 

You started this music stuff early! AFAIK, the 440 Hz was standardised in Germany in the 1830s, and informally in the US in the 1920s. 😁

 

There is absolutely no historical basis for A432, btw. No period in history ever standardised on that particular pitch.

The 432 Hz craze is a complete fabrication, based upon utter bullshit. There is no precedent, and not a single one of the supposed explanations has even the slightest grounding in physical reality. 

 

Mozart's preference is indeed inferred to have been A421.6 Hz, based on a tuning fork that supposedly belonged to his piano builder. 

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