>>>>What I can never understand is WHY the pitch changes. > >Orchestral pitch has become higher because orchestras over the >past couple >of hundred years have tended towards increasing "brightness" >or "brilliance" >of sound. There is a basic psychological >tendency to associate brightness with higher pitch.\
Thanks Paul, more or less what I would have written. > Also, players >intuitively feel that sharpness is more acceptable than flatness (which >sounds "sourer" and "wronger") and tend to play "at the top of >the note" to >avoid the dreaded flatness. I think we should add "unfortunately" here. Being even very slightly sharp is jarring, while playing at the bottom of the note can in many cases (excluding the fifth of a triad, for example) give a mellow richness (think David Oistrakh). In string vibrato the "in-tune" note should be the highest in the range of fluctuation. Higher pitched wind instruments >are also more >audible within the orchestral matrix. The same tendency >applies to choirs, >which generally tend to rise in pitch if not held back by the >orchestra (and >the conductor, of course). Yup, people play and sing sharp in order to hear [italics/bold on] themselves [italics/bold off] better. Then it snowballs. <The only >solution -- as >always -- was to force people to "listen to the f***in' bass >line!" Since >all the upper parts are essentially overtones of the bass, >staying in tune >with the bass is the only way to be in tune. Quite!!! csírz To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
