Re: [tuning] Digest Number 2046

Jon!
I had heard mentioned that it was the lowest pitch on his viola and would have chosen 391.11 if he could have found a tuning fork to that pitch, being related to 440 by perfect fifths. Hard to believe that g was his last good
pitch to sing considering i good down to Eb or d depending on time of day. But i am no expert on voice ranges of individuals.
It is interested how "ritualized" this g has become. I have no objection either. I have dug up my own symbolic meanings in it which might illustrate why different people could want to tune to different pitches. 392 is a
multiple of 49. the number of revolution in the I ching or "madness according to some christian cabalist. La Monte also has a big thing for 49.
But less esoterically, since the tuning pitch has been rising and A is getting higher. Tuning to g is like saying "wait a minute" lets take a look back for a moment. This greek revivalist might be amused by such interpretation,
as incorporeal as he would recognize it.

>
> From: "jonszanto" <JSZANTO@ADNC.COM>
> Subject: Re: Reference Pitches
>
> --- In tuning@y..., "Mark Gould" <mark.gould@a...> wrote:
> > Two things:
> >
> > 1. Why did Partch choose G (392Hz)as his 1/1?
>
> For as simple a reason as the following: G, in the bass clef, was the lowest tone that Partch could sing (intone) and still have full voice. It was his lowest 'good pitch', and worked well with his original stringed instruments.
>
> Not very scientific, maybe, but that's where it came from.
>
> Cheers,
> Jon
>
>

-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

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