TUNING. 



TUNING-FORK. 



432 



TUNING. [TEMPERAMENT AND TUNING.] In column 118 we 

 alluded to the prospectus of certain tuning-forks, of which it was stated 

 that each one was tuned to the tine standard by a " scientific process." 

 We have received n explanation, by which it appears that this is 

 the advertiser's way of Baying that a good standard tuning fork having 

 been first constructed by a scientific process, every tuning fork sold 

 was carefully compared, by ear, with that original. This is quite as it 

 should be ; but the terms used express something different. 



TUNING-FORK. A steel instrument with two prongs springing 

 out of a handle, and so adjusted as to length that when struck a certain 

 fixed note is produced, by which the pitch of the voice or of musical 

 instruments is regulated. In England the tuning-fork is made with 

 parallel prongs, and is vibrated by striking one of the prongs when 

 both unit and reinforce each other ; the note becomes much more 

 remnant by placing the handle on a sounding-board, or even on a 

 table. In France, where the instrument is called a diapaion, and in 

 Germany a dias/,asmi, the prongs are bent iuto'the form of an exag- 

 gerated horse shoe, and a cylinder of wood being placed in the widest 

 part of the opening, is moved quickly upwards so as to separate the 

 prongs further apart, and they continue to vibrate for some time. 

 The fork is usually tuned to A or c in the tenor, a separate fork being 

 provided for each pitch required. Mr. Klein has, however, introduced 

 a fork which admits of adjustment for pitch by means of a small brass 

 clamp, which slides on one of the prongs, and can be fixed in certain 

 positions by means of a clamping screw. By varying the place of the 

 clamp upou the prong the pitch of the fork can be raised or lowered, 

 and certain marks are engraved upon the prong, showing the position 

 for the clamp for giving the pitch adopted by each of the principal 

 orchestras in Europe. 



It would be very desirable if a uniform pitch could be agreed on in 

 the musical world ; but so long as each nation continues to use its 

 own weights and measures, it will naturally claim the privilege of 

 regulating ita own musical pitch. Under ACOUSTICS, COSCKIIT PITCH, 

 and TEMPERAMENT and TUICINO, some remark* are made on this sub- 

 ject, by which it appears that for many years past the pitch has been 

 rising, to the injury of the voices of our public singers. Messrs. 

 Broadwood, the well-known pianoforte makers, employ three tuning- 

 forks all of different pitch : the first is the philharmonic standard 

 of thirty years ago, and is used for tuning pianos which give the 

 accompaniments at vocal concerts ; secondly, a fork higher in pitch, 

 used for tuning pianos that take part in orchestral compositions ; and 

 thirdly, a fork of still higher pitch, used as the opera and philharmonic 

 standard of the present day. Indeed there is a difference of about a 

 semitone between the first" and third of these forks. 



It i stated that the middle c-fork used in Paris in 1889 was equal 

 to 489 vibrations per second, while in 1859 it had increased to 538. 

 In the last-named year the opera standard fork used in London, St. 

 Petersburg, and Berlin, was even somewhat higher than that of Paris ; 

 and cases have frequently occurred in which a band intended to take 

 part with a cathedral organ, such as that of St. Paul's, London, found 

 it impossible to tune down all their instruments to the pitch of the 

 organ. The object of thus raising the pitch has been to improve the 

 brilliancy of the instrument*. Opera bands and military bands have 

 both raised their pitch. The conductor of the band of the Oitidct of 

 Brussels employs two forks, one which is too high for vocal music, 

 being used to give brilliancy to military instruments. 



Attempts have been made at various times to settle the standard 

 of pitch by reference to scientific principles. Fischer's experiment*, or 

 rather their results, obtained in 1823, are noticed under Acot'STjcs. 

 About thirty years ago the Philharmonic Society adopted a fork of 

 a certain pitch, which for a time seemed to check the tendency to 

 rise in the standard. The maker informed us that this fork was 

 entirely settled by ear, and that Sir George Smart directed him to 

 make it a little sharper or a little flatter until in the course of about 

 half an hour, a pitch was hit upon which satisfied Kir George's musical 

 ear. In 1834 some of the leading musicians of Germany met at 

 Stuttgard, and agreed upon an A-fork of 880 vibrations per second, 

 corres]>onding with 528 for the tenor c. The next attempt to secure a 

 uniform standard was made by Mr. Hullah, in 1842. When this 

 gentleman introduced the system of teaching singing on the Wilhem 

 method, under the sanction of the Committee of Council on Education, 

 it was quite necessary to secure a common standard of pitch for the 

 sake of uniformity in the various classes, and among the teachers 

 instructed by Mr. Hullah, who themselves had classes in various parts 

 of the kingdom. The great and successful gatherings in Exeter Hall, 

 where 1500 or 2000 pupils tinder this method united their voices, 

 would evidently have been impossible unless a standard of pitch had 

 been adopted. Accordingly, Mr. Hullah and his publisher, Mr. Parker, 

 applied to Mr. Tomlirwon to prepare a new fork ; the necessity for 

 which will be further apparent when it is considered that the A-fork 

 or the c-fork of one maker did not by any means imply the same A fork 

 or c-fork of another maker ; nay, even forks of the same name, and 

 bought at the same shop, were not, as a rule, in unison. Mr. Hullah 

 expressed great anxiety that the pitch should be kept down as much 

 as possible, but he left it to Mr. Tomlinson to decide what number of 

 vibrations per second should be assigned to the note which it was 

 agreed should be the middle of the pianoforte. In a letter addressed 

 to Mr. Hullah on April 18, 1842, Mr. Tomlinson stated his reasons why 



the number 512 should be adopted. We will quote a few remarks 

 from the printed description which was written when this fork was 

 issued, and which has been given with every fork that has been sold, 

 ever since: 



