A-432 Fiddle Music

Middle C in Natural Tuning

2011-02-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

There is a tuning for middle C that fits A-432 harmoniously. Maybe even perfectly. That tuning is C-256 Hz. This has been the scientific standard for middle C for decades.

Current standard is C-267 plus something past the decimal point. Just another number to defy the natural order.

I posted a video presentation on Tonic Power with Middle C.

I have tuning forks from scientific surplus that are 256 and 128 Hz. Also not long ago I got a tuning fork that vibrates at 432 Hz.

Maybe we are starting to come full circle here.

Fiddle and Violin Again

2010-10-29T19:55:00.000-05:00

I just can't beat this topic to death, can I?

I can't stop spreading my beliefs around the net. Now it's Yahoo that gets the update.

Here is a slightly revised definition of the question, "What's the difference between violin and fiddle?"

It's no last word. I keep thinking of my recent speculation on where pop violin fits into the picture. So many players want to call it fiddling.

Okay, it's the violinists that want to call it fiddling. Well, they get a vote, too. They have some expertise in the subject from a violinists point of view.

Viola Fiddling

2010-10-03T20:23:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, it seems more recent, someone wrote me about fiddling on the viola.

I've done that. It's not as easy as fiddling on the violin. The bigger instrument takes more enerfy and strength to keep up with speedy players.

If you play viola, you might consider playing fiddle tunes on the violin, like Kathy Aagard, the Asst. Principal Viola of the Florida Orchestra.

My thought is that the viola could be a great jazz ax. Like the baritone sax. A unique voice and its own reason for playing jazz.

Until that happens, you might check out my info on Viola Fiddling.

Indian Point, a Magnetic Fiddle Tune

2010-10-02T18:33:00.000-05:00

This tune, Indian Point, is a jig written by Rick Mohr. I have posted a few comments about a blog post on Fiddle Hangout.

If you end up following a link to my 100 Fiddle Tunes blog, you will have the chance to hear the tune in A-432.

If you are in the Tampa Bay area, I have concerts coming up on the 7th, 9th of November. Also, I'll be playing with the Crystal Beach String Band at the Rattlesnake Festival on the 16th.

I hope to write more about this in my email from the grassapelli blog.

A-432 Search Leads to the Crystal Beach String Band

2010-09-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

Jim Rhodes, the reluctant leader of the Crystal Beach String Band, told us how he got an order for our new CD in the mail. Apparently, our new fn found us through searching on the term A-432.

I don't believe there is anything on the band's web site about A-432. (I just looked.) The fan found the site address from another site, presumably. I make no assumption it was this one, though it may have been. (I've written about the band and linked from the post to the band web site.

From the activity of our new fan, I am leaping to a conclusion that A-432 is a stronger idea than many people think.

Those who are pursuing information and sounds in this tuning will go an extra mile or so to get what they want.

I also believe the band should put up at least a page about our tuning and why we use it. All in favor say Aye--(in 432!).

Knilling Perfection Pegs to the Rescue

2010-09-06T06:18:00.000-05:00

I may not have written much about the Bradivarius pick up I'm using on my fiddle. I am an advocate. It has given me a good reliable sound every time in every place I play.

The thing is, I'm no longer using one violin for A-432 and another for A-440. I had to retune my gig violin repeatedly.

Before this, I was using a Yamaha Sax microphone. I could switch it from one violin to another easily. But, it was a finicky device. Outside the gain sweet spot, it was too quiet, or howled with feed back.

To solve the tuning problem I got Knilling Perfection Pegs. Note: the web site is Flash driven.

They have worked out very well. I can easily tune up to 440 or down to 432 when I wish. It takes only seconds and is effortless.

I got my pegs on eBay for about $70. Then, I had a local luthier put them in my fiddle for another $35. Truly, one of the better investments I've made in my fiddle.

