Section III, 1889. [ il ] Trajsts. Roy. Soc. Canada. 



III. — A Nalional Standard of Pitch. 

 By Prof. J. Loudon, University of Toronto. 



(Read May 7, 1889.) 



When one cousiders the slow progress of the movement lor introducing the metrical 

 system into England and America, it may seem idle to propose the adoption of an inter- 

 national standard of musical pitch. So far as securing government legislation on the sub- 

 ject is concerned, the propo?ition is doubtless somewhat chimerical ; but as the matter chiefly 

 concerns a comparatively small number of persons, the desired end may be attained for all 

 practical purposes by their concerted action. With the hope therefore that such action 

 will ere long be taken by our musicians, instrument makers, and physicists, I beg to 

 present a few facts and suggestions bearing on the subject. 



(1.) The first important fact to bear in mind is that the musical standard recently 

 adopted at the Vienna Congress differs from the scientific standard which has been 

 employed so long by acousticians. The former is none other than the French standard 

 of 1859, and is defined as the A whose pitch is determined by 870 single vibrations per 

 second at 15° C. This is now accordingly the musical standard for France, and the 

 countries represented at the Vienna Congress of 1885, namely, Austria, Hungary, Italy, 

 Prussia, Saxony, Wiirtemburg, Russia and Sweden. Although this adoption of the 

 French standard by so many countries is likely to lead to its being accepted by others, it 

 does not follow that its permanence as an invariable standard is secured. Former con- 

 ferences have fixed other standards, and it is not improbable that future conferences will 

 recommend some departure from the present standard. Indeed a slight departure has 

 already been taken by Italy. When in Paris two years ago, I learned from Dr. Koenig, 

 the acoustician, to whom I am indebted for a mass of valuable information on this sub- 

 ject, that the normal temperature selected for the Italian standard was 20° C, as he 

 recommended, instead of 15° C — a change which would render the pitch slightly lower 

 (say Tilth of a vibration per second). The same course has also been followed in the case 

 of the standard constructed for the Physical Institute, Berlin. 



(2.) With regard to the present acoustical standard there have been no conferences. 

 First, suggested by Sauveur in the last century, it has been in use since the days of 

 Chladni, and possesses advantages from a scientific point of view which should secure 

 its permanent adoption by physicists. As established in its most perfect form by Koenig 

 ten years ago, it is defined as uL^, or the C whose pitch is determined by 512 single vibra- 

 tions per second at 20° C. Its special claim to be recognized as the scientific standard 

 rests on the fact, (1) that it is derived directly from the beat of the second's pendulum by 

 proceediug by octaves, (2) that the octave is the only interval which remains unchanged 

 in all systems of scales, and (3) that C is the fundamental note on which musical scales 



