Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 256
Scan 256
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
8 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 236. See the scan on archive.org.
1is flat or sharp, some standard is either expressly or impliedly referred to. For instance, G on the first line of the bass clef may properly be called a low note, absolutely considered, and would probably be so described by every one in popular language; but if a certain precise vibrational value, say, of 100 vibrations, were given to the note, it would be sharp relatively to the French Diapason Normal standard, and flat relatively to our Philharmonic standard.
3Again, the note e', considered absolutely, could not be described either as a low or a high note, for it lies at about the middle of the range of hearing, but it is high with respect to the compass of a man's voice, and low with respect to that of a woman. Whether in any particular case it is flat or sharp, can only be determined by reference to a standard.
5For many years previous to 1880 it had been generally recognized that considerable changes had from time to time been accepted in the numerical vibrational value of a note bearing a certain name, as a' or c''; in other words, the a' or c'' had been at times higher, and at times lower, than at others. The true character and extent of these changes had, however, never been fully investigated or tabulated until the late Mr. Alex. J. Ellis took up the examination of these points, and our present exact knowledge of this branch of the subject dates from March 1880, when he published in the Journal of the Society of Arts his paper "On the History of Musical Pitch." So far as the following notes are concerned with the history of the matter, the facts have been drawn chiefly from Mr. Ellis's work.
7STANDARDS OF PITCH.—Before entering in any detail upon the various pitches that have been and are in use, it will be convenient to note that a standard may be either theoretical or actual. Now a theoretical standard can be brought into practical use only through a tuning-fork or other such instrument, and if such an instrument is officially sealed or in any way certified, it, in itself, becomes an actual standard, although it may not agree with the theoretical value it is intended to represent. As an example of a purely theoretical pitch, the customary scientific pitch of 512 vibs. for c'' may be taken; this is
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