Quote:
Originally Posted by trumpjosh  This in an enormous pet peeve of mine. What's wrong with A=440? Why does everyone feel the need to start pushing the pitch higher after beginning a rehearsal and/or concert? I have NEVER been with a group that goes flat (unless it's cold and we're playing outdoors).
It drives me up the wall and makes it incredibly hard for me to "get comfortable" with the pitch. Sorry to rant, but you guys have just hit the sorest of sore spots for me! I don't have perfect pitch, but my pitch is pretty decent, I think. I can usually tell by listening to a group whether they're in the A=440 ballpark or if they're blowing sharp. Nothing feels worse when you're playing than having to continually push your slide in and lip up to blend in with an ensemble. My sound gets bright, I get tired more quickly, and I wind up chipping notes (esp. on top of the staff) because I'm jamming the pitch up - sometimes 20-30 cents or more. GRRRR!!!
I should have my morning coffee before I get started on these threads, heh. |
Josh,
I guess you are playing the wrong instrument! If 440 is such an issue, you should have taken up 1st oboe or concertmaster violin or building tuning forks. The force would then be with you!
The phenomenon about going sharp is easy to explain: the instruments get warm, the room that you play in gets warm AND we have all learned that a sharp 3rd is a good thing.
In truth, 440 is as arbitrary as any other pitch in history.
If you get off of your horse and push your tuning slide in enough, your face will be very thankful, your sound will get back to normal and the chance of cracking a note will go down. The first thing that Dave Monette tells his clients is to push the tuning slide in and RELAX. In the beginning, it feels like lipping down, but in fact, you have found the true pitch center! It works, I did it! 10 years ago. Playing with more tension than is absolutely necessary makes no sense. Tuning slides are there to make sure that the horn is acoustically positioned where it does us the minimum amount of harm.
Morning coffee, unless it is decaf, only raises your blood pressure, which probably would make this even worse for you. A cup of warm milk (or bottle of wine) has the opposite effect......................