Mike Overly's 12 Tone Music News

The Latest Guitar and Bass News from around the World Wide Web . . .
April 4, 2019
In This Issue

FEATURED ARTICLE  
 
Why Do Orchestras Tune to 440 Hz?
 

The sound of an orchestra tuning is instantly recognizable. As soon as you hear it, you know exactly what's about to happen. But there is a simple reason why a whole lot of tuning orchestras sound awfully alike - they are tuning to the same pitch frequency, an A at 440 hertz, abbreviated "Hz," a hertz is the unit by which we measure frequency.

But that makes you wonder - how did they choose that particular pitch? Was there some kind of mega-music conference where the powers that be decided that A440 was to be the tuning standard? Yes. Yes there was. Several, in fact.

The official 440 Hz standard, recognized by orchestras all over the world, was first declared the norm by the International Organization for Standardization in 1955, and they doubled down on that frequency 20 years later. ISO, the initials are derived from the French name of the organization, is dedicated to, as its name suggests, standardizing stuff. So, it was only a matter of time before they got around to standardizing sound itself.  
 
Their decision was based off of the decision to declare  440 Hz right and proper at an early conference - that of a British Standards Institution meeting of 1939. And that frequency was a follow up to yet another conference, this one in Austria in 1885. The frequency decided there? The note A should be tuned to 440 Hz.  
 
Tuning standards are the product of decades of meetings, which is probably the most boring answer you could get for practically any question.
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Surf guitar is one of the most distinctive styles in all of guitardom, and although the music fell out of popular favor in the early sixties when the British Invasion hit, the style and aesthetic has proven itself to be steadfastly influential-particularly in underground culture, where surf rock has maintained a close relationship with punk, garage, and other varieties of primitive rock 'n' roll.  
IN THE BASSMENT
 
Modeled after the retro-futuristic guitar, the bass is built with an offset and angular mahogany body matched to a mahogany neck. Its fingerboard is pau ferro. The bass is built with set neck construction and a shorter 32-inch scale. Its pickups are a pair of Backlund JB single coils that are selected with a three-way blade style switch. Other features include chrome hardware, 22 frets, and a polyurethane finish. It comes in metallic black, metallic red, and metallic blue.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT   
 
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  12 Tone Music Merchandise     

Here's what one of our satisfied customers had to say: Who ever designed the 12-Tone logo, give them a two-thumbs up from me. It's a very elegant yet powerful design. Very balanced visually. Using two of the most common symbols from music speaks universally to possibly most of humankind. The logo lets people know, hey, I love music and hey, I play a musical instrument as well. Wearing the logo can certainly open doorways of conversation with strangers that share the same love of music and performance. - Nathan

12 Tone Music   Merchandise is an excellent way to share your love of guitar and bass with others at home, at work and at the gig. Highest quality 100% black cotton with a yellow-gold logo. 12 Tone Music Merchandise is the perfect gift for for you and everyone that matters to you. FREE SHIPPING for a limited time only. Get your merch today!

Order now through April 11, 2019 to receive FREE SHIPPING on 12 Tone Music Merchandise. Only available from the 12 Tone Music store. No coupon code needed. Domestic orders only.

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www.guitartruth.com and www.basstruth.com are subsidiaries of 12 Tone Music Publishing, LLC.
WATCH THIS
 
Back in 2010, we featured a video by Michael Pipoquinha, who was 13 at the time. It was one of the most popular videos we shared at the time. Over the years, we've featured more videos by Pipoquinha. Here's a new one, with him performing "Teen Town" with the Latvian Radio Big Band. It has been an amazing journey to watch!
LEARN HERE 

It has been said that the most efficient means of getting from point A to point B is to travel in a straight line. Most guitar players cling tenaciously to this way of thinking when crafting leads, opting to move through scales and arpeggios in a linear or straight-line fashion. This limits us to just two forms of movement: stepwise motion or jumping to other close scale tone. One way to expand your range of melodic options is to employ the technique of string skipping.

GREAT GEAR
Gibson tore up the world of guitar design in 1963 with Ray Dietrich's automotive-inspired blueprint for the "reverse-bodied" Firebird. Then, in early 1965, Gibson settled back into the reality that guitarists were actually fairly conservative and unveiled the "non-reverse" Firebird. The Firebird III model from that debut year has more conventional body lines in terms of its offsets and horn proportions. That said, it's still really cool.
ARTIST AWARENESS
 
One of the most esteemed electric guitarists of his generation, Mike Stern has distinguished himself over a four-decade career that has encompassed musical partnerships with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, the Brecker Brothers and Joe Henderson, as well as 16 recordings as a leader (six of which were nominated for GRAMMY® Awards). An electrifying soloist whose blistering chops combine rock-fusion firepower with sophisticated jazz harmonies and his inherently bluesy string bending prowess channels the spirits of his own personal guitar heroes Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall and Albert King.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItY8dXrzRY4 

Order  Official 12 Tone Music Merchandise through  
April 11, 2019 to receive FREE SHIPPING.
Available only from the 12tonemusic.com online store.
No coupon code needed. Domestic orders only. 
12 Tone Music Publishing, LLC * P. O. Box 20564 * Dayton, Ohio 45420  
www.12tonemusic.com * frets@12tonemusic.com * 1-937-256-9344  
  www.guitartruth.com and www.basstruth.com are subsidiaries of   
12 Tone Music Publishing, LLC.