On 4/28/2015 13:31, Paul Stamler wrote: > And, to add to the muddle, A-440 is a relatively recent standard. > According to the always-reliable Wikipedia: > > "Prior to the standardization on 440 Hz, many countries and > organizations followed the Austrian government's 1885 recommendation of > 435 Hz. The American music industry reached an informal standard of 440 > Hz in 1926, and some began using it in instrument manufacturing. In 1936 > the American Standards Association recommended that the A above middle C > be tuned to 440 Hz." > > It's worth noting that Edison got out of the record business in 1929 -- > only three years after the American music industry's "informal standard" > was adopted. > George Frow states in a chapter footnote in "The Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs And The Diamond Discs" that a pitch pipe in A was available to dealers for adjusting the turntable speed of Diamond Disc machines, along with a special record that had an A recorded for tuning. The actual pitch of the A is not documented, but then again it wouldn't be relevant to a dealer who was simply tuning the record by ear using the pitch pipe. Given the rather conservative nature of the Edison business enterprises, I'd wager that A-435 is their likely standard. Michael Shoshani Chicago