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Music Theory: Exploring The 432 Hz Tuning DebateLynda Arnold on Feb 13, 2016 in Music Theory & Education ! 0 comments

Most of the world now uses 440 Hz as the standard pitch tuning. However, this has been a relativelyrecent standard, and 432 Hz is making a comeback. Lynda Arnold explores why with soundexamples.

The music and audio industry currently uses the A = 440 Hz universal standard pitch tuning around the world. It wasn’talways this way. In fact, 440 Hz has been the standard for less than a hundred years, a drop in the bucket in terms of musichistory. The tuning of A = 432 Hz, also used throughout music history, is making quite a comeback these days, especially inthe field of sound healing and meditation. Researchers, scientists and musicians are leading a growing movement to provethis tuning is best for heart-centered, therapeutic sound work.

This article briefly explains the history of tuning and some key points that support 432 Hz as the scientific tuning, by relatingit to mathematical relationships, harmonic ratios and frequencies found in nature. Hopefully this will inspire some thoughtfuldiscussions. There are some audio examples to compare tuning for critical listening and a brief explanation on how tocompose in 432 Hz tuning in Logic.

A Brief History of Tunings

An article by John Stuart Reid called the ‘Concert Pitch Conflict’ provides a comprehensive history of tunings and I referencemany of his findings here. Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras (570–495 BC), is often credited with identifyingmusical harmonic ratios related to scientific pitch and the birth of 432 Hz tuning with his instrument called the monochord. Itis believed, however, that instruments built accordingly to harmonic ratios were used in Egypt and Greece well before thistime. The earliest instruments were flutes and lyres, often used for therapeutic purposes. Hundreds of years later during theclassical periods of western music, it was documented that composers like Mozart and Verdi used the 432 Hz tuning. Verdibelieved it was a much better tuning for Operatic voices. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 432 Hz tuning waschallenged by other countries like Germany, the US and Britain who all seemed to be using and experimenting with differenttunings.

Music Theory: Exploring The 432Hz Tuning Debate : Ask.Audio https://ask.audio/articles/music-theory-exploring-the-432hz-t...

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Pythagoras with his Monochord.

In the early 20th century, there was a need to make a universal pitch standard used by all for sake of instrument makers,composers and orchestras everywhere. Even though 432 Hz was fully supported by the French and Italian composersthrough most of the classical music periods, 440 Hz eventually became the universal pitch standard. German PhysicistJohann Heinrich Scheibler invented a device called the Tonometer and did the first experiments with 440 Hz tuning in themid 1800s. The Tonometer consisted of 54 tuning forks with a range of 220 Hz to 440 Hz spaced at 4 Hz intervals. His workbecame widely recognized and a conversation began about a standardized tuning.


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Scheibler’s invention called the Tonometer.

After much debate, the US adopted 440 Hz as the standard in 1936. Europe soon followed with its adoption many years afterit was first proposed on both continents. Even today, musicians believe that music played in 432 Hz tuning has a betteraudience response, has a calming effect and sounds more integrated overall.

It is still not entirely clear why 440 Hz was chosen. It seems the scientific experiments by Scheibler had a lot of influence onthis choice as opposed to what tuning may have been more in line with the harmonic ratios and relationships found innature. I can’t help but notice how the music of India and the rest of Asia were left out of this discussion entirely. It is atestament to their unique musical and healing traditions that are affecting us more and more today.

Mathematics, Nature and Frequency

The chart below shows how 432 Hz tuning is derived based on Pythagorean harmonic ratios. Multiples of 2 and 3 forms thebasis of the chart, and the left column shows all the multiples of 2 as the note C. In the middle, you will see that A=432 Hz.Also of note is the number 108, used in many spiritual traditions as a unifying number. Mala prayer beads come in strands of108 and in yogic traditions, 108 sun salutations are often practiced. The number 186624 in the blue box is 432 squared and isthe frequency of the speed of light within hundredths of a decimal—very close! Also, every column corresponds to a notewith each being a 5th apart. You will recognize this as the Circle of Fifths—the basis for music theory, or at least Westernmusic theory.


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Harmonic Ratio Chart: Nature’s Tuning – In line with 432 Hzhttp://www.michaelleehill.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/UntitlMost-Harmonious.jpg

The Earth’s vibration, which is the frequency measured from the earth’s crust to the ionosphere fluctuates around 8 Hz. 8 Hzfalls at the bottom end of where our calm, functioning brainwave state called Alpha is, and is almost in Theta (4-7 Hz), wherewe receive deep relaxation and healing during our sleep cycle or in deep meditation. Multiples of this frequency bring us to C= 64, 128 & 256 Hz (middle C), where the notes become audible to the human ear and then to our reference pitch A = 432 Hz.Recently, astronomers at Stanford found the fundamental frequency of the sun to be 144 Hz. The 2nd Overtone or 3rdHarmonic of this fundamental pitch is 432 Hz (see chart). These are auspicious findings indeed and point to a system that isconnected in many ways.


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Fundamental frequency of the sun and its harmonic— http://scalarheartconnection.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-sun-is-singing-to-our-hearts.html

Music researchers have also tested traditional healing instruments, like Tibetan Bowls from Nepal, and found they are madein accordance with A = 432 Hz tuning. Instruments made for sound therapy do not have to conform to a universal pitchstandard and are becoming more popular in sound therapy centers around the world. We can learn a lot from culturaltraditions of instrument making, linked to techniques being passed down through generations.

