Frank Nordberg writes: | John Chambers wrote: | > I can't think of a way to make a funny tie-in to music for this now. | > Maybe someone else can. | | Not so funny perhaps, but US orchestras tend to tune their instruments | slightly higher than waht is common in the rest of the world. | | This is sometimes a problem for wind players and for wind instrument | manufacturers who have to make special models for the US market.
Yeah, and there has been a slow inflation of "standard" pitch over the several centuries that we've had such a concept. And the real leaders here are in Norway, where the hardingfele players often tune as much as a whole step sharp. Highland pipers have an A that's about the same as everyone else's Bb. And so on. One of the explanations that I've heard is that string players tend to be leaders in this race. The reason is that if you tune your instrument higher, you get a louder and brighter sound. It also destroys the instrument faster, of course, but for a few decades you might not notice. Orchestras don't seem to have as much variability as the smaller groups, though. When you're tuning to the oboe, you don't have as wide a range. And an all-string group has few limits other than when the strings (or the neck) break. To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
