【音乐趣谈】标准音高

当人们问你能唱多高时，我们一般都回答是F, G, A, 或 HIGH C等等。那么到底我们所说的HIGH C 是多高呢？准确地说，它的频率是多少了？这就涉及到标准音高问题了。

1939年国际标准组织将A4 的音高定为440HZ（注：我们常说的中央C 是C4，A4就是在中央C八度里的A）。有了A4标准音高，其他音的标准音高（频率）就可以由十二平均律的公式推出 （以OFFICE EXCEL 为例）：  =2^(n/12) *440   这里 n 是指你的音和A4差n个半音。

例如： 中央C比A4低9个半音，这它的音高是 2^(-9/12)*440 = 261.626Hz .

那么到底我们所说的人声的HIGH C 是多高呢？对于女生来说，HIGH C是 C6， 它的音高是2^(15/12)*440 = 987.767Hz。 而男声的HIGH C是 C5，它的音高是2^(3/12)*440 = 523.251Hz。

再问一个有趣的问题，一百多年前，HIGH C有多高呢？看看下面的表格，你就会发现，HIGH C

在大部分的时间里都比现在的要低 （甚至要低半个音或更多）。如果你现在你唱不了HIGH C，没关系，你可以说，早生二百年我就唱得了了。

在世界标准没有建立的年代里，痛苦的是那些歌剧演员了。因为每个歌剧院有不同的音高，你在这个歌剧院能唱HIGH C，一跳槽到另一歌剧院可能就唱不了。我们的歌剧演员们特别盼望能够有世界通用的标准音高。

尽管如今我们有了标准音高，但在东欧一些国家里的交响乐团还会用略高一点的音高，即A4=444Hz或更高一点。所以在英国和欧洲的音乐厅经常会常备有两架钢琴，一架调成A4=440Hz, 另一架调成A4=444Hz。

另外，我还可以告诉你一点小秘密：还有一些歌剧院，会常年把标准音高降低一些，这样一来可以保护它的歌剧演员的嗓音。

附：不同时代音高一览:

1640 Vienna Franciscan Organ A457.6

1699 Paris Opera A404

1711 John Shore's tuning fork, a pitch of A423.5 He invented the tuning fork, one of which still exists today.

1780 Stines, for Mozart, A421

1780 Organ builder Schulz A421.3

1714 Strasbourg Cathedral organ A391

1722 Dresden's chief Roman Catholic church organ A415

1759 Trinity College Cambridge organ A309

1762 Stringed instruments at Hamburg A405

1772 Gottfried Silbermann built the organ in the main Roman Catholic church in Dresden, and it had a pitch of A 415 at the time.

1780 Organ builder Schulz A421.3

1780 Stein's tuning fork A422.6

1751 Handel's own fork A422.5

1800 Broadwood's C fork, 505.7, which is about half a semitone lower than that of today

1811 Paris Grand Opera A 427

1812 Paris Conservatoire A440, as modern pitch

1813 George Smart adopted for the Philharmonic Society the pitch of A423.3.

1820 Westminster Abbey organ and possibly Paris Comic Opera used a pitch of A422.5.

1828 Philharmonic Society A 440

1834 Vienna Opera A 436.5

1835 Wolfels piano maker A443

1836 Pleyel's Pianos A446

1846 Philharmonic pitch was A452.5 (very high) which lasted till 1854

1846 Mr Hipkins piano tuner (Meantone) A433.5 (Equal) A436.0

1849 Broadwood's medium pitch was A445.9 which lasted till 1854

1858 New Philharmonic pitch C522

1860 Cramer's piano makers of London A448.4

1862 Dresden Opera A 440

1871 Covent Garden Opera House A 440

1877 Collard's piano maker standard pitch was A 449.9

1877 St. Paul Cathedral organ A446.6

1877 Chappell Pianos A455.9

1877 Mr Hipkins piano tuner A448.8

1878 Her Majesty's Organ A436.1

1878 Vienna Opera A447

1879 Covent Garden Opera A450

1879 Erard's factory fork 455.3

1879 Steinway of England A 454.

1879 British Army regulation pitch for woodwinds A451.9

1880 Brinsmead, Broadwood, and Erard apparently used a pitch of A455.3

1880 Steinway may have been using a pitch of A436. According to Steinway of New York, 1880 is right around the time they switched from three piece rims to the continuous rim that is used today. So it is unlikely the pitch was any higher before 1880, yet Steinway of London had a fork A454.7.

1885 In Vienna a pitch of A435.4 was adopted at a temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit for A.

1885 At an international exhibition of inventions and music in London a pitch of A452 was adopted.

1896 Philharmonic pitch A439, giving C522

1925 On the 11th of June the American music industry adopted A440.

1936 American Standards Association adopted A440.

1939 At an international conference A440 was adopted.