Mikey

The woodwinds seem to love tuning low..................

slixk

A=440?
In my school band we used to tune to 442Hz.
Now, I just tune to the oboe (which never plays A at the same pitch twice)

trpt2345

The organ at First Presbyterian in Chicago is about A=432. Anyone who's played there will know what I'm talking about when I say it's completely disorienting. Singers hate it as much as orchestra people.

Michael McLaughlin

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rowuk

I think the problem comes in with singers with perfect pitch. In Stuttgart at the opera they had a mezzo that had perfect pitch (A=440). The orchestra always thought that she sang flat regardless and to prove it tuned down in a rehearsal once - it lined up perfectly and she complemented the orchestra on making her life easier. Of course they tuned back up and 443 became her problem again.

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bulldog

I recall that in the audition packets from the NY Phil and Boston Symphony over the past 10 years they have both specified that their orchestras tune to A=442.

I'm sure others have specified as well, I just can't remember them right now.

My first job used A=440, my second A=442. Took me a while to adjust. Now A=440 feels unnaturally low to me.

robertwhite

Not every orchestra specifies what they tune to. You'll find some groups where weird ideas over the years have led to the brass and winds getting one "A", the strings another, etc., with everyone having a different idea of where they should be. Some orchestras have made it contractual to avoid disagreements.

I actually don't think it has to do with anyone's perfect pitch - just consistency of "work conditions".

Manny Laureano

When Lahti Orchestra came here on tour, they did something I've never seen before in a professional orchestra: The strings tuned to A and the winds tuned to Bb! It surprised me. They weren't any better or worse in tune than any other good orchestra, so, maybe it doesn't matter so much as long as the oboist is consistent with the temperament. Some things they played were beautifully in tune and then a couple of things were out, mostly in the woodwinds.

ML

Mikey

We can always wish, can't we?

WildCat

As much as I'd love to play in tune (and it hurts me to say that, yes), when I sit in some orchestras, I listen to the "A", find where my tuning slide puts me in relation to it, and push it farther in than I need to.
I was asked by a colleague once, "You know you just went sharp, right?"
I replied, "Yes, and in about 30 seconds, you'll see why I'm trying to play a little above an 8th tone above 440." We started to play something by Mozart. I don't remember the name at this point, but it was one of the bujullion works out there written in D. Trumpets entered about half a minute into the work (hmm...), flatter than the orchestra was playing by about an 8th tone, minus the jerk playing 2nd (why we doubled 1st, I don't know). With that...

Hi, my name is jerk, and I give up trying to defend a tuning note against what 70 other people want to think it is.

As cheery as I may sound about this all, I'm actually quite bitter, and complain about it all the time before, after, during, and in no specific chronological relation to rehearsal.

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Vince K.

Vulgano Brother

Pssst, Alex. With an Eclipse you tune at the bell crook!

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