432, 440 or Fight

2010-05-06T18:26:00.000-05:00

There was a slogan in the 19th century that encouraged the territorial expansion of America to the north west. 54--40 or Fight. (As I remember my high school history.)

Lately I have been switching back and forth between my 432 fiddle and my 440 violin, that it is just not a problem. I still like playing in 432 a little better.

I'm especially grateful that the Crystal Beach String Band is playing in A-432. It's our most unusual quality, I think. Besides just being a rather large string band, with six musicians.

The album is called The Cost. It's almost ready. By next week we should be making announcements.

East Tennessee Blues Texas Crapshooter and Beaumont Rag

2010-04-24T15:34:00.000-05:00

The Crystal Beach String Band has almost completed the album. It represents the combined efforts of six musicians, and especially Jim Rhodes. Jim produced the album, spending long hours in the studio.

The results sound good. I've produced several albums myself, but none as large a project as this.

You can find one of the tracks on Fiddle Hangout. It's a medley of rags listed in the title of today's post.

100 Fiddle Tunes Announcement

2010-04-17T17:00:00.004-05:00

My project of 100 Fiddle Tunes deserves its own site, so now it has one.

The current tune is Ebeneezer. I use that tune to teach Georgia bow.
It has a repeating figure that adapts well to the Georgia shuffle.
This makes a tough thing to master just a little easier.

100

2010-04-17T17:00:00.001-05:00

NetworkedBlogs

Blog:

A-432 Fiddle Music

Topics:

fiddle tunes, a432 Mozart A, Verdi A 432

Join my network

Fiddle Blog Update

2010-03-20T18:29:00.003-05:00

Over the past months, I've been reorganizing my fiddle publishing online.
First I started a blog on Publishing 100 Fiddle Tunes online in a year's time.

I've used the opportunity to publish revisions of some of the tunes in my book,
43 Fiddle Tunes in Tab. I like the way it's working out to the benefit of many.

Second, I've begun repurposing earlier writing in a new blog,
Fiddle & Violin. Many earlier articles are being reconsidered and rewritten
in smaller segments with fewer points.

This is another example of the fractalization of information that
characterizes the web.

Video Blogging in A-432

2010-02-06T15:51:00.003-05:00

Lately my focus has been to get going with a new concept: 100 Fiddle Tunes published online in one year's time.

I got the idea from the movie, Julie & Julia. My full account of how this happened is on my online biz hobby blog at Julie & Julia Demo Blog Success.

Pursuing this project takes me to video land. The latest is Ten Penny Bit.

Ten Penny Bit Rhythm Trick from Elan Chalford on Vimeo.

Sally Gooden in A-432

2009-09-01T16:45:00.004-05:00

Eck Robertson's version of Sally Gooden is the classic. His intonation is amazing. The drones really keep the A string and tone center sizzling.

He recorded with Edison Talking Disc way back in the early days. His was the first commercially released fiddle disc. (If it was a disc.)

It's a top 10 fiddle tune now. But, many fiddlers avoid it because of the fourth finger issue. That's where the drone comes from when you are fingering on the A string.

There's another way to get the same effect. Play the melody notes on the D string in 4th position and drone the open A.

That's what I do in this video.

Because of the A-432 tuning, that frequency is fully realized in this tune.

Angeline the Baker aka Corn Dog

2009-08-24T14:16:00.003-05:00

Here's a video I made with my new Flip. I'm still getting use to this process.

As I listened to other fiddlers on Youtube this morning, I can hear that my
tempo is a little on the slow side. Guess I need to practice a bit more!

A-432 at the Fiddle Camp

2009-07-09T07:17:00.003-05:00

While clearing out some stored papers, a page of notes turned up from last year’s Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp. I thought they would be worth sharing.

Sunday’s session, at the Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp, is the last one for intermediate to advanced fiddlers. The group joined me in tuning to the natural tuning of the Mozart A-432.

I gave a little explanation of the history of tuning. Then, we just did it.

We went on through the two hour session normally. The time zipped by easily while we played tunes. I put students in the “hot spot” one at a time for individual intense coaching. I answered questions.

