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'''Eight-foot pitch''' is a term common to the [[Pipe organ|organ]] and the [[harpsichord]]. An organ pipe, or a harpsichord string, designated as eight-foot pitch is sounded at standard, ordinary pitch.<ref name="Hubbard">{{cite book|last=Hubbard|first=Frank|title=Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making|year=1965|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=0-674-88845-6|page=354|authorlink=Frank Hubbard}}</ref> For example, the A above middle C in eight-foot pitch would be sounded at 440 Hz (or at some similar value, depending on how [[concert pitch]] was set at the time and place the organ or harpsichord was made). | |||
==Similar terms== | |||
Eight-foot pitch may be contrasted with '''four-foot pitch''' (one octave above the standard), '''two-foot pitch''' (two octaves above the standard), and '''sixteen-foot pitch''' (one octave below the standard).<ref>Hubbard (1965: 355, 361)</ref> The latter three pitches were often sounded (by extra pipes or strings) along with an eight-foot pitch pipe or string, as a way of enriching the tonal quality. | |||
The reason these lengths can all be obtained by successive doubling is that, all else being equal, a pipe or string that is double the length of another will vibrate at a pitch one octave lower. | |||
==Why eight feet?== | |||
The particular length "eight feet" is based on the approximate length of an organ pipe sounding the pitch two octaves below middle C, the bottom note on an organ keyboard.<ref name="Hubbard"/> This may be calculated as follows. | |||
Physics tells us that if a pipe is open at both ends, as is true of most organ pipes, its [[fundamental frequency]] ''f'' can be calculated (approximately) as follows: | |||
*<math>f=\frac{v}{2l}</math> | |||
where | |||
*''f'' = fundamental frequency | |||
*''v'' = the speed of sound | |||
*''l'' = the length of the pipe | |||
If ''v'' is assumed to be 1130 feet per second (the speed of sound at sea level, with temperature 70 degrees Fahrenheit), and the pipe length ''l'' is assumed to be eight feet, then the formula yields the value of 70.6 [[hertz]] (Hz; cycles per second). This is not far from the pitch of the C two octaves below 440 Hz, which (when concert pitch is set at A = 440 Hz) is 65.4 Hz. The discrepancy may be related to various factors, including effects of pipe diameter, the historical differing definitions of the length of the foot, and variations in tuning prior to the setting of A = 440 Hz as standard pitch in the 20th Century. | |||
==See also== | |||
*[[Pipe organ]] | |||
*[[Organ stop]] | |||
*[[Harpsichord]] | |||
*[[Acoustic resonance]] | |||
==References== | |||
<references/> | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eight Foot Pitch}} | |||
[[Category:Harpsichord]] | |||
[[Category:Pipe organ]] | |||
Revision as of 23:42, 20 September 2013
Eight-foot pitch is a term common to the organ and the harpsichord. An organ pipe, or a harpsichord string, designated as eight-foot pitch is sounded at standard, ordinary pitch.[1] For example, the A above middle C in eight-foot pitch would be sounded at 440 Hz (or at some similar value, depending on how concert pitch was set at the time and place the organ or harpsichord was made).
Similar terms
Eight-foot pitch may be contrasted with four-foot pitch (one octave above the standard), two-foot pitch (two octaves above the standard), and sixteen-foot pitch (one octave below the standard).[2] The latter three pitches were often sounded (by extra pipes or strings) along with an eight-foot pitch pipe or string, as a way of enriching the tonal quality.
The reason these lengths can all be obtained by successive doubling is that, all else being equal, a pipe or string that is double the length of another will vibrate at a pitch one octave lower.
Why eight feet?
The particular length "eight feet" is based on the approximate length of an organ pipe sounding the pitch two octaves below middle C, the bottom note on an organ keyboard.[1] This may be calculated as follows.
Physics tells us that if a pipe is open at both ends, as is true of most organ pipes, its fundamental frequency f can be calculated (approximately) as follows:
where
- f = fundamental frequency
- v = the speed of sound
- l = the length of the pipe
If v is assumed to be 1130 feet per second (the speed of sound at sea level, with temperature 70 degrees Fahrenheit), and the pipe length l is assumed to be eight feet, then the formula yields the value of 70.6 hertz (Hz; cycles per second). This is not far from the pitch of the C two octaves below 440 Hz, which (when concert pitch is set at A = 440 Hz) is 65.4 Hz. The discrepancy may be related to various factors, including effects of pipe diameter, the historical differing definitions of the length of the foot, and variations in tuning prior to the setting of A = 440 Hz as standard pitch in the 20th Century.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 20 year-old Real Estate Agent Rusty from Saint-Paul, has hobbies and interests which includes monopoly, property developers in singapore and poker. Will soon undertake a contiki trip that may include going to the Lower Valley of the Omo.
My blog: http://www.primaboinca.com/view_profile.php?userid=5889534 - ↑ Hubbard (1965: 355, 361)