Posted by Jay Bertolet on November 16, 2002 at 08:51:09:
In Reply to: Re: Orchestra tuning posted by js on November 15, 2002 at 12:27:18:
Of course, we don't always perform in a room with the temperature somewhere in the mid 70's. I think Joe is dead on the mark here. If brass players are radically adjusting their slides during the tuning note, this does not bode well for the concert. The exception is situations where the performing conditions are very different from a standard temperature room. Here in the FPO, we play in wildly different conditions from venue to venue. Further, the climate here virually assures that no room we perform in is regularly in the mid 70's. For us, the low to mid 80's is a more realistic target. For us, the ritual tuning is more of a yardstick to see what effect the current conditions have had on the equipment, which of course is quite different from section to section.
What's difficult about intonation, in my opinion, is adjusting during the concert. The room conditions plus the natural tendency of certain sections to creep up in pitch makes playing a very different proposition at different points in the performance. The difference between the beginning and the end pitch of a concert can be quite staggering, depending on the room conditions.
My opinion for what it's worth...