" The tuning-forks now in use are themselves regulated- -not upon 

 any definite principle but by the imperfect system of copying ; each 

 one being attuned in (apparent) unison with others. The workman, 

 having no test but his ear to depend upon, is liable to fall into inac- 

 curacies, the precise amount of which he has no means of determining : 

 hence the standard itself may vary from time to time ; and indeed it 

 is known to musicians that the standard of musical pitch is higher in 

 this country at the present time than formerly, any given note being 

 now a little sharper than the similarly-named note in the times of our 

 earlier composers. And not only so, but different vocalists of dis- 

 tinction, instrumental performers, and musical instrument makers, 

 adopt certain standards of their own, which often differ considerably 

 one from another. These discrepancies, and the rapid extension of 

 vocal music in England under the auspices of the Committee of 

 Council on Education, have led to the opinion that the present is a 

 favourable time to attempt the formation of a riyvrous standard of 

 pitch ; one which, by depending on an unchanging scientific principle, 

 will be independent of local and temporary usages. The principle 

 here alluded to is that on which the pitch wholly depends namely, 

 the number af vibrations pel' second toAiVA produces the girin note. The 

 great rapidity of these vibrations renders the determination of the 

 number a point of much difficulty : but science furnishes many 

 resources whereby this determination can be made with great nicety. 

 Any note might be chosen as a standard, but the note ' Do " or 0, 

 represented musically thus, has been selected as the one most gene- 

 rally useful : 



This note in the new standard tuning-forks, is produced by 512 

 vibrations per second, a number, the simplicity of which rentiers it 

 peculiarly valuable. It forms part of the geometrical series, 1, 2, 4, 8, 

 16, 82, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048; each term of which thus 

 becomes a representative of the natural note " Do " (except the first 

 five terms, which vibrate too slowly to produce musical sounds) ; every 

 term being the octave of the next below it. Under such a system the 

 lowest c on a grand pianoforte would be due to 32 vibrations per 

 second ; the highest c to 2048. and the highest note of the instrumc nt 

 to 2730. By careful experiments, made expressly for the present 

 object, it has been recently determined, that the philharmonic c, 

 the most authoritative standard in this country, vibrates a smaller 

 number of times per second than 512 ; while Fischer, of Berlin, 

 found, a few years ago, that the average of the pitch note A, in four 

 celebrated Continental orchestras, gave a number which would raise 

 the c to about 516 vibrations per second. Thus the numbers of 

 vibrations per second of the pitch-note A at the principal Berlin and 

 Paris theatres were as follow : 



Vibrations 

 per Sec. 



Berlin Theatre . . 

 I';irU Grand Opera Francois . 

 Opera Comique . . , 

 Opera Italien . . 



which would g 

 the note C 



ive for ) 



Vibrations 

 Sec. 



509 



" In selecting, therefore, the number 512, we not only obtain that 

 which is theoretically most correct, but one which is also a convenient 

 mean between various existing standards ; it gives a very trilling 

 elevation to the general English pitch, and furnishes a standard, which, 

 for the first time in this country, can be numerically expressed in 

 connection with the tuning-fork." 



It is further stated that " every fork is tested by an uniform standard, 

 and stamped with a device expressive of the velocity of its vibrations 

 = 512 per second." 



It is remarkable that this fork should have been almost entirely 

 confined to the use of Professor Hullah's singing-classes, and that when 

 the Society of Arts committee was appointed the existence of a stan- 

 dard for nearly twenty years, of which many thousands had been 

 issued to the public, should have been known only to a few of the 

 members of that committee. This committee seems to have been 

 appointed in consequence of the imperial government of France having 

 in 1858 appointed a commission to inquire into the best mode of 

 settling a diapason normal. The commissioners, among whom were some 

 eminent composers, as well as men of science, presented their report 

 early in 1859, in which it was admitted that the standard of pitch 

 differs in different countries ; that it differs among different musical 

 establishments in the same country ; that there is a tendency every- 

 where to an elevation in pitch ; and that great confusion arises from 

 these circumstances. It was agreed that the Paris Opera standard 

 ought to be lowered ; and in order that existing musical instruments 

 might be readily adapted to a lower pitch, about half a semitone of 

 iliiiiiinition was rccoimni.'iidi'd : in-mi'ly, that the Opera A fork should 

 red from 896 to 870 vibrations per second, equivalent to a 



