Why 432hz Tuning?

@frogman Thank you for finding this interesting article. I have a few Mozart piano concerti recorded with Gardiner as part of a Gardiner box set. I will say the older pianoforte sounds thin and odd to my modern Steinway ears. Will give them another listen. 

@frogman “…this change would render every non-string orchestral instrument in existence obsolete.”

If woodwind instruments can be tuned, why can’t they be tuned to 432 hz?

@tylermunns, it’s too great a change in pitch for the note to note relationship of a given instrument to remain accurate. When a wind instrument is tuned, say in preparation for a performance, the player (as I explained previously) can essentially alter the length of the tubing of the instrument by, in the case of a saxophone, pulling the mouthpiece out on the neck (lowers the pitch), or pushing it in further unto the neck (raises the pitch). The change in pitch that is required in any playing situation is normally on the order of only a couple of hertz at most. Often, it is a much finer change that is required, even less than one hertz. This could be because of a particularly cold or particularly warm room, or the fact that the reference pitch is not exactly A=440 (or, whatever), or the player is playing on a very soft reed (lowers the pitch), or……Tuning pitch flexibility is absolutely necessary, but there is only so much that is available or practical.

Say a player plays with an orchestra (or band) that tunes to A=440 one night and then has to play with an orchestra that tunes to A=442 the following day. In order to achieve this change in tuning the mouthpiece is pushed in unto the neck a few millimeters. Perfectly acceptable. In order to achieve a downward change of 8 hertz (A=432) the player would have to pull the mouthpiece out on the neck 4X that length. There would most likely not be enough length to the tubing on the neck to accomplish this. Even if there were, the mouthpiece would be barely grabbing the end of the neck. Even more importantly, mouthpieces are designed in such a way that they only respond correctly and tune correctly with a reasonable amount of the saxophone neck inside them. Otherwise, acoustic mayhem ensues and the resulting note to note relationship would be all over the place. A simple major scale would be almost unrecognizable. The same idea applies to all winds including brass. In the case of a clarinet, the player pulls out or pushes in the “barrel” (the piece of tubing between the mouthpiece and the main body of the instrument). If you pull this out too far this creates a space inside the bore of the instrument which throws the pitch of a certain register very flat and unworkable. Brass instruments do this by different means, but same principle. There is only so much flexibility possible with tuning. Instruments have to be designed for normal, high, or low pitch and are designated as such. Also keep in mind that existing mallet instruments are not tunable on the spot and would be completely useless in a A=432 situation.

Thank you for the detailed response.  
Unless I’m missing something here, manufacturers of woodwind instruments could make very simple, very practical, very small changes to the construction of the instruments wherein anywhere from 432 hz to 440 would be easily attainable on the spot.  
At that point, considering all the other instruments can be tuned to 432, an orchestra could play in 432.  
Am I missing something here?

@tylermunns, You’re welcome.

You under estimate what would be required to achieve this. Not at all very simple, nor small. The acoustical forces and subsequent design considerations that would come into play would be considerable. Even if possible, it would not be a simple matter of making the instrument’s tube longer. My previous example concerning the length of a saxophone’s neck doesn’t address nearly all the response characteristic and tuning issues that would result. There would also have to be complete analysis/rethinking of all aspects of the design in order to optimize the instrument’s performance. These include complete rethinking of the bore size and taper, the placement of the tone holes and complete redesign of the key work in order to account for the new tone hole placement; not to mention complete retooling of the machinery that does all this. I suspect that if it were simple to do, it would have been done already. I’m not an instrument maker to know with certainty, but I suspect that there simply is no practical way to design a woodwind with such wide tuning flexibility.

Lastly, at upwards of $70,000 for a Heckel bassoon, for instance and as only one example, there would be tremendous resistance world wide to the idea of all wind players having to buy new instruments. Not to mention the 10+ year waiting list.