Pitch
For many years, there was no pitch standard across Europe. The frequency of a′ (the standard note for tuning musical instruments), for example, could range from a′=392 Hz in parts of France to a′=465 Hz (Cornet-ton pitch) in parts of Germany. Organs were often tuned differently than ensembles, even within the same region or town. The modern tuning standard of a′=440 Hz (c′=262 Hz) was proposed in 1939, and accepted by the International Organization for Standardization (as ISO 16) in 1955 and again in 1975.
Read more about this topic: Pipe Organ Tuning
Famous quotes containing the word pitch:
“I saw the Arab map.
It resembled a mare shuffling on,
dragging its history like saddlebags,
nearing its tomb and the pitch of hell.”
—Adonis [Ali Ahmed Said] (b. 1930)
“It is beyond a doubt that during the sixteenth century, and the years immediately preceding and following it, poisoning had been brought to a pitch of perfection which remains unknown to modern chemistry, but which is indisputably proved by history. Italy, the cradle of modern science, was at that time, the inventor and mistress of these secrets, many of which are lost.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“Though I have locked my gate on them
I pity all the young,
I know what devil’s trade they learn
From those they live among,
Their drink, their pitch and toss by day,
Their robbery by night....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)