<HTML>
I hope I'm not heading too off-topic, but this is an interesting can of wor=
ms...<BR>
<BR>
The hertz (symbol: Hz), the International System of Units (SI) base u=
nit of frequency, was established in 1930. One hertz means one cycle per se=
cond.<BR>
<BR>
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was the German physicist for whom the hertz is named.=
He was born on February 22, 1857 and died January 1, 1894.<BR>
<BR>
George Frideric Handel lived from 1685 to 1759; Johann Sebastian Bach=
, from 1685 to 1750. How could Handel have used 422.5, Bach 480 when =
they lived more than 100 years before Hertz? <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
David=20
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">On Mon Nov 12 16:52 , 'Justin .' <justin=
asia@yahoo.com> sent:<BR>
<BR>
</justinasia@yahoo.com></span><blockquote style=3D"border-left: 2px solid r=
gb(245, 245, 245); margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; =
padding-right: 0px;">Hi Bruce<BR>
Well, your anonymous source there was talking about<BR>
concert pitch at 442, and you yourself at 440. So<BR>
there's the first discrepancy. I heard the current<BR>
norm is more often A =3D 442Hz, though also 440 and 445<BR>
being used (which is really most common I don't know),<BR>
varying from orchestra to orchestra. So don't get to<BR>
thinking there is some obsolutely fixed standard. It<BR>
comes down to personal choice in the end, of the<BR>
group. In the past it was even less standardized.<BR>
Apparently Handel used 422.5, Bach 480. Modern Baroque<BR>
players set their standard at 415.<BR>
The first standardizations to take place were, I<BR>
think, in the 19th century, in France A =3D 435Hz, and<BR>
in England A =3D 452Hz, later in 1896 changing to<BR>
439.440 became the standard only in the middle of the<BR>
20th century, and, since then continues to creep up.<BR>
<a href=3D"parse.pl?redirect=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fmail.communication.ucsd.edu%3A8=
8%2Fshaku%2Flistsub.html" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color: red;"></s=
pan></a><BR>
</blockquote></HTML>
<BR>=
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Received on Tue Nov 13 06:50 PST 2007
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