Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 257
Scan 257
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
10 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 237. See the scan on archive.org.
1based upon the number 2—512 being equal to 2 raised to the ninth power (2^9). On the other hand, the standard forks made for the Society of Arts in 1860, which were intended to represent a' 444 and c'' 528, are really a' 445.7 and c'' 534.5, so that the actual standard, as represented by the fork, was in the case of the c'' about one-fifth of a semi-tone higher than its theoretical value of c'' 528.* As an instance of close agreement between theoretical and actual values the French Diapason Normal should be named. This fork, intended to give 435 vibs., is by the best measurements found to give 435.4. This exceedingly small difference, although distinctly and easily measurable, is of no practical consequence in music.
3At the present day the tuning-fork is universally accepted as the most generally convenient instrument for use, both as a standard and as a carrier or measurer of pitch, but it cannot be too clearly understood that in the sense in which we speak of "the standard yard"† or "the standard pound"‡ there is no standard of pitch in this country. The case is different in France, where the Diapason Normal, referred to above, exists, not merely as a theoretical standard, but as an actual fork carefully preserved in the Museum of the Conservatoire at Paris. The superiority of the tuning-fork over the old pitch-pipe blown by the mouth lies in the small degree of its variation; as the slight variation which is due to changes of temperature is known, it can always be allowed for when accurate observations are required. The objections to the tuning-fork, when used to give the pitch for a band, are its comparatively weak tone and evanescent sound. Metal reeds, such as those used in harmoniums, are, if sounded under a constantly equal pressure of wind, in some ways preferable to tuning-forks, for their tone is strong, and they can be kept sounding for any
5* This value (528) for c'' was advocated by the Society of Arts Committee, because on this basis the intervals of the major diatonic scale can be represented by whole numbers. This is true, however, only of the scale of c in just intonation, which gives for a' 440; the a' 444 (nominal) of the Society of Arts is in equal temperament to c'' 528.
7† The British Standard Yard is the distance, at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, between two marks on a certain bar which is kept in the office of the Exchequer at Westminster.—(Rankine.)
9‡ The Standard Pound Avoirdupois is the weight, at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, and under the atmospheric pressure of 30 inches of mercury, in the latitude of London, and at or near the level of the sea, of a certain piece of platinum which is kept in the Exchequer Office at Westminster.—(Rankine.)
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