All this sounds quite ordinary, but it was not quite the way it normally is. Usually the last session sees the students just about burnt out from all the intense playing and instruction through the weekend. They are only partly there and tend to drift away.

This time the group was definitely more animated and attentive than in past years. The session went strong until the final moment. It was just as solid and focused as the first session.

Did the tuning of A-432 have an effect? I can’t answer that. I can just observe the subtle difference in how things were as compared to last year and previous years. Things were better.

The French Baroque A-392

2009-05-11T15:46:00.002-05:00

The current issue of Strings, June 2009, asserts in a small review of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos that the conductor on this recording chose to perform them “in the French Baroque pitch of A = 392 Hz....”

I have some reasons to doubt that A as a frequency of 392 Hz was commonly considered anything but A flat.

Elsewhere I've written how C-256 Hz was common in the time of Bach. I've made the case that this pitch reduces mathmatically to one cycle per second.

Taking that pitch and multiplying by 7 we get the seventh, B flat. Then multiplying again by 7 we get the seventh of B flat, A flat.

That’s 49 vibrations per second. Double that for the octave and you have a tone that is 98 Hz. Double that and it’s 196 Hz. A final doubling gives you 392 Hz.

In short, if middle C in the time of Bach was 256 Hz, then the tone produced by 392 Hz would be perceived as an A flat.
I have a slightly extended version of this discussion at the Music Lesson Plan blog.

The Money Tunes in A-432

2009-01-24T12:14:00.003-05:00

Currently my Big Project is preparing a 90 minute presentation of The Money Tunes. I will talk and play, talk and play at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Clearwater on Feb. 13.

I started this project about two and a half years ago. Right after attending the T. Harv Eker Millionaire Mind Intensive, I went through my fiddle tune collections. I was looking for tunes that had something to do with money in the title.

From American old time tunes and Irish jigs and reels I found many tunes that fit this criterion. I arranged them in an order of no money to a great fortune. The idea is to find out what lessons may be learned about money, as suggested by the titles and associate the lessons with the tunes. It’s a left brain/right brain idea.

In a few cases I altered the title to a more positive association with the issue. Thus, Boys My Money’s All Gone, which suggests a busted gambler, became Shopping Spree, where you have compensation for the lack of money.

About that tune, I have this confession. thirty years ago I started learning this tune as it appeared in the book, Beginning Old Time Fiddle. This collection of tunes is the only one I know that has both tab and standard music notation together.

I liked the tune, but dropped it. I was just too broke that week to think about it.
Now when I play it I think Shopping Spree. That feels better. And it really is a satisfying tune.

The experience of pursuing The Money Tunes project led to an increasing fusion of American and Irish fiddle styles. I found myself extending shorter tunes. I applied Texas changes to an Irish reel. An old time tune in A minor was transformed into a Bluegrass tune in D minor. That sort of thing.

Why did I do that? Grassapelli, my alter ego, said it was a good thing to do for this musical concept. (I’ll write about my relationship to the entity Grassapelli Gandharva at another time.)

One more thing about the money tunes. This is what got me into A-432 tuning. The Mozart A, or Verdi A, is set at 432 Hz. This pitch fits perfectly into the tuning of Middle C-256. That Middle C was discovered as standard in the time of Bach.

Presently there is a strong movement advocating this pitch as being a healing factor and more consistent with our natural state. You will find several MySpace musicians passionate about this tuning.

The Money Tunes has been a major influence on me in recent years. And, it’s not completed yet. I’ll feel like it’s where it needs to be when real stuff that you can hold in your hand embodies every aspect of it.

A-432 Movement is Growing

2009-01-06T17:12:00.003-05:00

At some point I'll compile a list of sites that are exploring and advocating the Mozart or Verdi A-432. Several are offering music in this tuning on MySpace.

One of the sites that looks very interesting is Harmonic Renaissance. "Bring Back A432," they ask. I'm in favor of that.

