Can a piano be tuned to A=415Hz and different temperaments?

[i_am_joey_jo]

Sorry for all the postings today. 

I have heard a piano can be voiced and tuned to different volumes etc.  Can it also be tuned to Baroque temperaments if so wished?  Is it completely unheard of?

I am asking because a pianist who plays mainly Baroque era music would want to play in that temperament would they not?

[stevebob]

Voicing refers to what a technician does to the felt on the hammers to make the sound brighter or mellower.

Tuning to a higher or lower pitch than A440 is possible, as is tuning to temperaments other than equal temperament.  In my experience, though, the dominance of ET is such that historical temperaments are familiar to relatively few people (whether pianists or tuners).

Perhaps flexibility to perform music from various eras is important, too.  Most people probably don't limit themselves to playing music from one period exclusively, and ET is presumed to be satisfactory for everything.

[silverwoodpianos]

Steve is correct about the outcome of voicing procedures, and the popularity of ET. The music world has adopted ET for the last 100 years or so and this mainstream demand for ET is not likely to end anytime soon. Would be pretty difficult at this point to change the popular view of a multimillion dollar music industry...............

No need to be apologetic for the postings....that is what a forum is for......... to post. I don’t think anyone is counting (with the exception of yourself.....)

Sure you can tune a piano to any pitch frequency you like....any baroque pitch from 380 on up......

The trouble is this:

When you have late model instrument that is tuned to A440 shall we say for the sake of this argument, in order for you to get this instrument lowered in pitch and then stabilize, this would require several tunings down from A440.

Because of the tremendous weight bearing down on the instrument’s framework, one could not do this task in a single tuning. At A440 the entire weight on the frame is between 17-20 tons, depending upon the string scale. This weight would have to be subtracted slowly and evenly or one could find themselves in serious trouble and quickly. The pitch of 415 is a long way from A440.

Also with a modern instrument the release of all this pressure would allow the sounding board and bridges to come up (in a grand) or forward (in an upright) and this will leave them in the wrong place for the mathematics of the scale. The instrument will sound lousy and have very poor tone...much like a worn out old instrument.... tubby bass and poor treble projection............

Then, what do you do after that? You have to bring the instrument back up to pitch and then stabilize....more tunings ...about 6 total maybe more...........

There are many early music societies around that have instruments at this pitch already and have regular concerts, many in France I know of that do this on a regular basis......they use the Pleyels from the 1880’s and earlier....maybe some pianofortes too...the small ones that look like a virginal or spinet.....

Now an instrument that will only hold a low baroque pitch would be at its best performance level with the sound board and bridgework all at optimum levels of tension......

Think of it like an application. To go and pick up milk at the store you drive your small car. To go and pick up some soil for the garden you use a pickup truck..... different vehicle for a different application right?

Same here.......

As far as a baroque musician having a desire to play pianos in that pitch I couldn’t offer an opinion on that one. But I do know that if Mozart was alive today he would have trouble recognizing much of his music because a lot of it was not played in A440 but much lower....ok ok don’t start typing just because of that remark....I guess he would recognize most of it but the frequency would be a LOT a higher for him....

cheers,