Mind Control: The A=440Hz conspiracy

bellgamin

bellgamin

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Okay, cue up the theme song from Twilight Zone......

HERE is the A=440 tuning conspiracy.

Now cue up "When You Wish Upon a Star".........

HERE is the oh-so-scientific debunking of the conspiracy. The moral, here, is: to properly tune your uke, you MUST get at least a 3.5 in differential calculus (NOT integral -- differential!)

So... the next time you tune your ukulele: WHO you gonna call?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But seriously, folks, do you tune A440 or A432? Why? Why not?
 
I used to tune my ukes to whatever sounded best, 440, 432, 444 etc but once I started taking lessons I just used 440 so that I'd be in tune with my teacher as well as iReal Pro. My sitar sounds best with the tonic tuned to C# with A=447. If you are playing by yourself you can pick whatever sounds best. Or, I suppose if you are good enough you can just make people tune to you :)

John
 
I since I play with 35 to 60 others, we all tune to 440 with clip-on tuners. But I always tune to 440 even when I play alone cause ya never when someone will come along to play.

9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 8 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 33)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video
 
That first link is hilarious!

I assume that if I set my tuner to 432 Hz, I will still get a well tempered tuning of my instrument, and that the frets will not acommodate the just tuning?

Anyway, I use the standard 440 Hz. Unless I accidentially set my tuner otherwise. It happened a few years ago.
My ears are not that refined.
 
You can tune a ukulele but you can't tune a fish
 
This has taken a sinister turn. I can hear mothers across America saying, “Little Johnny you’re going to have to pick a different instrument than the ukulele for your birthday”.

“O gee Ma, why?

“The ukulele has taken a sinister turn!”.
 
On each of my ukuleles only two of the tuning pegs are sinister, the other two are, of course, dexter - though which pair is which is a moot point.

John Colter.
 
Whenever anything comes up that deals with tuning, I find it so interesting how difficult some people can make the simple act of tuning up a ukulele so the they can play it.
 
Why do we not hear from the folk who have perfect pitch? If there is such a thing, then I would expect them all to agree on what "A" sounds like. I suspect they would all end up arguing.

John Colter
 
ukantor said:
Why do we not hear from the folk who have perfect pitch? If there is such a thing, then I would expect them all to agree on what "A" sounds like. I suspect they would all end up arguing.

John Colter
Click to expand...

With ukuleles there is no lack of subjects to argue about, and no lack of experts to argue with.
 
Hahahaha! Amen to that, Rllink! I remember several years ago, a buddy and I were playing during a wedding ceremony, and after I tuned my guitar, I handed him the tuner so he could tune his too, but apparently when I handed it to him I accidentally pressed a button that re-calibrated things to a slightly different reference point, so we ended up being tuned a little "off" from each other, but didn't realize it until we struck the first chord of the first song-- ouch!! Sounded like we had applied an overly-generous amount of phase-shifter !!
 
ukantor said:
Why do we not hear from the folk who have perfect pitch? If there is such a thing, then I would expect them all to agree on what "A" sounds like. I suspect they would all end up arguing.
Click to expand...

Because they learn what an A is supposed to be like. The only thing innate about them is the ability to recognize a pitch without a sonic reference. Not the ability to put a name on it.

Still, people with perfect pitch working in different philharmonics could get into heated argument about whether that A is sharp or flat. The timpanist usually wins.
 
"The only thing innate about them is the ability to recognize a pitch without a sonic reference"

Any having that ability would enable them to discern the difference between 440h and 432h. I would be interested to how they feel about the supposed merits of the two tuning standards. If 440 is as evil as some suggest, then people with highly attuned senses would feel this - no?

John Colter.
 
I do not have perfect pitch, but I'm able to discern without being told which stringed instruments were 432-tuned, because to my ear, they just sound flat. The keyword here is stringed instruments. After a lifetime of playing them tuned to 440, I can tell. I wouldn't be able to with wind instruments, for example.

As to the whole controversy, it's bogus. There's no such thing as good or evil frequencies. The people who try to explain that there are don't understand what they're talking about, and interject things like Nazi urban legends to bolster their cases. They get a major eyeroll response from serious musicians.

bratsche
 
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So, for an alternating pitch reference, could one not just use a Theremin, and wave "bye-bye" while keeping everyone happy?

Or how about a recording of Sheppard Tones that have 432hz and 440hz as the limits of the range?

Lastly, what about simultaneous playback of both 432hz and 440hz as Binaural Beats?
 
And some of use sweetened temperments for each of our different stringed instruments and own tuners capable of accomplishing same...
 
bobhost said:
And NOBODY can tune a banjo!
Click to expand...

ANYbody can tune a Banjo! it won't stay that way, and no one can tell the difference anyhow, but...
 
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