Tonight the Crystal Beach String Band is gathering for its first practice since November. We play in that tuning. We sing in that tuning. It is good!

If you haven't heard some of my original fiddle tunes in A-432 on YouTube, click that link.

And, last minute, here's another: 432hz.net for Natural Tuning Consciousness.

Elan

Playing in Bands

2008-08-14T18:40:00.003-05:00

After the crumbling dissolution of my former band, FiddleMatrix, I paused.

There is a saying: When one door closes, go and stand next to it waiting for opportunity to knock. At the right time, something new will show up.

For me the new was the Crystal Beach String Band. After just one rehearsal I did a gig with them at the Witchs' Brew in Palm Harbor.

We have continued working together and the band is now playing in the tuning of A-432!

It feels very good to create music with them in this natural tonality.

The next new thing was Gypsy Star. This is all original music by Billy Kean. We will do our first public performances later this month. The band is a reformulation of his previous band of the same name.

The band broke up under a combination of Billy's dissatisfaction with the sound and some soap opera thrown in for good measure.

This band is not in A-432 yet. Still the music is fun. Like Jessie Cook and Loreena McKennitt.

Finding Luanne Oakes

2008-06-20T09:40:00.002-05:00

Many times in writing about the Mozart A-432, I refer to Dr. Luanne Oakes. Finding her online is not as intuitive as it could be.

She use to have her own web site, but now, apparently, does not. While it was up I got a terrific CD, Jade Wu Life Force.

I use it as ambient sound, to raise my mood. Also, it is a good CD for breathwork.
It is not the best intro to her work, though. For that I recommend Spiritual Alchemy.

That was my get acquainted with A-432 album from Nightingale-Conant.
It has extensive discussion of the matter as a healing frequency, lots of stories, much insight into self-healing and self-actualization.

It also includes individual sound-scapes that balance and strengthen each chakra in the body. My experience with these sound-scapes convinced me of the efficacy of A-432.

Below is a hint of what it is:

A-432 Keeps Growing Converts

2008-06-14T16:40:00.001-05:00

A while back I thought I was done. I was wrong.

Interest in the Mozart A-432 is growing. I'm starting to compile a list of web sites that discuss the matter. If you know of one, clue me in.

As a search term, I'm also using C-256. That's middle C. It's completely compatible with A-432.

Over the time that I've been using this tuning for my daily practice, I have gradually increased the time I put in without feeling any additional stress.

Also, the fiddle I've been using continues to get a richer and richer sound. It isn't a quality violin by any means. I think it was a student violin that a craftsman re-graduated to improve the tone.

I used it last night at a gig at the Tampa Club. It was a small gathering with a "bayou" theme. The fiddler makes it a party.

Several times the group put down their eating utensils to give applause. There were several moments when I was so impressed by the sounds coming from the violin, I thought I reached a new level of artistry.

I owe a lot to the A-432 tuning.

Moving to Fusion Fiddle

2007-11-03T17:14:00.000-05:00

Convergence was a big word not long ago. Now I'm doing it too.

Look for any further comment about A-432 in my other Blogger blog:
Fusion Fiddle.

Hear a current example of A-432 tuning on SnapVine:
Squirrel Jump.

Tuning to the Bone

2007-09-11T08:46:00.000-05:00

Recently, while talking with Stephanie at Lyndon LaRouche's office, she revealed that the A-432 tuning harmonizes with the outer physical body. C-256, a natural resonance in this tuning, matches the rate of vibration for our bones.

It might be a stretch to think that every bone in every person's body has a natural frequency of 256 Hz. If so, it could be one more good reason to use this tuning.

Other Fiddle Blogs

2007-06-22T12:39:00.000-05:00

The theme and purpose of this blog is to advocate the tuning pitch of A-432. We can call it the Mozart A, the Verdi A, or the organic A. It's all A to me.

