Re: GG: Re: absolute pitch

[Bruce Petherick <bruceep@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU>]

At 16:09 17/12/96 -0800, you wrote:
>
>I don't think its worth my time to research on the matter, but I still 
>wonder: Did this really happen? Or was it apocrypha? When exactly did
>A440 become standardized?

A440 is not a universal standard now, although for the large majority of
Western Orchestra it is the standard reference pitch.  Many "early-music"
ensembles use variations on Baroque pitch (which ranges from c410hz -
480hz).  I think Japan still uses a445.  I was doing a tour of England about
10 years ago with a percussion ensemble, and as we couldn't bring all of our
equipment, we borrowed some stuff from the Premier factory.  The problem was
that these xylophones and glockenspiels were all tuned to a438 (it has to do
with the stretching of the bars on contact to produce a stable 440hz ), and
all of our Yamaha and Korogi instruments were at 445.  Unison lines were
most fun to listen to!
To continue with the "standard" I know a lot of Big Bands tune "sharp" for
more brilliance, and there is always the Opera bands that have to tune to
the singer's ambitus, or lack thereof
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