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Why does it need to be powers of two? The whole idea of 432 is nicer numbers, but if you’re using equal temperament (12-TET specifically), you’re already using
by colejohnson66 5y ago
Why does it need to be powers of two? The whole idea of 432 is nicer numbers, but if you’re using equal temperament (12-TET specifically), you’re already using the “ugly” 12th root of 2.
- ofou 5y agoI agree... ugly, but based in the root of two. It makes sense to use the powers of two because you can literally remember the frequencies of C through octaves, C0=16Hz, C4=256Hz, can you do that with 440hz? I don't see any advantage of using an arbitrary frequency such as 440 oscillations per second for A instead.
- colejohnson66 5y agoAnd yet you arbitrarily choose to base your system on C. With A, I can say A1=55, A2=110, A3=220, A4=440. C isn’t any more special than A except maybe scientific notation being based on C. Your argument seems to hinge on being able to know the frequency of a specific “C”, but how often is that necessary?
- ofou 5y agoWhen Tuning acoustic instruments for example.
- colejohnson66 5y agoThe simple solution is a chromatic tuner that displays the note and octave. If I want to tune a guitar’s low E string, I just pluck it until my tuner says I’m at E2. Sure, it assumes A440, but I don’t need to know the actual frequencies of E2, A2, D3, etc., so I don’t care to use any other A4.