It's good to be in tune with your bandmates, right? These days, we have many devices that help us tune: those that clip onto guitars, stompbox tuners, and handheld tuners with mics and inputs. My personal favorite is the Sonic Research ST-200, a highly-accurate true strobe tuner in stompbox format. How many of us give any thought to our tuning beyond making sure we're making the green lights flicker or the wheel stop turning?
About a year ago, a good friend of mine hipped me to the idea of tuning to A=432Hz, rather then the accepted standard of A=440Hz. I was immediately intrigued; music for me has always been the divine intersection of mathematics and emotion. After doing some reading on the subject, I tried it at home with my National guitar and the hype was confirmed for me. However, I have not transitioned into 432 otherwise, as harmonicas need to be re-tuned and time has been short... and I play with a fair amount of journeyman musicians.
Without going into detail, the advantage of 432 is pure frequencies at harmonic intervals - no decimals, just whole numbers. In other words, guitars and harmonicas sound less tinny. I find music recorded with 432 tuning to be more relaxing and richer-sounding. Check out these two examples below from my friend Scooter Barnes in Denver - the same musical piece, recorded first in 440 and then in 432. Listen to the 440 track first, then the 432 track. Give the 432 track a second for your ears/brain to adjust. What do you think?
About a year ago, a good friend of mine hipped me to the idea of tuning to A=432Hz, rather then the accepted standard of A=440Hz. I was immediately intrigued; music for me has always been the divine intersection of mathematics and emotion. After doing some reading on the subject, I tried it at home with my National guitar and the hype was confirmed for me. However, I have not transitioned into 432 otherwise, as harmonicas need to be re-tuned and time has been short... and I play with a fair amount of journeyman musicians.
Without going into detail, the advantage of 432 is pure frequencies at harmonic intervals - no decimals, just whole numbers. In other words, guitars and harmonicas sound less tinny. I find music recorded with 432 tuning to be more relaxing and richer-sounding. Check out these two examples below from my friend Scooter Barnes in Denver - the same musical piece, recorded first in 440 and then in 432. Listen to the 440 track first, then the 432 track. Give the 432 track a second for your ears/brain to adjust. What do you think?
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