Abstract
ALTHOUGH the outside world knows little about it, the question of musical pitch causes great anxiety to the public singer, to the conductor of operas and choirs, and to musical instrument makers generally. Musical instruments are divided into two classes: those with fixed and those with variable tones. The first comprises organs and pianos and most brass and wood windinstruments. The trombone, the bowed instruments, and the human voice are variable. Even the latter, however, can vary only within narrow limits, so that they cannot extend their compass at will. In the voice especially, although a few exceptional singers can, so to speak, acrobatise in music to the wonder of the public, yet the really good and usable part of even their compass for every-day work is comparatively limited, and if they are called upon frequently to sing either at their highest or lowest, the voice rapidly deteriorates, and wonder is changed to compassion. Violins even cannot afford to be “screwed up or down” too much, and rather prefer altering the thickness of their strings, with by no means a general improvement of effect. The thin strings are particularly objectionable in instruments only too prone to be played cuttingly. And clarinets and oboes, and even trumpets, when they are made short and narrow for high pitch, are only fit to be heard out of doors, as in military bands.
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Musical Pitch . Nature 21, 533–534 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/021533a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/021533a0