Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Tuner Flip (and a deep metronome question)



Here's a photo from my studio. Basically, it's my Korg CA tuner attached to a filing cabinet using 3M Dual Lock.

The picture isn't wrong, it's on its side.
Why?
In return, I might ask, "Who decided that Right=Sharp and Left=Flat?" When you stop to think about it, doesn't, "Up=Sharp and Down=Flat" make more sense?
It does to me.

The *initial* reason I did this was twofold:
  1. These tuners have a rounded edge and, when placed on a music stand, tend to slip.
  2. On the opposite wall of my studio, I have a mirror which I often look at while practicing. I can see the tuner in the reflection. The whole left/right thing was messing with my head but, even in a mirror, up it still up.
So, those were the initial reasons but it got me to thinking...up and down really do make more sense.

OK, while I talking about these little electronic "truth boxes" I have another question.
This actually came up years ago while I was working on my dissertation.

I noticed that all these different metronomes, used the same tempo markings for the same Italian terms. Once upon a time, somebody out there decided that "Larghetto" would range from 60-66 bpm....but who?
At least at that time, I found that every metronome was the same.
But, I couldn't find the source...who decided this? How is that everyone seemed to be conforming to this standard.


Deep questions....I shall lay awake at night.
(I hope the answer isn't long and dull. Can we blame it on aliens? Dibs on the movie rights)