In message <mj9t1jgcvk1jf...@thewolery.demon.co.uk>, Anthony W. Youngman
<lilyp...@thewolery.demon.co.uk> writes
Ow!
Sorry, reading this was painful (I play the trombone, as many of you
know :-)
Replying to myself ... Just in case anyone didn't realise (and I
certainly didn't make myself clear :-) these are my revised versions
that I think should replace the existing entries. Feel free to edit and
improve.
Cheers,
Wol
1.64 concert pitch
The pitch at which the piano and other non-transposing instruments
play, such music is said to be 'in C'. Officially, it is defined as "A
= 440", meaning that the note A in the treble clef indicates a sound
that has a frequency of 440Hz. There are other standard frequencies,
but they have mostly fallen into disuse.
This convention is used for (almost?) all instruments with multiple
sounding parts, eg tuned percussion and strings.
Instruments with a single sounding part (woodwind, brass) follow a
different convention and are generally known as transposing
instruments, although for some instruments (eg flute, oboe), the two
conventions lead to the same result. The trombone is unusual in that
music for it can be written using either or both conventions.
1.311 transposing instrument
Instruments whose notated pitch is different from concert pitch. Most
of these instruments are identified in their name by their fundamental
pitch - this being the note whose wavelength is equal to length of the
instrument. For example Concert A is 440Hz, the speed of sound in air
is 343m/s, therefore an A clarinet (or any other A wind instrument)
will have a length of 343/440 = 78cm. (Or be a power of 2 longer or
shorter.)
This note is always written as middle C in the treble clef, and is
usually referred to as "being in 'X'" where X is the fundamental of the
instrument it's written for. It is normal, however, to leave the "in X"
off of the music as being redundant because it's already been specified
in the instrument's name. So music marked as "A Clarinet" or "Bb
Trumpet" will be assumed to be in A or Bf.
Where an instrument's range falls naturally within the treble clef, the
reference to the instrument should always either specify the
fundamental as part of the instrument name, or specify the
transposition, so the player knows what pitch the music is written in -
"alto flute in G", "G flute", "alto flute in C".
If the music is written in C it is normal convention NOT to mention the
fundamental, and only say "in C" if it is needed to prevent confusion.
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If anybody can improve on those entries I'm all ears, otherwise can
somebody update the glossary? For the most part, I've just been far
more pedantic, but the existing bit about the trombone is, I'm sorry,
just plain wrong!
Cheers,
Wol
--
Anthony W. Youngman - anth...@thewolery.demon.co.uk
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