A=432Hz

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mrStones

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I made some search and I found just some people that suggested it in some other discussion, but nothing specific.

Ok, some months ago I read a book on the tuning A to 432Hz and not 440Hz and got curious.

Leaving all the mumbo-jumbo aside (like "440 is the Nazi tuning made to enhance rage in people" and all inaccurate historical arguments), I personally found a lot of change when I tried A=432 Hz (with much surprise of a skeptic mind like mine).
I can't really describe with words the difference. The sound was like "all-around" me and was "more alive". I had some goosebump... but not in a bad way, was like "wow". I know I sound little weird.

On the "con" side, I found personally singing is little harder and play-along a pain (changing the pitch tuning of an mp3 with audacity is ok, but improvising on music on the radio is quite a mess).
Right now, I have some ukes in A=432Hz and some in A=440Hz.

What is your experience ? Have you ever tried the A=432Hz ?
Do you love it ? Hate it ?

Thanks everybody
 
I play in different pitches all the time, even though I don't adjust my tuner to do so. If three strings are all slightly sharp then I may simply tune the 4th string slightly sharp to match or flat if that's easiest. TO be honest I don't notice much difference. If you do try to play along with recorded music you will find that a LOT of it is not strictly on pitch. Its all over the place.

Anthony
 
I have done some reading in this and I'm just not convinced. According to this: http://www.roelhollander.eu/en/432-tuning/concert-pitch-vs-tuning-system/
it is between 31 and 32 cents flat of 440 but also according to that, the "magic" only happens if you're tuned to Pythagorean temperament which isn't going to be possible on any production uke. im not even sure you could do it on a uke as the frets would not be parallel to the board.

I'm just not a believer.
 
Thanks Anthony,
yeah you're right. I tested several mp3 and found out only a portion has 440Hz (according to audacity filter).
But if I tune to A=432Hz and try to play along with radio it is ... well.. disappointing... but maybe it's just my ear :)

Thanks Jim,
yeah some things still give me a scratch ... "Cosmic pitch", "healing power" and so. Not saying it is wrong to believe in it, it is seems just a little "without real evidence" to me.
True, cymatics tests are quite astonishing, BUT there is a lot of fuzz online about "Can I tune my guitar/uke/bass/whatever" to 432Hz?
Half says "you can't do that !" half says "of course you can". Both explains why (and my mathematical mind tends to cling with the reasons of "you can't").

Anyway beside all the "controversy" I just tried (though skeptic) and found something was quite different... again... maybe my ear is a little "new age" :)
 
mrStones said:
Anyway beside all the "controversy" I just tried (though skeptic) and found something was quite different... again... maybe my ear is a little "new age" :)
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Well my ukuleles certainly DO sound different at different pitches but that's about different string tensions rather than anything magical about a certain pitch. I generally detune my tenors 2-3 semitones to start with and that certainly has an effect on the sound of the instrument. Drifting pitch up or down a few Hz is not something that makes much difference in my book other than what the slight change in string tension may cause.

Anthony
 
Coming to this topic with a background in Indian music and the sitar I see it a little differently. My main sitar is tuned with A447 because with the tonic as C# that is where it sounds best. But I might use a different A pitch for my other ones because that is where they sound best. Same with the ukes I have. Instead of getting caught up with a certain pitch for A I'd rather just find what sounds best on that uke and use it. Could be A440, could be A437, to me the frequency doesn't matter as much as how it sounds. Exception to this is when I go to my lessons, then I just use A440 because it's easier than having my teacher re-tune to match me. Same with my friends classical guitar, when I restrung it I thought it sounded best at A444 but I moved it back to A440 because it'd be easier for her son when he goes to his lessons.

My advice is to play around with it, find the sweet spot on your ukes but be prepared to switch back to A440 if you play with others because it's just a whole lot easier than deciding who's A wins out :)

John
 
Unless you want to lose an entire evening getting sucked into the rabbit hole, you should ignore all of the videos on YouTube that discuss the CONSPIRACY that we should be using 532hz instead of 440hz or 432hz...

and these folks are basically saying that the general public is being brainwashed by 'The Illuminati' or some-such nonsense because the PLANET EARTH and the SUN all resonate at 532hz instead of something else....

I say that you should TUNE in such a way that works for YOU and ignore everyone else. (UNLESS...)

The ONLY time it matters is if you want to play with others, either 'on the radio' or in person in a group, you all have to agree on SOMETHING as a reference pitch to TUNE your instruments, otherwise it's just a cacophony of evil NOISE, regardless if you are using a 12-semitone or even tempered scale, or something else completely different, you need SOME standard for 'concert pitch'...
 
Booli said:
The ONLY time it matters is if you want to play with others, either 'on the radio' or in person in a group, you all have to agree on SOMETHING as a reference pitch to TUNE your instruments, otherwise it's just a cacophony of evil NOISE, regardless if you are using a 12-semitone or even tempered scale, or something else completely different, you need SOME standard for 'concert pitch'...
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I love this forum. There are always interesting topics at every possible level of musicianship. I'll agree with Booli (above).

Concert Pitch has been an interesting subject matter for years, and pitch is once again o the rise (no pun intended) as the higher frequency of A is more brilliant to the ear...but playing with concert pitch can also be devastating to instruments and voices.

A good synopsis is on Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch#Current_concert_pitches

All that said, if you want to play with piano (particularly here in the US), you'll want to agree on A=440; and as Booli mentions, you can't have some people in a ukulele ensemble playing at A=440 and others at other pitches.
 
Choirguy said:
I love this forum. There are always interesting topics at every possible level of musicianship. I'll agree with Booli (above)...
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Thanks brother.

For the record...I do NOT agree with the wild videos on YT about the alternate references for concert pitch...

I mean, I get it that folks want to be 'alternative' or 'subversive' or 'hipster' but with music if you want to tune your A to 333hz, 444hz or 666hz you are basically never going to find an ensemble of/or other musicians to jam with unless they are into Wicca or Satanism, no offense to anyone who practices either...and MORE POWER TO YOU if that is what makes someone happy and nobody gets hurt in the process...

basically though, I'd rather not have to re-tune every acoustic piano I see in order to play it first with other people, yes I know, electric pianos, MIDI keyboards and soft-synths can be tuned to anything you want with a click of the mouse...but I do not play music to act as a virtual Ouija Board, but rather to interact with folks who are ALIVE just like me....

of course, as we peel away the layers of the onion, we can get into a meta-metaphysical discussion about HARMONIZING with other folks that exist at common RESONANT frequencies, etc, but I think that might be a little to esoteric for an ukulele forum...:)
 
I would bet that not 1% of people could really tell the difference between 440 and 432. Less than 2% difference? There might be that much difference in the amount of fretting force use on a string. 440 Hz is a standard just to keep everyone in tune. But what ever floats your boat is fine with me.
 
As someone who regularly plays songs that are written in D in C# sharp or C or B instead. All I can say is what is the fuss about a couple of Hz?

EDIT: I should say that I tune the instrument down 1 or 2 or 3 semitones rather than just playing in a different key.

Anthony
 
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JackLuis said:
I would bet that not 1% of people could really tell the difference between 440 and 432. Less than 2% difference? There might be that much difference in the amount of fretting force use on a string. 440 Hz is a standard just to keep everyone in tune. But what ever floats your boat is fine with me.
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If I want to play with other people, believe you me that I can tell the difference between A440 and A432!

regarding relative tuning, it simply means that I find a string that sounds right to me, and tune everything else to it. If I'm doing a solo, then that is fine. Don't care if it is A421 or A453, as long as no one tries to play along in a different tuning.
 
None, until you play your C# against someone else playing D. Then it matters.

While there are intervals that are more consonant with each other, 2nds and 7ths tend to clash rather dissonantly. :)
 
Well, hubby plays a standup bass and more than once he has changed his tuning by placing his finger on the wrong button. I play either ukulele or guitar with him and go crazy trying to tune my instrument when this happens. I can sure hear the difference. You don't even want to know how long it takes us to discover he's altered the tuning! Those numbers are really tiny on the tuners for our Senior eyes.
 
quiltingshirley said:
Well, hubby plays a standup bass and more than once he has changed his tuning by placing his finger on the wrong button. I play either ukulele or guitar with him and go crazy trying to tune my instrument when this happens. I can sure hear the difference. You don't even want to know how long it takes us to discover he's altered the tuning! Those numbers are really tiny on the tuners for our Senior eyes.
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For a BASS, whether the tuner is set for BASS or GUITAR or CHROMATIC, is it still difficult to remember to tune in perfect-fourths to E-A-D-G?

