TUNING

---

The adjustment of the FREQUENCY of strings or pipes of musical instruments to conform to a given SCALE (see TEMPERED TUNING), or the adjustment of other instruments to such a tuned instrument (see CONCERT PITCH).

Compare: INTONATION, PERFECT PITCH, UNISON. See also: BEATS, HETERODYNE, TEMPERAMENT, TEMPOPHONE, Appendix C.

In a more general sense, tuning may be thought of (as it was in the medieval period, for instance) as an expression of the harmony or order of the universe. In this sense, then, the balancing of a SOUNDSCAPE may be thought of as a process of tuning, in which all elements are designed to be heard in balance.

See: SOUNDSCAPE DESIGN, SOUNDSCAPE ECOLOGY. Compare: SOUND POLLUTION.

---

home