Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 260
Scan 260
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
21 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 240. See the scan on archive.org.
1serious objection to it, and the cause of its practical disappearance, was that when used in the customary way with only twelve keys to the octave, it was necessary to throw the accumulated errors into the less used keys, with such bad effect that the free modulation required in modern music was practically impossible.
3The practical importance of noting instrumental temperament in connection with any record of pitch is that the proper conversion may be made between the a' and c'', or the c'' and a', according to the pitch-note taken. The ratios are given below for just intonation, and for equal and mean-tone temperaments:
5a' being the pitch-note, multiply by 1.200 for c'' (just)
6" " " " " " 1.189 ,, (equal)
7" " " " " " 1.196 ,, (mean)
8c'' " " " " " .833 for a' (just)
9" " " " " " .841 ,, (equal)
10" " " " " " .836 ,, (mean).
12As an example of using these figures we may take the French Diapason Normal of nominally 435 vibs.:
14435 × 1.200 gives c'' = 522 (just)
15435 × 1.189 ,, c'' = 517.2 (equal)
16435 × 1.196 ,, c'' = 520.3 (mean).
18Supposing the a' to have been taken from an organ, or other such instrument, it is therefore evident that the value of c'' could not be properly entered on any record of pitches until the temperament was known.
20Historical Outline.—The oldest instrument referred to by Mr. Ellis was the great organ of the cathedral of Halberstadt, in Prussian Saxony. This organ was finished in 1361, and restored in 1495. According to the dimensions given by Praetorius in 1619, its a' would be 505.8; this, in all probability, represented its pitch when restored, and possibly its original pitch. At about the same date another organ pitch was also in use, according to the measurements given by Arnold Schlick in 1511. These two pitches stand at about a fourth, or five semi-tones, apart, and are representatives of the highest and lowest church pitches. In the same way, and as late as
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