Conference napalm::guitar

    I've never seen middle C defined as 440 Hz. That's A. 
    
    Please, keep that ISO cr*p out of here. I'm sick of hearing MBA twits
    carrying on about engineering the business and quality architecture
    to reflect ISO 9000 by FY92 blah blah blah.
    
    -Dave

    
    I am probably way off here but maybe it is so you can tune a specific
    amount down (or up) so you can still use it to tune to an instrument
    that is not set at 440hz of to tune to something that is out of tune
    and cannot be easily tuned (unlike a guitar), myabe a slightly out of
    tune piano or a flute or trumpet or summink???
    
    Just guessing.
    
    J.

    Richard,
    
    440Hz is A, as someone pointed out. Since you're in the UK, now is a
    good opportunity to pick up Making Music - the latest edition has an
    article about tuners in it, and includes information on why you might
    want to tune to a different frequency. Oh, and it's free. If you can't
    get hold of a copy, I'll bring mine in for you to have a look at.
    
    Nick

    
       On some tuners, you have the ability to detune the tuner. This 
    is used to tune certain classical instruments. ie; the tuner gets
    tuned to 441, 442, etc...
       I'm not shure what particular instruments get tuned that way
    though. My girlfriend is a flutist and knows that stuff.
    
    /J

    Changing from a = 440 to a = 4?? allows you to "match" the tuner to a
    piano or organ or similar instrument that is relatively difficult (or
    at least time consuming) to tune.  
    
    To my knowledge, there are no "classical" instruments that are
    "normally" tuned to something other than a = 440.  The string family,
    obviously, is as easily adjusted as a guitar.  Horns all have tuning
    slides that allow the the length of the tube to be either shortened or
    lengthened, sharpening or flattening the pitch as necessary.  Woodwinds
    accomplish the same effect by adjusting the position of the mouthpiece
    on the instrument.
    
    I do seem to remember reading somewhere that many pianos made in the
    late 1800s were tuned to something below the A = 440 standard.  This
    can be of concern, since the harp cannot necessarily withstand the
    tension created if the instrument is brought up to standard pitch.
    
    If I'm not mistaken, A=440 is the pitch of the next to highest open
    string on a violin, FWIW.
    
    Jim

       
       
       
       
       Some synth manufacturers (Roland) tune their A to 442 Hz.  So, if
       you didn't feel like re-tuning your synth you could recalibrate
       your tuner's A to 442 & match up that way.  There's more info
       about this in COMMUSIC.  Do the KP7 thing if you don't already
       have it in your notebook.
       
       
       
       
       

	Concert Pitch (A=440hz) has been slowly fluctuating over the
	years. A couple of centuries ago it was somewhat lower (~436)
	and there have been times and places in the 19th century where 
	it has been a bit higher.

	The current 440 is likely to last for quite some time as we now
	have very reliable pitch measurement devices, like the Boss TU12
	and just about everybody but the Japanese accept 440.

	My tuner (ST1000) will recalibrate to any pitch in it's range
	if I power it up in the presence of the pitch with the calibrate
	button held down.

    Tuning your instrument just a wee sharp will sometimes give it just
    enough 'edge' to stand out.
    
    ...generally accepted reason why Roland does it.
    
    Edd

>	My tuner (ST1000) will recalibrate to any pitch in it's range
>	if I power it up in the presence of the pitch with the calibrate
>	button held down.
    
    Does it then recalibrate back to A=440 after it's powered off again?
    
    Greg (curious because he has one too and didn't get a manual with it)

>    Greg (curious because he has one too and didn't get a manual with it)
    
    Ah you finally got rid of that other thing ;-)  I have one also and a
    manual that I'll check tonight.
    
    Mike

>    Ah you finally got rid of that other thing ;-)  I have one also and a
>    manual that I'll check tonight.
 
    No, I still have the other one.  As Tom pointed out in another note,
    the Sabine is useless in bright light, you can't see the LEDs.  It's
    also not accurate enough to do intonation adjustments, the granularity
    of the adjustment points isn't very fine and you can't make a
    quantative judgement of how much change to make based on the way it's
    LEDs work.   
    
    Thanks, I'd appreciate the info on how to re/un calibrate it.
    
    Greg

Concert pitch for many violins (particularly older ones) is considerably below
A440.  The "reason" for this is to reduce strain on the to.  The higher the
A pitch, the more flex and prssure are put on the instrument.

On the other hand, modern fiddles and violins can take the strain, so 
musicians actually tend to tune them up to A442 or A444 to "punch through" 
more overpowering instruments.

Being able tune down to an older instrument will help make the other instrument
sound better and being able to tune up helps defeat the punch-through.

The last reason to be able to pick a frequency is so yo can play in like tune
to an instrument that can't be tuned (such as a concertina) or tuned easily
(such as a piano).

BobW

    According to my copy of 'Making Music' (available free from a music
    store near you), A has equalled anything from 380Hz to 480Hz over the
    last few centuries, with 440Hz being internationally adopted as
    recently as 1955. Now, as I don't own a tuner or a tuneable
    synthesiser, can anyone tell me what is the actual pitch difference
    between 380Hz and 480Hz?
    
    As a previous noter noted, 'Say NO to standards!'. Reinstate huang
    chung!!!
    
    Bob

I seem to remember something about A=440hz being concert pitch
in Europe and USA, and it being different somewhere else .. S. America?
*DC

    
    Ah, I thought there was something in this topic when I raised it.
    There's much more than I thought.
    
    My comment about an ISO Standard Middle C was 'tongue in cheek'. Case
    of humour not translating across the pond I expect.
    
    Richard

re: recalibrating the Sabine

It recals itself automatically when you turn it off and on again.

	What TomG. said - cycle the power.

	I have no trouble getting good readings for intonation out of
	my sabine. I tune against the "lower edge" of the green range
	and get good results. I also check intonation at both the 12th
	and 19th frets.

    Again down the Sabine rathole, but what note does it calibrate to the
    pitch when you power it up with the little button pressed in while in
    the presence of a tone?
    
    Ie you do this, does the note it senses end up being A, or E, or what?
    
    Greg

    
    
             About the Sabine;  I find to be *almost* the perfect tuner.
    
             Anytime you power it up, it resets to A440.
    
             The calibration button is used to alter the scale while it
             is powered up.  I don't know what would happen if you held
             the button while turning it on.  Maybe a meltdown!! 8'}
    
             As far as intonation goes, the only accurate way is to use
             a real A.C. powered strobe tuner.  There are too many
             variables when using a meter type tuner and most LED types
             (including the SABINE) indicate "green" when you are within
             a certain range.  I DO use it for intonation, but there are
             better machines for the job.
    
    
             And at $45 bucks the SABINE is a good buy.
    
                                                            goodbye!

	On the Sabine, the note you tell it calibrate to replaces A.

		ccb

    Great, thanks much!