Musical question regarding concert pitch/philosophical pitch

1. Oct 14, 2006

physics_06er

Hi there

Can someone please help me with this question I have no idea how to work it out...

A tuning called 'philosophical pitch' has C4 (Middle C) at 256Hz. What is the difference in cents between notes at this pitch standard and those in modern concert pitch (A4 at 440Hz)?

physics_06er

2. Oct 14, 2006

Chi Meson

Difference in "cents"? I have never heard of this. Is that percentage difference in frequency?

3. Oct 14, 2006

Andrew Mason

A cent is a piano tuning term. It is 1/100th of a semitone or the 1/1200th root of an octave. Since 12 semitones make an octave which is double the base frequency, between A440 Hz and A# = 440*2^(1/12) = 466 Hz there is a difference of 26 Hz = 100 cents. So one cent above A440 would be:

$$F_0*2^{1/1200} = 440*1.000058 = 440.26 Hz$$

AM

Last edited: Oct 14, 2006
4. Oct 14, 2006

Andrew Mason

Use:

$$C4*2^{n/1200} = A4$$

where n is the number of cents.

AM

5. Oct 14, 2006

ilhan

However, Ottoman or Turkish scale is different. it contains quarter and 1/8
tones but Ottoman Music is monophonic.