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The American music industry reached an informal standard of 440 Hz in 1926, and some began using it in instrument manufacturing.
The American music industry reached an informal standard of 440 Hz in 1926, and some began using it in instrument manufacturing.


In 1936, the [[American Standards Association]] recommended that the A above middle C be tuned to 440&nbsp;Hz.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Opera Companion |first=George |last=Martin |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-57467-168-1 |url={{google books |id=MjTLYqOoi3kC |page=92 |keywords=440-cps 1936 |plainurl=yes}} |via=Google Books |access-date=2023-01-09}}</ref> This standard was taken up by the [[International Organization for Standardization]] in 1955 as Recommendation R 16,<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISO 16:1975(en) Acoustics — Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch) |url=https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:16:ed-1:v1:en |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=International Organization for Standardization}}</ref> before being formalised in 1975 as '''ISO 16'''.<ref>{{cite book |title=ISO 16:1975 Acoustics – Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch) |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |year=1975 |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=3601 |access-date=2023-01-09}}</ref>
In 1936, the [[American Standards Association]] recommended that the A above middle C be tuned to 440&nbsp;Hz.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Opera Companion |first=George |last=Martin |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-57467-168-1 |url={{google books |id=MjTLYqOoi3kC |page=92 |keywords=440-cps 1936 |plainurl=yes}} |via=Google Books |access-date=2023-01-09}}</ref>

The most impactful meeting occurred in May 1939, when delegates from France, Germany, Holland, and Italy convened with their British counterparts at Broadcasting House in London, the headquarters of the BBC, to address the issue of concert pitch. Representatives from Switzerland and the United States contributed their opinions via mail. Among the participants was Sir [[James Swinburne]], an electrical engineer influential in the development of plastics due to his search for better insulating materials for electrical devices. Swinburne was also an avid music enthusiast, serving as an amateur pianist and organist. In 1937, he delivered a lecture to the [[Royal Musical Association]] on "The Ideal Scale," discussing the tuning of a scale to pure ratios and the common practice of adjusting these ratios to maintain consonance across various keys.

The following year, Swinburne represented the Musical Association at a preliminary conference to determine the British stance on concert pitch. British piano tuners had adopted A439 as the standard in 1899, but Swinburne, whose interests in ratios and electronics intersected, raised an objection. He pointed out that 439 was a prime number, whereas 440 could be more easily factored and electronically synthesized. The other European delegates concurred with Swinburne's position. This agreement on concert pitch was one of the final consensus points among these nations before the onset of World War II.

This standard was taken up by the [[International Organization for Standardization]] in 1955 as Recommendation R 16,<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISO 16:1975(en) Acoustics — Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch) |url=https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:16:ed-1:v1:en |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=International Organization for Standardization}}</ref> before being formalised in 1975 as '''ISO 16'''.<ref>{{cite book |title=ISO 16:1975 Acoustics – Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch) |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |year=1975 |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=3601 |access-date=2023-01-09}}</ref>


It is designated '''A<sub>4</sub>''' in scientific pitch notation because it occurs in the octave that starts with the fourth C key on a standard 88-key [[piano]] keyboard. On [[MIDI]], A440 is note 69 (0x45 [[hexadecimal]]).
It is designated '''A<sub>4</sub>''' in scientific pitch notation because it occurs in the octave that starts with the fourth C key on a standard 88-key [[piano]] keyboard. On [[MIDI]], A440 is note 69 (0x45 [[hexadecimal]]).

Even today, concert pitch is not a universal standard. Early-music ensembles continue to use older, lower pitch levels. [[Leonard Bernstein]] often tuned the New York Philharmonic to A442, leading to complaints from the piano tuners’ union, although he claimed both the New York and Boston orchestras had used this higher pitch for years. Proponents of new-age theories and political conspiracy theorists have criticized A440. The former prefer A432, claiming it is more in tune with the universe, while the latter, led by [[Lyndon LaRouche]], controversially link A440 to Nazi propaganda and advocate for the "Verdi pitch."


==Modern practices==
==Modern practices==

Revision as of 14:22, 21 July 2024

{ \hide Staff.TimeSignature \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"grand piano" a'1 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" a'1 }
A440, piano and violin

A440 (also known as Stuttgart pitch[1]) is the musical pitch corresponding to an audio frequency of 440 Hz, which serves as a tuning standard for the musical note of A above middle C, or A4 in scientific pitch notation. It is standardized by the International Organization for Standardization as ISO 16. While other frequencies have been (and occasionally still are) used to tune the first A above middle C, A440 is now commonly used as a reference frequency to calibrate acoustic equipment and to tune pianos, violins, and other musical instruments.