Much of what I wish to say about music belongs elsewhere. That's why I have made two other blogs.

Fusion Fiddle describes my playing, my esthetic, and my intention. General opinion's and tips belong there.

My new band Fiddle Matrix is using a blog to help organize our practices and communications.

FiddleMatrix Band Tunes Down to A-432

2007-06-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

For the past two practices Brad Sutton on keyboard and Mark Musser on bass have tuned with me to A-432. The practices have been creative and easy. I believe the Mozart tuning helps that.

Our plan is to practice every week this summer. By September we should have two sets ready for performance. Before that we may have some mp3 files to share.

It has been my observation when just practicing fiddle or violin, I can practice longer with less stress when I tune to A-432. Now it seems that the supportive tonality of the A-432 pitch helps the other members of the band as well.

Out Ahead of the Fiddler A-432 Curve

2007-06-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

In the time since my last post, I haven't convinced anyone of the efficacy of A-432 tuning for the fiddle. Well, there is one exception, myself.

I've been into it for a while. Even so, I would pick up my A-440 violin as often as not. Whatever was handy.

Now, I go to extra effort to unpack and prep the A-432 fiddle for a practice session. At some point I began to believe that I could practice longer and with less physical stress on that one.

A few weeks ago I gave the first program in The Money Tunes live at the New Port Richey Library. The room was packed, thanks to a timely article in The Suncoast News by Cheryl Bentley. The article even hints of "a different pitch."

The program went well. People liked it. They accept the slight difference in pitch without conscious effort. It just works.

Maybe on this issue of tuning to A-432, I'm just too far ahead of the curve for most musicians.

Getting Real with the A

2006-06-13T16:29:00.000-05:00

It was determined in Bach’s time that middle C was produced by 256 vibrations per second. That number is a power of 2.

Any vibrational rate, when doubled, produces the same note an octave higher. Half the vibrational rate produces a tone that is the same note an octave lower.

We can take Bach’s middle C and by halving it and continuing to half it, finally arrive at 16 cycles per second. That would be a very low C at the threshold of audible hearing, the lowest C that can be heard and identified as such by humans.

Eight vibrations per second goes into the subsonic zone. Continuing by halves, we get four, two and finally one cycle per second. This means that the fundamental tone of Bach’s C was in natural harmony with the division of time into its smallest part.

I believe that the division of time into 12 or 24 parts, the zodiac houses and the hours, respectively, is in harmony with the natural cycles of the earth planet. some people say the underlying etheric grid of the earth is a dodecahedron,or 12 sided Platonic solid. And further, they say that the natural grid lines of subtle force correspond to major divisions of our sphere into 360 parts.

This suggests that the one second interval is a natural subdivision of the larger cycle of our spinning planet. The doubling and redoubling of that frequency leads to the middle C that was recognized in the time of bach as the standard tuning of middle C equals 256 vibrations per second.

Multiplying by 3, rather than 2, creates the third partial, the interval of the fifth in music terminology. If the C of one vibration per second is multiplied by 3, the result is a subsonic G. When that is multiplied by 3, the 9 cycle subsonic result is D. That D being multiplied by 3 results in an audible 27 cycle per second A. Now we continue by doubling the vibratory rate. From 54 cycles per second we proceed through 108 and 216 to arrive finally at 432 cycles per second, the Verdi or Mozart A.

Just as the Bach C is anchored to the natural cycles of our planet, so is the Mozart or Verdi A of 432 cycles per second.

Pay the Reckoning

2006-04-18T14:49:00.000-05:00

"You can be anything you want to be...
Do anything you want to do...
Have anything you want to have...
if you are willing to pay the price."

Have you heard that one before? I know I have many times.
Is it encouraging or discouraging?

It reminds me of the story of the angel sent by Almighty God
to a couple of serious meditators. They both had been sitting
a long time for enlightenment. They both had prayed hard for the answer.

God told his angel that the first man had to sit 12 more years.
The second man had to continue sitting under the same tree
for as many years as there were leaves on the tree.