Please understand that I'm not mocking you, just tryin to help, as I'm not old yet and not aware of these exact obstacles as of now...
 
anthonyg said:
As someone who regularly plays songs that are written in D in C# sharp or C or B instead. All I can say is what is the fuss about a couple of Hz?

Anthony
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YES, as Choirguy said, and to put another way, if you play ALONE, none of any of this matters, but if you want to play with another person, you have to convince them AWAY from 440hz, otherwise the dissonance is painful to like 99% of people who have been cultured and raised on 'western-euorpean' music based upon Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, or Ameerikanz pop muzik, but nobody is saying NOT to tune to whatever you want, but that you SHOULD BE AWARE that you have thus isolated yourself from everyone else who has agreed that A-440hz is the de-facto and in-use reference for concert pitch for most of the 12-tone equal-temperament tuning system deployed with most of these instruments...

Now if you play something fretless like an Violin, Oud from Pakistan or a Cretan Lyra, being slight out of tune can be compensated by the PLAYER. But any brass, reed, or fretted instrument and any stringed-percussion like a piano or harpsicord needs to be TUNED to the same, and yes even including a HARMONICA since the REEDS of a harmonica, concertina, accordian, melodica, etc need to be finely TUNED.
 
When our group plays, it doesn't matter if A is 440, or 430, or 460, as long we are all on the same page.
But the piano? A is 440, no matter how many times I wave my wand at it.
 
JackLuis said:
I would bet that not 1% of people could really tell the difference between 440 and 432. Less than 2% difference? There might be that much difference in the amount of fretting force use on a string.
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I disagree there. Like I said earlier, it is almost 32 cents difference, which is way to the left of the dial on a chromatic tuner.

ksiegel said:
If I want to play with other people, believe you me that I can tell the difference between A440 and A432!
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Concur

Booli said:
But any brass, reed, or fretted instrument and any stringed-percussion like a piano or harpsicord needs to be TUNED to the same, and yes even including a HARMONICA.
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Also agree with that. Years ago I played harmonica in my church praise band and I got to where I mostly avoided the harps in Just Temperament as some of the intervals were so flat against the Equal Temperament keyboards and guitars
 
Thanks everybody !

Booli said:
Unless you want to lose an entire evening getting sucked into the rabbit hole, you should ignore all of the videos on YouTube that discuss the CONSPIRACY that we should be using 532hz instead of 440hz or 432hz...

and these folks are basically saying that the general public is being brainwashed by 'The Illuminati' or some-such nonsense because the PLANET EARTH and the SUN all resonate at 532hz instead of something else....
Click to expand...

Yeah don't worry Booli :) as I said, it's just a mumbo-jumbo of historical and scientific inaccurate claims.


I do respect every opinion and faith, but when people starts their arguments with "In the bible", "Illuminati did" or "Nazi did" or "Satan did"... well... it is really not my cup of tea.
I read some people says 528 is THE RIGHT tuning and 432 is another devil-ridden conspiracy and the opposite too... wow... lot of lunatics (or really smart people who saw the profit in controversy) in world wide web huh ?
The thing I personally I find annoying : why everything in internet has to become an argument to start a ideologic war with so much hatred ? Isn't there enough hatred in our world ?

Anyway, being a slave to a "too-curious" mind, I read about it and tried it, even I told to myself "well what difference can make 8Hz" ? And well... I felt the difference and I found it not too subtle.
I tested with 3 different ukes in the same position in the same room playing the same riffs (told you: scientific mind... well... kinda obsessive scientific mind...).
Real or just a trick from the shenigans in my ear ? Well, I can't really say. I was just curious if someone tried it and if felt different or not.

Thanks again everybody!
 
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