Posted by oboe-ist NOT on March 12, 2001 at 10:24:33:
In Reply to: A=? posted by ken k on March 11, 2001 at 20:19:12:
I took an oboe lesson a couple of years ago when I had some dental work and could not play brass for a while. The teacher, who is 1st oboe in a professional orchestra, tuned the REED to be exactly on pitch to a C. I had been having trouble getting the oboe to play up to pitch, and it was because the reed was too long. She only cut off about a half a millimeter, and got it right up to pitch. When it "squawked" on the right pitch (she had perfect pitch, as do I) then the oboe was in tune. I didn't know at the time, that the reed was supposed to be trimmed to make the instrument play in tune.
I think that's why oboe is used for tuning....it is very, very inflexible in changing pitch, because the reed must be the exact right length. On the other hand, it seems like it would be quite simple to get the pitch up 2 Hz, since it was so easy to raise it a couple of Hz to get it on pitch.
Oh, and yes some of us CAN tell the difference between A 438 and A 440. Eatcher heart out.