So when the angel, disguised as a holy man, told the first man
that he only had to sit 12 more years, he was surprised.

The man jumped up as angry as could be and said, "What?!?!
I've already been sitting here 12 years. You want me to sit 12
more years?" And he chase the angel away, threatening him with a stick.

The angel felt cautious about what he had to tell the second man,
but he did it because that was his job.

The second man smiled and said, "Thank you for this good news.
I'm greatly encouraged that I will have what I long for in a definite
number of years."

Because of his gratitude, he was given the enlightenment right away.

The point of the story, this time, is acceptance of the price we have to pay
to get what we want. I believe that having a good idea of the cost of success
and the willingness to pay it, actually speeds up the process.

That's what Pay the Reckoning is about.

Banish Misfortune

2006-04-09T21:24:00.000-05:00

Last month's public performance on March 16th went well, as far as the A-432 is concerned. The music sounded very normal.

The only hassle was a feed back problem induced by inexperience and slightly mismatched microphones on the violins. Can't blame Mozart for that.

I'm using the occasion of this message to announce my major project for this year: the Money Tunes.

This is a multi-media project. The big hairy part is producing the concept tunes for the album. the creative work is well under way. I've lined up partners for the recording. There's still a lot of work to do.

Another part of it is the philosophy of Money Energy. The web site carries the writing of the explanations, the insights, the knowledge factor.

The first essay in this series is Banish Misfortune. This also is the name of a fiddle tune. It's one of the tunes selected for my current music project, Money Tunes. You will find a link to the MP3 file on
Grassapelli Banishes Misfortune.

The Ups and Downs of Fiddling A-432

2006-03-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

My commitment to playing in public with A 432 tuning gets tested.

Most recently, when I did the New Port Richey library gig, I was challenged.
Just before starting my program of talking and playing, I opened my case, rosined the bow and started adjusting the tuning.

The was when one of the people in the audience, a man who plays in the Richey Community Symphony, called out, "Tune it up!"

I was hit by the sudden doubt that the difference in pitch between 440 and 432 was painfully obvious. My second thought was that this fellow was just teasing me in a light hearted way. So I went ahead with my planned program.

After I've performed publicly enough times, this doubt will vanish. It quickly went away after I began playing that day. The program went well. I got good feedback on it. No one said that the tuning was off, even though I revealed my secret.

In a couple of days I get to test the concept again. This will even involve other musicians--a first for the idea. We will play a mostly Irish fiddle program at a local bistro, the Ka Tiki, down on Sunset Beach.

My very able helpers are members of a folk string band, The Juniper Trio. They showed a little reluctance to tune down at first. But, only a little.

Just as my expectations and belief in this program go Up and Down Again, (and up again), and just as my colleagues must tune up after a practice and down again when we perform...so I offer this little Irish slip jig, Up and Down Again.

Butterflies in Formation

2006-02-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

This new year has me asking how committed I want to be in using A-432.

How much do I want to browbeat others into tuning down?

When I appear as a soloist player/presenter, as I will this Saturday,

there's no problem. But, playing with others. Hmmm.

Thinking about the new year in January, I had an insight. I wrote

out a piece about the number of the year and published it at

Money-Energy.com.

The article goes into numerological detail. It also references an online

marketing campaign called Butterfly Marketing.

The deal is a little too pricey for me right now, but I respect it.

That's why I recorded the slip jig, The Butterfly, for this blog.

The Heron Dance

2005-12-22T09:40:00.000-05:00

Looking at the cover of the Heron Dance catalog, I remembered images from nature programs. Lanky, elegant birds bobbed in my imagination.

A fiddle riff popped into my head. The next thing I knew, there was a whole tune to represent the title "Heron Dance."

The tune is still a little shaky, not having been played very many times. But, it stands on its own already, without the need to wait any longer to take flight.

Here is a fiddle tune written in the 21st century that is published in the tuning of the 18th century: Heron Dance fiddle tune.

