So, this is not an argument for any tuning. It had to be replaced anyway, and even very old pianos are made to hold the tension of the strings. If a string breaks, the material of this string was weak. Do you really want to tune your piano so frequently?) In winter you have slightly different frequencies than in summer. (Not to forget, that Schumann resonances undergo seasonal fluctuations. To construct an argument pro or contra any tuning frequency for music instruments is humbug. But again: Schumann resonances are an electromagnetic phenomenon that by it's nature can neither influence music instruments nor the human body. is not equal to 8) is called "fundamental" just because it is the lowest Schumann frequency. The Schumann resonance covers many different frequencies between 7.83 and 33.8 Hz. The human body has no sensors to register these waves which are similar to radio waves, but with much much lower frequencies and therefore much much less energy. The Schumann resonance is set a frequencies in which electromagnetic waves in planet earth's atmosphere can resonate. The actual hype about this frequency is inspired by some esoteric arguments, that in fact nothing have to do with music. Nor do I know any song that originally was recorded in this tuning. "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles starts in 451 Hz and then, after a few bars, jumps down to 443 Hz.Īs far as I know 432 Hz never was the standard tuning in any era or in any famous orchestra. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica is in 445 Hz. Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" is tuned in 442 Hz. And if you buy an electronic keyboard today, you will get an instrument that is tuned in 440 Hz, and all other instruments that are built today to be used in popular music are designed to be tuned in 440 Hz.īut although 440 is standard in popular music since about 80 years, this still does not mean that all songs that have been produces in this era use this tuning. In 1938 a conference in London decided that the tone A4 should have a frequency of 440 Hz. If you want to play popular music, and want to play it in tune, then you should use 440 Hz. In 2016 they decided to tune their instruments in 443 Hz which still is in use. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra used 435 Hz in 1858, but 3 years later, in 1861 they switched to 466 Hz and to even higher frequencies in later years, but then moved down again. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra had tuned their instruments in 445 Hz during many decades in 20 th century, but they lowered their pitch later. If you live in Italy or Switzerland and play your piano in an Italian or Swiss Orchestra, you would have to tune it in 442 Hz. Romantic music (Wagner, Brahms, Chopin, Schubert) was composed after the era of classic music, up to the 1920ies. If you want to play classic music (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven) which was composed between 17, you should tune it in 430 Hz. Todays baroque orchestras still use this tuning, because some instruments that were built in this era can not be tuned (like the cornett), so the whole orchestra must adopt to these instruments. ) or even older music, you should tune it in 415 Hz, because this was the standard 300 years ago when this music was composed. If you want to play your piano in an orchestra that plays original-style baroque music (Bach, Händel, Purcel. Back in the '60s, guitar bands would tune to whoever was best in tune already - that didn't stop things sounding good, even if it was 'in the cracks'! 440Hz, 432Hz, 428Hz, whatever, it'll still work. Thus - if it's dropped slightly, just get it tuned to itself at that pitch. An awful lot of older pianos never get back to their original concert pitch, tuners are happier to leave then slightly under, for many good reasons. I guess that's where tuning experience comes in. But that's me.įrom your position, any lower tuning would suffice, although there would come a point where the strings were too loose, and sound quality would suffer. Then at least I could play along with the majority of stuff that's recorded or on the radio - or even along with others that were concert pitch tuned - albeit a semitone out. If it was mine, I'd probably go for making B♭ 440Hz. There's no good reason to use 432Hz, though. Given that your piano is old, thus the strings probably are too, any Hz lower than 440 will be kinder. Partly to be authentic, mostly to be kind to the instruments. When playing period music, on period instruments, they are tuned to the standard of that time, if at all possible.
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