On Fri, Apr 3, 2009, "Anthony W. Youngman" <lilyp...@thewolery.demon.co.uk> said:
> Sorry, reading this was painful agreed. > 1.64 concert pitch Ensembles must agree on a temperament and a pitch standard if they are to be tuned agreeably. Equal temperament is usual for the full orchestra with winds, piano, and strings which plays repertoire in a full range of keys. The pitch of the A above middle C is the conventional reference point. A=440 Hz has been the practice for many orchestras over the past several decades, but in recent years some are creeping sharper, even to A=445; on the theory that it is good to have the violins sound brighter, tho it leaves the woodwind section rather challenged, as it is difficult (and expensive) to adjust some winds sharper. Other reference pitches have been used historically, and sometimes different places had variant practices. Many ensembles specializing in music from historical periods will employ other reference pitches, and may also employ non-equal temperaments. > 1.311 transposing instrument Some instruments play in a range which is awkward to transcribe useing the common G and F clefs, too many ledger lines is challanging to read. Octave-transposing clefs provide one solution to this problem. Some instruments are used in different sizes to accomodate play in particular ranges; the playing techniques are often close enough that skill on one carries over to the others, and so some members of the orchestra will play a variety of instruments which differ in size and fundamental pitch. The challenge of reading for each of several instruments is eased when the parts are written transposed. As an example, the Soprano C clarinet is the reference for the family. Music for it is written a sounding pitch. Music for the lower-pitched Bb clarinet is written transposed upward by a second, the player reads the same as for a 'C' instrument, it plays a second lower than the written pitch. This practice is a great convenience for the orchestral player, but does make for confusion to anyone ignorant of the practice, perhaps while reading the orchestral score. -- Dana Emery _______________________________________________ lilypond-devel mailing list lilypond-devel@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel
