WTF? A 440 was suggested by the American Standards organisation and not actually set as a standard until ISO16 in 1955.Fizmarble wrote: I read all this stuff about Hitler pushing the A440 thing,
The reason why A is usually set to A 440 is to do with instrument manufacturing. For example when trying to build an organ at 15 degrees C the pitch of the Pipe "A" would change when the hall had heated up. So A=439 at 15 degrees would become A=435.5 in a heated hall.
440 was suggested as 439 being a prime number was hard to reach in a laboratory.
All this guff about A at 432 or 452 having mystical properties or whatever is just complete arse. it's all about the optimum playing range for a build of instrument.
I wonder how people with perfect pitch can be distressed at notes that are not in concert tuning - for example in Beethovens day Concert pitch was different than today...