History and use

Before standardization on 440 Hz, many countries and organizations followed the French standard since the 1860s of 435 Hz, which had also been the Austrian government's 1885 recommendation.[2] Johann Heinrich Scheibler recommended A440 as a standard in 1834 after inventing the "tonometer" to measure pitch,[3] and it was approved by the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians at a meeting in Stuttgart the same year.[4]

The American music industry reached an informal standard of 440 Hz in 1926, and some began using it in instrument manufacturing.

In 1936, the American Standards Association recommended that the A above middle C be tuned to 440 Hz.[5]

The most impactful meeting occurred in May 1939, when delegates from France, Germany, Holland, and Italy convened with their British counterparts at Broadcasting House in London, the headquarters of the BBC, to address the issue of concert pitch. Representatives from Switzerland and the United States contributed their opinions via mail. Among the participants was Sir James Swinburne, an electrical engineer influential in the development of plastics due to his search for better insulating materials for electrical devices. Swinburne was also an avid music enthusiast, serving as an amateur pianist and organist. In 1937, he delivered a lecture to the Royal Musical Association on "The Ideal Scale," discussing the tuning of a scale to pure ratios and the common practice of adjusting these ratios to maintain consonance across various keys.

The following year, Swinburne represented the Musical Association at a preliminary conference to determine the British stance on concert pitch. British piano tuners had adopted A439 as the standard in 1899, but Swinburne, whose interests in ratios and electronics intersected, raised an objection. He pointed out that 439 was a prime number, whereas 440 could be more easily factored and electronically synthesized. The other European delegates concurred with Swinburne's position. This agreement on concert pitch was one of the final consensus points among these nations before the onset of World War II.

This standard was taken up by the International Organization for Standardization in 1955 as Recommendation R 16,[6] before being formalised in 1975 as ISO 16.[7]

It is designated A4 in scientific pitch notation because it occurs in the octave that starts with the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard. On MIDI, A440 is note 69 (0x45 hexadecimal).

Even today, concert pitch is not a universal standard. Early-music ensembles continue to use older, lower pitch levels. Leonard Bernstein often tuned the New York Philharmonic to A442, leading to complaints from the piano tuners’ union, although he claimed both the New York and Boston orchestras had used this higher pitch for years. Proponents of new-age theories and political conspiracy theorists have criticized A440. The former prefer A432, claiming it is more in tune with the universe, while the latter, led by Lyndon LaRouche, controversially link A440 to Nazi propaganda and advocate for the "Verdi pitch."

Modern practices

Piano Keyboard
An 88-key piano, with the octaves numbered and middle C (cyan) and A4 (yellow) highlighted

A440 is widely used as concert pitch in the United Kingdom[8] and the United States.[9] In continental Europe the frequency of A4 commonly varies between 440 Hz and 444 Hz.[8] In the period instrument movement, a consensus has arisen around a modern baroque pitch of 415 Hz (with 440 Hz corresponding to A♯), a 'baroque' pitch for some special church music (in particular, some German church music, e.g. the pre-Leipzig period cantatas of Bach)[10] known as Chorton pitch at 466 Hz (with 440 Hz corresponding to A♭), and classical pitch at 427–430 Hz.[10]

A440
5 seconds of a pure tone at 440 Hz
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A440 is often used as a tuning reference in just intonation regardless of the fundamental note or key.

The US time and frequency station WWV broadcasts a 440 Hz signal at two minutes past every hour, with WWVH broadcasting the same tone at the first minute past every hour. This was added in 1936 to aid orchestras in tuning their instruments.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Apel, Willi (1969). Harvard Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674375017. Retrieved 2023-01-09 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Karp, Theodore (1983). Dictionary of Music. Northwestern University Press. p. 406. ISBN 9780810106598. Retrieved 2023-01-09 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Robert Thomas Beyer (1999). Sounds of our times: two hundred years of acoustics. Springer. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-387-98435-3. Retrieved 2023-01-09 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ von Helmholtz, Hermann (1863). Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik [The Study of the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Foundation for the Theory of Music (alt: The Sensation of Tones)] (in German). J. Vieweg. p. 29. Retrieved 2023-01-09 – via Google Books, (pre-ISBN); see article on book Sensations of Tone.
  5. ^ Martin, George (2008). The Opera Companion. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-57467-168-1. Retrieved 2023-01-09 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "ISO 16:1975(en) Acoustics — Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch)". International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  7. ^ ISO 16:1975 Acoustics – Standard tuning frequency (Standard musical pitch). International Organization for Standardization. 1975. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  8. ^ a b Nistl, Franz. "Europa E - SK". Klavierstimmung.
  9. ^ Nistl, Franz. "Afrika Amerika Asien Ozeanien". Klavierstimmung.
  10. ^ a b Oxford Composer Companion JS Bach, pp. 369–372. Oxford University Press, 1999
  11. ^ "History of WWV". Physical Measurement Laboratory, NIST. September 16, 2015. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
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