[LAU] The totally useless debate about purported 'natural' tunings [WAS]: Re: "droning" project: 249-257

[Lorenzo Sutton]

On 01/10/2015 03:34, jonetsu at teksavvy.com wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 2015 10:13:17 +0200
>
> Well, it was a debate and is still is one.  440Hz was adopted in 1955.
> That does not mean that since that time people can sleep peacefully and
> never wake up for bullshit, oder ?
> Maths could be nonsense, I agree.  After all, it could turn out that 1
> plus 1 does not equal 2.

Sorry but this purported 'newage-ish debate' that certain tunings are 
more 'natural', 'in harmony with the universe' etc. is total bullshit. 
Period. It has nothing to do with maths, science or music really.

Because in tonal harmony relative frequencies (of fundamentals and 
overtones) are relevant, tuning is relative in the same way. In 
non-tonal music (in its broad meaning) frequencies are of course 
relevant but discussing tuning doesn't make much sense. 'Ancient' music 
(pre-Bach, but probably pre-1650s really) is a more complex matter, but 
there is no historiography evidence of any natural or universe-friendly 
tuning.
Of course in ancient times there were all sorts of superstitions and 
believings trickling in music, such as music in 3 was heavenly because 
of the Trinity, etc. But today we (hopefully) do not consider such 
'theories' as scientific.

One parameter characteristic of the music which can be influenced by 
tuning (also depending on the physical characteristics of the 
instrument) is timbre. As a prominent example consider Yesterday by the 
Beatles being played in F but in a G major position, i.e. the guitar is 
tuned 1 tone lower. At this point I could easily argue that because 432 
is lower than 440, 432 is a more 'obscure', 'dark','demoniac' tuning 
than 440 which is more 'brilliant','clearer' and therefore more 
'celestial' ;P

As far as I know there has been no scientific research (e.g. through 
blind tests) demonstrating one tuning makes people feel 'better' than 
another. Additionally musical listening is a complex phenomenon from 
psycho-physical point of view, where positiveness/negativeness of body 
reactions is hard to assess: for example is increased heart rate due to 
arousal connected to listening to music positive or negative?

That said, for (opera) singers modifying tuning, in particular raising 
it, might have an impact as singing higher can increase strain on the 
vocal cords etc. Therefore the 'debate' between singers about singing 
e.g. Verdi in lower tunings which are more similar to what the 
composer's epoch standard was, is totally legitimate.

Lorenzo.