The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory • Hacker News Board

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#111

Post by glassx » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 6:56 PM UTC

scarecrowbob wrote: post #20

nerdponx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like playing bass tuned slightly flat because I have tiny hands and it's easier to play with less tension.

I recently switched to nylon wrapped strings... they also have lower tension. But I mostly did it because I play a lot of americana / folk / rockabilly / blues / jazz and wanted a better slap sound. Unfortunately they sound terrible arco so now I have to play cello when I play in my wife's orchestra. :( [edit] it occurs to me that you're talking about electric bass... in which case nylon strings would be a bit strang…

> in which case nylon strings would be a bit strange ;)

Not at all, there are nylon wrapped strings for electric now too! [1]

[1] http://www.daddario.com/DADProductFamily.Page?ActiveID=3768&...

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#112

Post by andrewflnr » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 6:56 PM UTC

siglesias wrote: post #105

cageek wrote: post #99

[Posted on my blog]( http://www.krisconstable.com/432-hz-vs-440-hz-conspiracy-the... ) While I appreciate Jakub’s breakdown for the reader to get to explaining why the 432 number itself is effectively fabricated for convenience, he eventually states: “_The 432 Hz tuning, the divine tuning of nature itself, is ultimately defined as one vibration per 21279240.2083 periods of radiation of an uncommon chemical element_”…

This can be difficult because everybody has been overexposed to 440, which is nearly impossible to control for. Even if you log an effect it can be argued that the effect is not of 432 but of a certain deviation from a norm.

Eh, try it across a range of different tunings and see if there's a peak in the effect around 432. If there were, it would be easier for me to believe it's the 432 that's significant rather than "normal - 8Hz"

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#113

Post by rdiddly » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 6:57 PM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #76

I have been following this for years, being both a sound engineer and a bit of a hippie who knows a lot of other hippies. The basic issue is that 432 is a numerologically interesting number compared to 440. So if it's more interesting it should be better for artistic purposes, goes the argument. However this falls flat as soon as you consider that the 432 is only interesting relative to the completely arbirtrary dura…

Anywhere in the USA where there's electricity, the frequency we're hearing the most is probably 60Hz and a couple harmonics thereof. It's between B and B-flat. I've been curious for some time now what it would sound like to perform in a scale tempered around that, such as B = 480 (and 60), which translates to A = about 427.6 by my rough calculation.

60 Hz is everywhere, often at a subliminal level, sometimes at an obvious/conscious level like when you walk underneath powerlines or use a garage-door opener. In any case I suspect it's a lot more obvious and perceptible to most people than any cosmic vibrations. I bet fixing your music to resonate with THAT, would (perhaps sadly) feel a lot more "cosmically in-tune" than what they're proposing with 432 Hz.

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#114

Post by NickNameNick » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:00 PM UTC

mrb wrote: post #108

anigbrowl wrote: post #76

I have been following this for years, being both a sound engineer and a bit of a hippie who knows a lot of other hippies. The basic issue is that 432 is a numerologically interesting number compared to 440. So if it's more interesting it should be better for artistic purposes, goes the argument. However this falls flat as soon as you consider that the 432 is only interesting relative to the completely arbirtrary dura…

"if you take a track and play it a little bit faster or slower it still sounds great or awful as at the default speed in most cases." Yup. Another example: in most of the world (where the television system is PAL or SECAM) movies are played on TV or released on DVD at 25 frame per second. But to achieve this frame rate, they take the theatrical film release at 24 fps and speed the video and audio up by 25/24th (4.17%…

Whilst conversions that speed up video do happen, It's not really intentional or desirable.

A friend of mine bought the DVD of 'Rent' when it first came out in our region. A month or two after it came out, the DVD got re-issued because it's a musical, and people had been complaining that the conversion had been messed up. I think she got the re-release for free.

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#115

Post by DominikR » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:02 PM UTC

Funny conspiracy theory but I have to say that following Occam's razor I would have reach the conclusion that it was indeed Goebbels who was behind it all as the presumably correct historical explanation is quite convoluted.

On the other hand for the Goebbels theory to be plausible I only need to evaluate: Did Goebbels have the power to influence this all across Europe? Yes he definitely had the power to do so.

Actually it wouldn't even be that crazy to believe this as the Nazis believed in all kinds of crazy mystical druid magic nonsense. (That Hitler could have sent people to search for the Ark of the Covenant as depicted in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" isn't that far fetched)

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#116

Post by dhimes » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:03 PM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #76

I have been following this for years, being both a sound engineer and a bit of a hippie who knows a lot of other hippies. The basic issue is that 432 is a numerologically interesting number compared to 440. So if it's more interesting it should be better for artistic purposes, goes the argument. However this falls flat as soon as you consider that the 432 is only interesting relative to the completely arbirtrary dura…

The second is defined as the time it takes for two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the 133 Ce atom to make 9,192,631,770 transitions. How is that not special?

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#117

Post by dhimes » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:05 PM UTC

costcopizza wrote: post #83

dmix wrote: post #46

Decided to try searching this and found this lovely site: > A=432 Hz, known as Verdi’s ‘A’ is an alternative tuning that is mathematically consistent with the universe. Music based on 432Hz transmits beneficial healing energy, because it is a pure tone of math fundamental to nature https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz/ Oh new age pseudo science. My mom loves this stuff and I never fully understood why. My sister gets…

Eh-- pick your battles. If family members get a positive placebo effect from listening to "5 Hours High Quality BEST 432hz Meditation Healing Chakra" on YouTube...Who cares?

Ha! I thought you were making that up...

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#118

Post by ptaipale » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:09 PM UTC

seandougall wrote: post #109

robbyt wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine is a professional mix engineer in NYC. He's worked with several large artists, you've probably heard of. He strongly believes in setting numerically interesting values for things like eq, gain reduction, song length, delay time in ms, etc.

A not-insubstantial part of the engineer's job is to impress the artists. Mastering engineers even more so.

Directional audio cables are another example of such "making impressions" business.

(Technically nonsense, of course.)

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#119

Post by martinbalsam » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:09 PM UTC

haberman wrote: post #43

> orchestras specializing in older music may sometimes tune in the tuning close to the one for which the piece was originally written, which may range from 415 Hz to 470 Hz). I can say as someone who performs a lot of Baroque music (c. 1600 - 1750) that there is a relatively common standard of A=415 for music of this period. A=415 is often referred to as "Baroque pitch." This mainly applies to ensembles that speciali…

(Finally something I can contribute to, on HN)

My father plays in a baroque orchestra (the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra), and I know that when they play a repertory, e.g. Dieterich Buxtehude, the orchestra tunes to 465 meantone.

Re: The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

#120

Post by ptaipale » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 7:12 PM UTC

costcopizza wrote: post #83

dmix wrote: post #46

Decided to try searching this and found this lovely site: > A=432 Hz, known as Verdi’s ‘A’ is an alternative tuning that is mathematically consistent with the universe. Music based on 432Hz transmits beneficial healing energy, because it is a pure tone of math fundamental to nature https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz/ Oh new age pseudo science. My mom loves this stuff and I never fully understood why. My sister gets…

Eh-- pick your battles. If family members get a positive placebo effect from listening to "5 Hours High Quality BEST 432hz Meditation Healing Chakra" on YouTube...Who cares?

The one whose inheritance is next squandered on highly priced meditation chakra recordings and excessively expensive hoax high-end audio equipment? (From Youtube to purchasing mail order junk...)