432 vs 440

T

theflak

New member
Hey there,
I recently stumbled upon a (perhaps) really old debate that's bugging a lot of musicians:
Is it better to tune in A432 or A440?
I read a few info on the matter, and from what i could understand, the division between the 432ers and the 440 fans, is quite big.
432 seems to be the "frequency in harmony with the universe" and has other religious-ish qualities, which i personally don't give a damn about 'cause i don't like religion at all.
Others say 440 is a Nazi plot to crush the universe's harmony and imprint hate and bad feeling into the average person.
One of the articles i read, featured doctor Daniel Levitin, who, in his book "This is your brain on music", said that specific note pitches don't really matter, the most important thing is the relation between notes. This is probably the opinion i like the most, for i heard a comparison of the two tunings, and to me, they just sound different, neither better or worse, and as i like experimenting, i can appreciate both of them.
What is your point on this matter? Please let me know.
Have a nice fri-day :cheers:
-The Flak
 
I've seen a lot of info on this debate, but remain unconvinced. Probably a person with perfect pitch would be more bothered/soothed. Same thing for me with "dark" keys and "light" keys-- poppycock; it either sounds good or it doesn't. But that's just my humble opinion...
 
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Personally I prefer having all my stuff pitched correctly so when pressing keys it's actually that key or at least the same one pitched down.
If I want that other stuff happening I'd detune for that effect but that's just me.
 
Right!^^^^ That brings up an important issue with this "universal harmonic" concept-- If you are going to collaborate with anyone else, if your tracks will be sent to a singer for later addition of vocals, or if live instruments are going to be added; maybe sometimes the tracks wind-up as a live/on-stage backing-track CD/DAT/MP3 that could include live instruments playing along, and you are effectively sending them the wrong key. If people are expecting standard tuning, you'd better make sure they're on-board with your universal harmonic concept as well...

Although, I do know some bands tune down a whole step for their live shows if they are playing a lot/touring. It does save on the wear and tear on the voices.
 
For me, having things tuned to 440 is easier in the long run as you don't have to tune down every sample that you import to your project.
 
The 432 thing is obviously nonsense - dig a bit deeper into it and it's all classic pseudo-science. But the 440 standard isn't exactly set in stone either - it's indeed a standard of the Western world, but not everyone uses it and as said it's not universal. And before it was 440 it's been all over the place (do read).
 
theflak said:
Hey there,
I recently stumbled upon a (perhaps) really old debate that's bugging a lot of musicians:
Is it better to tune in A432 or A440?
I read a few info on the matter, and from what i could understand, the division between the 432ers and the 440 fans, is quite big.
432 seems to be the "frequency in harmony with the universe" and has other religious-ish qualities, which i personally don't give a damn about 'cause i don't like religion at all.
Others say 440 is a Nazi plot to crush the universe's harmony and imprint hate and bad feeling into the average person.
One of the articles i read, featured doctor Daniel Levitin, who, in his book "This is your brain on music", said that specific note pitches don't really matter, the most important thing is the relation between notes. This is probably the opinion i like the most, for i heard a comparison of the two tunings, and to me, they just sound different, neither better or worse, and as i like experimenting, i can appreciate both of them.
What is your point on this matter? Please let me know.
Have a nice fri-day :cheers:
-The Flak
Click to expand...

The 432Hz vs 440Hz tuning is a distraction, since none of them are accurate.

The mathematical formula for the equal temperament scale is 2^(n/12), where n is the 0-indexed index of the tones in the scale. We know by ear that by multiplying a frequency by 2, we get its octave. So we have decoded the perfect relationship between 2 notes in the scale. The problem is that we have 11 more tones in between those two, that have not been perfectly decoded yet. So the issue that musicians are facing is that although the equal temperament formula produces a scale that is pretty in tune and can be normalized for 432 Hz or 440 Hz, simply by entering the frequencies into a multi-tone generator we know they are not accurate. Musicians are facing a situation when although to the ear it sounds pretty in tune, the tones are infinitely "off" relative to the perfect absolute scale. So all of those 11 frequencies in between the root and the octave, each could have infinite decimals. To decode those tones so that they are true in nature, we have to find out another mathematical formula that is the true representation of the harmonic vibrations of a 12 tone scale in nature.

Without the formula, the best thing you can do is to select a root frequency such as 440 Hz, then tune the instruments relative to that frequency as accurately as you can, using your ears.
 
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