A Note on Equal Temperament VS Pythagorean Temperament

We have to keep in mind that our universal tuning system is based on 12-tone Equal Temperament. Meaning, all the intervalsor adjacent notes are spaced evenly from each other in order for all the octaves to sound the same. In true Pythagoreantemperament, this would not be the case. Equal temperament is required for instruments like piano where notes cannot bebent. Voices and string instruments however, are able to bend notes and change tuning easier to achieve the subtledifferences between the notes. Roel Hollander describes this in detail on his blog post, ‘Concert Pitch vs Tuning System’(http://www.roelhollander.eu/en/432-tuning/concert-pitch-vs-tuning-system/). Roel explains that in order to obtain a truerepresentation of 432 Hz then, one would have to compose not only in A = 432 Hz but in combination with PythagoreanTemperament or a close implementation of it like Just Intonation or Twelve True Fifths Tuning. I did some investigatingmyself using the Cleartune App for iOS, a handy tool that allows you to change tunings. In Pythagorean tuning, A=432Hz, C=128 Hz, 256 Hz and 512 Hz and G below A = 384 Hz (as examples). When set to Equal Temperament, all the A’s calibrate thesame and the others are C=128.4Hz, 256.9Hz, 513.7Hz and G=384.9Hz. There is a difference between .4 – 1.7Hz on thoseparticular notes, but it’s a small difference compared to composing in any other tuning. Plus, when using equaltemperament, it’s possible to play in an ensemble, for example, without reinventing instruments.

Audio Examples by Torkom Ji


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Audio Examples recorded in Pro Tools from Torkom Ji’s Korg Electribe.

Torkom Ji, founder of Quantum Harmonix Sound Healing, has graciously provided Ask.Audio with 3 music examples in 432Hz, 440 Hz and 444 Hz. Torkom facilitates sound healing sessions all over the Los Angeles area with his custom KorgElectribe. He is a master at creating deep, resonant soundscape journeys using just this instrument. It’s very different thanwhat most sound healers are doing with acoustic instruments, but some would argue just as powerful. Listen to theexamples below in headphones and through your monitors. Notice how the different tunings affect the entire range offrequencies you are hearing. The excerpt is from his track, Internal Eyes, originally composed in A = 432 Hz tuning.

MP3 Internal Eyes 432 Hz:



*From the Album Hieroglyph: https://torkom.bandcamp.com/album/hieroglyph-432hz

As you listen, ask yourself these questions:

Does one sound more integrated than the other? 1.

Does one bring out a certain range of frequencies?2.

Does one sound thinner than the others? 3.

Do you feel more relaxed with one, more agitated with another, or neutral to all? 4.

Some people believe in specific answers to these questions, but the reality is, more research is needed in this area toconvince the masses one way or another. Since there aren’t many online articles that actually provide solid listeningexamples for comparison, we at Ask.Audio hope to keep this conversation going by having our readers way in and sharetheir experience.

Try it Out In Logic


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Tuning Settings in Logic.

Logic is a great DAW to try 432 Hz or another tuning in. There is a global tuning settings window located in the ProjectSettings menu. Setting the tuning here affects all the software instruments in Logic, excluding third-party instruments. Thetuning ranges from 415.3 Hz (-100 cents) to 466.3 Hz (+100 cents) with 440 Hz as the current pitch standard. When setting theslider I noticed I could set it to 432.2 Hz or 431.9 Hz, but not right on 432 Hz. The reason being the slider works off of centincrements. So, if you pitch your recordings or individual parts down, you would lower the pitch by 31 or 32 cents to get closeto 432 Hz. (Editor's note: You can enter -31.7 manually to change the tuning to exactly 432 Hz.) This is helpful if you areworking in another DAW that doesn’t have global tuning or if you are trying to match the tuning of a third-party instrumentpart in Logic for example. The good news is you can compose in 432 Hz tuning with acoustic musicians in conjunction withsoftware instruments pretty easily in Logic.

The Great 432 Hz Debate

With so much of the musical world (acoustic and electronic) operating at 440 Hz standard tuning today, it’s hard to imaginethe shift to 432 Hz happening on a large scale quickly. But there is a growing movement underway fueled by the soundhealing community, select ensembles, researchers and scientists that will keep bringing this issue to light and allow musicmakers and listeners to consider the power of this tuning and how it affects the mind, body and spirit.

Learn more about Music Theory in Ask.Audio Academy here.

Articles, blogs and sites for further research; some with strong arguments for and against:


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" music theory music education pitch

Concert Pitch Conflict:

https://www.cymascope.com/shop/products/the-curious-concert-pitch-conflict-pdf-download/

http://scalarheartconnection.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-sun-is-singing-to-our-hearts.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch

https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz/

http://www.miltonline.com/2014/01/07/hertz-so-good/

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/09/14/the-a432-hz-frequency-dna-tuning-and-the-bastardization-of-music/

http://www.roelhollander.eu/en/432-tuning/concert-pitch-vs-tuning-system/

Lynda ArnoldMore articles by this author

Lynda Arnold is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (voice, flute, piano, and guitar), and electronic musician/sound artist whohas been producing, performing, and developing her own sound for over 12 years as ‘Divasonic;’ an ethereal, song driven electronicmusic project with multiple album and single releases on labels EMI, Cl... Read More

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