Is A432 specifically (like in that exact frequency) a reaction to pitch inflation? Because other standards were suggested, like A435, for example. My understand of A432 is it comes from C256, and 256 being a power of 2 makes it appealing for, I dunno, reasons. Physics and nature, I would suppose. In equal temperament, it doesn’t place A at quite 432 (more around 430), but some type of tuning system does set it at A432.
At any rate, it’s as good a standard as any other, though the types I know who are big into A432 tend to like that tuning for what I perceive as “mystical” and “new agey” reasons. I suppose not everyone who is into A432 is like that, but it’s the vibe I get.
It appears to be the case that scales tend to be attracted to situations where fifths and octaves approximately coincide. We look for powers of three that are close to powers of two, and pick each one that gives better results than the one before.
The composer does not have to use every possible note together in a single song (unless he or she wants to ) Just like, if a pop song is in G major then it only uses 7 or a bit more out of 12. As for playing, many of these “Oriental instruments” have movable frets to set up the desired raga.
As for why musicians use such a scale (the 53-note scale dates back to ancient times), you said it yourself, it is a convenient way of getting musical intervals based on multiplying/dividing frequencies by 2, 3, and 5.
ETA human ears can and do hear intervals that are “out of tune”, or that two notes are not of the same frequency. There are minimal perceptible differences, but they are not so large that musicians and composers gave zero thought to how to tune their instruments; quite the contrary.
The reason for the seven-note scale is Pythagoras.
If you take a string and halve its length (2:1), you get an octave - the same note, one octave higher. The next step would be to divide the string into three parts. Reducing a string by one third of its length (3:2) will produce a perfect fifth musical note. The Pythagorean scale is derived by keeping reducing the string length by a third and stacking perfect fifths on top of each other. The resulting scale is similar to the equal temperament scale, but will sound slightly out of tune. Since the scale is created by simple mathematics, I think it’s probable that extra-terrestrials with an interest in music would also derive the scale.
In Indian music, there is no fixed frequency for the tonic, which is called Sadja or Sa. For vocalists, it will be whatever feels most comfortable for their vocal range. Even with instruments, there is no standardization. For sitars, for example, the tonic is usually something between B flat and D. Indian music is primarily solo, so there is no need for many instruments to be tuned to each other, as in an orchestra. There’ll be a lead performer, on voice or instrument, a drum player, playing something like a tabla or pakhavaj which will be tuned with hammers to the lead performer’s Sa, and a tanpura drone player, also tuned to the lead performer. There may also be a secondary performer supporting the lead performer, mainly in vocal music.
Historically, Indian music did not use equal temperament and had a concept of shrutis. The equal temperament instrument the harmonium was introduced to India from the West in the 19th century and has become an important part of many music performances, replacing the fretless sarangi stringed instrument in providing musical support to the vocalist.
South Indian/Carnatic music is different than North Indian/Hindustani music and went through a period of reform/standardization in the last hundred years or so.
C256 was the original international standard, back in the 19th century. No, it’s not particularly scientific, but “scientific” was the word that Verdi welcomed it with, all the same. What I don’t understand at all is how C=256 evolved into A=432 during the late-20th-century reform movement.; they are not equivalent.
The pitch-reform movement fell apart when it was taken over by Lyndon LaRouche’s cult. However, the insane upward race was halted, and things are now back in the 440s.
Perhaps standardization is the word I should have used in the OP.
Thank you
How the north indian and south indian musicians switched over to using the 12 note scale used in western music and did the music sound different before the standardization because of the possibly different intervals and / or frequencies?
As you said there is no fixed Sa or tonic. Whichever note is comfortable becomes the first note in the Raga. : )
They have a background drone often produced by a string instrument called Tamburu and lately a drone box that plays The tonic, the fifth and the octave as a drone. It has a switch that is marked as 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 that corresponds to C, C#, D, Eb etc. The vocalist or the instrumentalist picks a tonic that fits his vocal range. So for position one the drone box would play C G C’ for position 2 it would pay D A D’ and so on.
