[Dixielandjazz] A = 440

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

Having been an oboe player I would tune my reeds sharp and then pull 
them to 440. The reason for this is that bands tend to play sharp in 
this country and if they didn't start that way they end up playing that 
way and that's the same with orchestras. Have you ever watched them 
fooling with the tuning screws on the tail pieces. They are pulling the 
instrument sharp so they tend to slide up.

Personally I hear sharp and 440 sounds a bit flat to me. I think that 
that's true with most people. My band director in college also liked the 
band tuned a little sharp because he said it sounded brighter. Tuning is 
like voting within a band, the majority wins.

I understand, and could be wrong, that Russia tunes flat to A440 because 
the cold weather prevents the pianos from being pulled to A440. The 
result would be like a skin drum head splitting when warmed up. 
Obviously that would not be the case now with good heating but may have 
been true 100 years ago. Anyone know the true story? Myth?

Pet peeve: Guitar players that use tuning meters to tune their 
instruments. This will automatically produce an out of tune guitar 
because it isn't tempered. The human ear is the most accurate if it's 
used but it does require training. Everyone wants to take shortcuts 
without taking the background work. The only place using a meter seems 
to work is with Bass guitar but they aren't playing chords either.

Larry Walton
St. Louis


Queetonians Constellations wrote:
> Yes, I remember reading a few years ago that A=440Hz wasn't actually 
> standardized until the 20th century. I wish I could cite the source. 
> The normal middle A before that was usually somewhere around 442 or 
> 443 point something-or-other Hz. I think 440Hz was standardized in the 
> U.S. in order to make it easier to quantify musical frequencies. So it 
> makes sense that older world symphonic organizations in Europe would 
> still be tuning traditionally a little bit higher than 440Hz.
>
> Jara
>
>
> On Nov 6, 2005, at 8:20 AM, Mike C. wrote:
>
>> Most European Orchestras tune to a higher frequency I believe. I think
>> it's something like A=441 or 442 but I could be wrong.
>>
>> MIke
>>
>>
>>
>>> "Bob Romans" <cellblk7 at comcast.net>
>>>
>>>> I think A 440 is the A above middle C, isn't it? 440 VPS...tuning note
>>>> for
>>>> MOST symphonies around the world?
>>>
>>> Yes, A above middle C on the piano is 440, or at least it should be 
>>> in the
>>> USA. Whether or not MOST symphonies around the world tune to it is
>>> questionable. Perhaps the oboe players could let us know?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Steve
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into 
>> superstition,
>> and art into pedantry. Hence University education."
>>
>> "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best 
>> teach it
>> to dance."
>>
>> "You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were;
>> and I say 'Why not?'"
>>
>> - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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