Below true 440

Hello,

I found out that some VST instruments and real ones such as : piano,guitar do not match within the true 440 tuning frequency of a reference." A4" note.
I can tune my guitar below 440 Hz and I can also tune the VST instruments in my DAW.

Question : Do I need to make sure that all of my instruments match 440 Hz true "A4" tuning ? Or is guitar sometimes little bit below 440 ?

I found to be matching with other people at about 437 Hz.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Slav

Originally Posted by: slavic1
I found out that some VST instruments and real ones such as : piano,guitar do not match within the true 440 tuning frequency of a reference." A4" note.
I can tune my guitar below 440 Hz and I can also tune the VST instruments in my DAW.
[/quote]
I've never heard this. Which VST instruments are you referring to? Can you provide samples?

Originally Posted by: slavic1
Question : Do I need to make sure that all of my instruments match 440 Hz true "A4" tuning ?
[/quote]
No. It doesn't matter which frequency you use as long as all the instruments are using the same pitch as the standard. All tuned to 440Hz, or all to 437Hz, or all to the "magical" 432Hz. :)
[QUOTE=slavic1]
Or is guitar sometimes little bit below 440 ?

Absolutely! Some bands tune a half-step down, some lower. Hendrix, VH, SRV and some classic rock bands tune down to E-flat "slack tuning". This helps with string bending & sometimes is easier for the singer.

But again, all the instruments are tuned to this lower standard.

Historically, orchestras have used a wide variety of tuning standards. And a cappella groups are typically all over the map in various recordings & performances. And this is still an issue to the present day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch#History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music
[QUOTE=slavic1]
I found to be matching with other people at about 437 Hz.

Which other people? Are you still referring to a DAW or the performance of other people? If you mean other performers or recordings, I'd would not be surprised if some people are tuned slightly below 440Hz & others tuned higher. Again it doesn't really matter as long as everyone is tuned together. All the pitches in the musical will simply be shifted relative to the standard used.

Consider these pitches A 440Hz & G# 415.3Hz. One half-step apart is a difference of almost 25Hz.

http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html

So, a difference of 3Hz is only a fraction of a half-step. And there is at least 3Hz of difference in many recordings among instruments. It's why some notes sound a little flat or sharp.

Also consider that if you tune all the instruments to 437Hz, you don't change the relative distance of the intervals. You merely shift them all up or down.

I suppose one tuning standard could sound better to some individuals or on some instruments. But that would simply be a personal preference. And again, all the instruments in a song would have to be tuned to that standard.

Hope this helps!