432Hz

[Zina]

Someone sent me links to videos and articles by people saying that 432Hz is a better 'Kammerton' than 440Hz. Now, the people who wrote those articles also write of UFO encounters, ghosthunting, and levitating gorillas, so I first thought I was being pranked. But then I found that Verdi liked a 432Hz concertpitch too, as it makes stringed instruments sound "sweeter", "rounder", "warmer" to his ears. So I recorded myself playing both open and barré chords all over the neck, tuned my guitar to 432Hz, and played the same series again, put the 2 on a loop, and went away for 10m, so I'd lose count of which version was playing. I very clearly preferred the 432Hz one!

How is this possible? It's only 8 cycles. Those articles attribute all sorts of mumbo jumbo to it, from healing effects to tuning in to cosmic radio - and it makes pixies come wash the dishes at night! Okay, not that last one. I'm baffled, really. Can anyone explain?

edit: this man did the same thing; he stops talking around 1'45":

[ThatRhythmMan]

Did you also try 424 against 432?

You still wouldn’t be a complete half step down. I wonder if it would continue to have the same effect to your ear when comparing them directly.

[sgosnell]

If all you ever do is play solo, you can use whatever standard you like. But if you play with others, you really need to tune to 440, because that's what everyone else uses. Pianos are not easy to retune at will.

[Danny W.]

All myth. Symphony orchestras used a variety of pitches for various reasons and many still do. A=432 Hz is no better or worse than any of the other choices, but everyone else you meet is likely to be tuned to A=440.

Danny W.

[Jabberwocky]

Jokes aside, a lower reference pitch saves vocal cords and makes the strings softer to play. The guitar sounds a little deeper. For the reverse argument, try tuning to A448Hz. What a difference!

Not for mystical reasons at all but I am all for moving to a lower reference pitch A. If it could help prolong singing careers I am all for it.

[neatomic]

A 440 has been the standard for less than 100 years!!...& obviously there's been much great music before that!!..

i believe each instrument has its own frequency that it resonates best with...but if you are playing with others..then some kind of standard is needed...it means little else


but if you are playing with others..do make sure you are all in tune...nothing worse the the cacophony non in sync tuned instruments produce..haha


cheers

[FwLineberry]

How is this possible? It's only 8 cycles. Those articles attribute all sorts of mumbo jumbo to it, from healing effects to tuning in to cosmic radio - and it makes pixies come wash the dishes at night! Okay, not that last one. I'm baffled, really. Can anyone explain?

I don't know why it wouldn't make the pixies come out to do house work, too. Magic is magic.

My problem with this stuff is I don't trust that the people making the claims have the slightest idea regarding what is of cosmic significance and what is not.

I once read that orchestras pushing the tuning standard higher was based on agitating the concert-goer's nervous system to keep them awake during the performance.

.

[Greentone]

This is going to sound snotty, but I have been around A=440 for so long that version 1 immediately sounded off to me. 8 cents isn't much but it will tweak your pitch memory and make you want to grab the tuners constantly.

[zdub]

A 440 has been the standard for less than 100 years!!...& obviously there's been much great music before that!!..

i believe each instrument has its own frequency that it resonates best with...but if you are playing with others..then some kind of standard is needed...it means little else

but if you are playing with others..do make sure you are all in tune...nothing worse the the cacophony non in sync tuned instruments produce..haha

cheers

As Rick Beato explains it, it would have been impossible to standardize on a frequency standard before cycles per second could be accurately measured, which wasn't until 1834. Here's his very interesting short video on how the standard came to be. For more debunking of 432 being somehow superior see Adam Neely's videos on this topic.

[Zina]

Thanks for your answers, all of you. I only saw how much bunkum is talked about 432Hz after I posted this, and was afraid you'd think I believe in any of that "new age" stuff. It's just preference then. It's true that I prefer alto to soprano, baritone to tenor, any warmish sound to trebly stuff - I've used my bridge pick-up so little I might as well take it out and put a second neck pick-up in its place, more volume! <--that's a joke...

I did leave my guitar tuned to 432 though (don't have a tuner, but there's an online tonegenerator), because:

but if you are playing with others..do make sure you are all in tune...nothing worse the the cacophony non in sync tuned instruments produce..haha

Free Jazz!

[KirkP]

The 432 Hz thing might have started with this 1992 paper. But it seems like a typical pseudoscience article with some actual science mixed in with bizarre non-scientific claims to reach unsupported conclusions.
https://archive.schillerinstitute.co...entific_mu.pdf

[Jabberwocky]

No tear in the fabric of spacetime.

[Pycroft]

The 432 Hz thing might have started with this 1992 paper. But it seems like a typical pseudoscience article with some actual science mixed in with bizarre non-scientific claims to reach unsupported conclusions.
https://archive.schillerinstitute.co...entific_mu.pdf

I can't be bothered to read all that but the author seems to conflate concert pitch with equal temperament and calls Franz Liszt , Friedrich Liszt . Not very convincing . Also I notice that they try to pin the standardisation of 440 on Joseph Goebbels . A=440 is EVIL NAZI TUNING .

Most music that people listen to these days is recorded music ; it's often way off concert pitch so I can't really see how this makes a difference .

Here's some half-baked drivel -
What is 432 Hz tuning? - Attuned Vibrations

[princeplanet]

First I read of this years ago I thought it was in the same category of nonsense as Numerology etc... but I devised a blind listening test for people to observe any perceivable emotional or physiological difference. Randomly played several pieces of music, some detuned by 8hz, others not.

The result? Let's just say I now file this nonsense firmly under "Pseudo Science" along with Phrenology, Astrology, Numerology, Homeopathy etc etc...

[citizenk74]

The 432 Hz thing might have started with this 1992 paper. But it seems like a typical pseudoscience article with some actual science mixed in with bizarre non-scientific claims to reach unsupported conclusions.
https://archive.schillerinstitute.co...entific_mu.pdf

So... sound is not the vibration of air?

Uh-huh. And frankly, the bel canto voice often as not sets my teeth on edge.

I suppose it's a fault of mine.

[sgosnell]

The author of the posted .pdf, Jonathon Tennenbaum, is a LaRouche follower and a complete crank, as far as I can tell from a quick search. I didn't get far into the paper before I just gave it up.

[Gabor]

Someone sent me links to videos and articles by people saying that 432Hz is a better 'Kammerton' than 440Hz.

Nowadays it is a well known thing that healing effects of 432Hz explained by quantum physics and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

[Zina]

And in common use for UFO claxons (traffic jams on the Milkyway).

[pauln]

base 2
440 - 110111000
432 - 110110000

base 3
440 - 121022
432 - 121000

base 4
440 - 12320
432 - 12300
.
.
.
base 36
440 - C8
432 - C0

[sgosnell]

And base 10, which is what most humans use,

440


432

[citizenk74]

Nowadays it is a well known thing that healing effects of 432Hz explained by quantum physics and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

And blockchain....

[Jabberwocky]

After all that, I think we could all use a bit of Zen...