Ragtime Annie, the Authentic Version

2005-12-11T20:41:00.000-05:00

Last night was another of those "play while people eat and drink" gigs. This time the place was a nursing home. The occasion was a Christmas party for the people who make up their guests, and their relatives.

One of the tunes I played was Rag Time Annie. This is said to be the oldest authentic American fiddle tune. Certainly, when it was composed, or "made up"....I mean, how can we speak of composing a fiddle tune...the tuning of the fiddle was at the old standard, A-432. Or in that vicinity.

The tab chart for this tune was requested by a subscriber not long ago. And so it is going out in December with the Fiddle Tech Notes for this month.

I made a casual recording of it a while ago:
Ragtime Annie 1.
Listening to it, I felt it was a little slow, so I played it again faster:
Ragtime Annie 2

My moderate tempos for these tunes is just an indication that I don't practice enough. "So many tunes, so little time."

A-432 Musical Wallpaper

2005-11-30T19:04:00.000-05:00

Monday night I played a gig at Ruth Eckard Hall in Clearwater. It was one of those play while people eat, drink and talk gigs. Musical wallpaper, or as it's sometimes called, "Musician Abuse."

As a strolling violinist, I'm country and folk. Don't look for "Feelings."

The ambiance was country in honor of the featured artist in the big hall, Dolly Parton. My mix of hoedowns, reels, jigs and swing tunes fit right in.

It was the usual scene of me playing as if I had an audience in the palm of my hand. In other words, taking the music seriously and doing the very best I could do. In these gigs you con't get much energy from the audience. Well, none, really. And when you do get a positive reaction, it almost is a shock the first time. After that, you see that people are actually warming up to your performance.

It went well, I must confess. Nobody said, "Hey, man. Tune it up already! Sheesh."

Small victories. That's what we leading edge advocates of A-432 look for. And that's what we get.

Handling MP3 files

2005-11-15T11:28:00.000-05:00

When you click on a link to an MP3 file, you either want to have a broadband connection, or plenty of time. They tend to be a little fat, even in the data reducing format.

This means a heads up for the tune Mississippi Sawyer

I played this with lots of open strings, to really get some resonance in the lower tuning. To me it all sounds very natural.

Florida Blues sounds like...

2005-11-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

Credit to Gatorchick and her Florida Blues blog. Got me off the dime of inertia.

This blog is about A 432 and all the etheric baggage I can cram into this concept. It needs some sounds to show what it's all about.

When you click on Profile and then click on the audio, you get to hear someting. Right now you hear "Florida Blues," as I fiddled it on Nov. 12.

In a week, I'll change that to an intro that talks and plays fiddle. I may play new segments to create new audio files to go with that link.

Archived stuff will be at the A-432 section of my Grassapelli site.

Norbert Brainard and the Verdi A-432

2005-11-12T09:42:00.000-05:00

Norbert Brainard was a violin virtuoso. He founded the Amati String Quartet. He passionately supported the use of the "Mozart A'" of 432 Hz "in opposition to today’s absurdly high “Karajan tuning” of A well above 440 Hz."

In Italy this came to be known as the Verdi A:
"In a parliamentary hearing in Rome, which became the basis for a parliamentary initiative to pass a law on the “Verdi A,” Prof. Bruno Barosi, the director of the world-renowned International Institute of Violin Making, in Cremona, Italy, invited brainin to his laboratory, recorded certain tones (and their octaves) both in the low and high tuning, did a spectral analysis, and finally evaluated the findings.

The other findings were not so surprising, but equally clear: The lower tuning created a larger sum of overtones, which explains the fuller sound; it was also proven, that Brainin’s Strad had its best resonance by far at exactly C=256 Hz, which is about A=432 Hz."

Passing a law to command the use of this frequency seems a little extream, (not to mention unlikely.)

Still, we can choose to use this frequency if we have a tunable instrument. Strings anyone?