Re: Re: Re: mirafone pitch


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Posted by Chuck(G) on December 04, 2002 at 15:59:13:

In Reply to: Re: Re: mirafone pitch posted by Rick Denney on December 04, 2002 at 15:49:38:

The old international standard pitch was 435, or about 20 cents lower than today's 440.

Your tuner was correct in worrying about raising the pitch on your old piano. The strings put tremendous stress on the cast-iron frame and a cracked frame essentially renders a piano a heavy piece of junk suitable as trebouchet fodder.

But, raising the pitch on string instruments does add a certain brightness to the sound. Strings are complex things with several modes of vibration. I'm sure you've heard many of the "authentic instrument" baroque recordings done at A=415 (nearly a semitone lower than 440).

It's also a reason, however, to be skeptical of the sound of Stradivarius and Guarneri antiques. The ones used for modern concerts have been modified to work at higher pitches and I wonder how much like the originals they sound.



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