Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973
Yes, I understand now that you wrote it and not Smila. I apologize to Smila. For you, Mr. Nobody, you once again prove how accurately your screen name was chosen.
Oh my, that extremely low blow really makes me suffer.
A person could write, "I belong to a group of people who love black and white movies better than technicolor movies; we feel black and white movies seem to be able to convey the darker human emotions better."
Well, colors are just frequencies as well. Black and white is nothing but a reduced/more selective frequency range. Of course, a black and white movie has a special flair, because it allows you to focus on picture information that might be drowned in too many colors.
An instrument, tuned in a slightly higher or lower pitch, will still have the approximately same frequency range. A non-standard-pitch-tuning may have an (usually unwanted) influx on the instrument's resonance frequencies, though.
Don't trust me, ask someone who you think is more reliable. For example Smilla - ask her what happens if she tunes her instrument 1/4 (or whatever) note down. I predict her answer will be the description of what I call the "saggy strings" syndrome. The trebles a bit weaker, the basses more muddy and less defined, the instrument is slightly easier to play, because the left hand needs a little less "grip".
You might then respond, "I watched a movie in black and white and then watched the same movie in color and I did not feel that the black and white version conveyed any of the human emotions better. "Any such beliefs are just voodoo and nobody really believes them."
Well, Lakey, here's a little anecdote from my younger days:
My first piano and how I destroyed it
I had already restored several guitars, basses and amps successfully, even a few keyboards and synths, but this time I wanted something more challenging: A real Piano. I didn't have enough room for a grand piano, so I was looking for a cheap worn-out upright one, which I soon found in an old pub that was about to close.
"This is a piece of crap which hasn't been played for at least 100 years, don't even think about ever playing it. We've only had it here for decoration for the past decades and we've already taken these decorative parts off. You can have it for free but you have to care for the transportation yourself," the owner said. I did some basic checks on that thing and after that I said: "That's an ugly beast, but OK, I take it. We'll come pick it up within the next 3 hours." Which we (I and a friend from the "muscle brigade") did.
So now I had an ugly old piano in my living-room/workshop. BTW: Why is it, that all my living rooms always turn into workshops, rehearsal studios and whatnot?
Anyway, that thing was there - ugly, dirty, totally out of tune, quite a few broken strings. "Well, at least it doesn't have a cast iron frame - if everything goes wrong, I can shove it into my oven, put it to some good use that way and be done with it," I thought. So after an extended cleaning session and some minor key repairs and replacing the broken strings, tuning it was the next step. I didn't bother with a tuner or a fork, I just used one of it's most authentic sounding tones in the middle octave as a reference tone and went from there.
After a few weeks of work I had a nice sounding, not too shabby looking piano - so I decided to invite some friends to test it out in an little jam session. Ugh, the horror! This thing was well in tune with itself, but way too low, at least 2 tones off! "Fuck, I really should have used a tuner," I thought.
So for the weeks to come, I tried to slowly get it's pitch up to A=440 Hz. The damn tuners didn't want to hold the tension. So I took all the strings off, took the tuners out and treated them with powder for some additional friction. Then I re-assembled the whole thing, and started over with the tuning process.
The keys that I had already pre-tuned had a nice "bite", so I had had high expectations about how the end product would sound. So far, I didn't have to spend too much on replacement parts etc, just a few bucks for some new hammers and a bit of felt - although the replacement strings almost cost me an arm and a leg, since they had to be individually manufactured. Thanks to that professional piano builder who owed me a favor, all turned out well.
Anyway, day by day I was getting closer to the final pitch (A=440 Hz), until one night I woke up from a loud noise. I had no clue what that sound was or where it came from, but I soon found it out: All my tuning work was gone and the piano was even more out of tune than it has ever been before.
A quick diagnosis revealed the disaster: The wooden frame had collapsed under the tension. So all I had now were some bits 'n pieces. OK, so now I knew why so many piano builders and tuners advise against bringing old pianos up to pitch.
So what did I learn from that experience? A lot, really. For example, that lower pitch tunings do definitely make sense, especially with old instruments - they just aren't built for these modern higher string tensions. In that light, an A=432Hz-tuning makes a lot of sense, but that's really all there is to it. On modern instruments, all you'd get with a lower pitch tuning would be what I would call the "saggy strings syndrome".
So, apart from the saggy strings syndrome, there is nothing special, magical or cosmic about this A=432 Hz tuning. The rest IS
voodoo. Of course, that's just my humble opinion, but I stick to it because I have enough reasons to do so.
Your first sentence would be an honest opinion but your second sentence takes a quantum leap which renders your entire post worthless.
Lakey
I admit, if you knew a little more about how an instrument works and how it is built, my opinion would be less worthless for you. But that's just how it is. Life can be so cruel at times, eh?
:wink2:
That's worse than fixing a car with just the onboard tools... Sometimes it can be done, but it isn't fun.
Sell one set of those and live happily ever after. Who the fuck buys that crap?
