# Base frequency for temperaments



## fernandoamartin

Hi. I'm working on a project that is here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5OTKJFnQ2LUZbno-KWM2QCpH0wEPNx-m

I know how to tune digital instruments and calculate it on a computer. However to make things more realistic I need to know some things about how temperaments were applied to real-life acoustic harpsichords, before electronic devices existed.

The instructions to tune historical temperaments,like Werckmesiter, Kirnberger, Young, meantone etc are given starting from the C note. However many pitch forks give the A note. Then some doubts arise:

1 - If a musician tuned the A note based on a tuning fork, how would he find the frequency of C since the relation between A and C changes according to each temperament?

2 - After he tuned the C, if he started to temper the instrument according to some historical temperament, starting from C, that would change the pitch of A. The pitch of A would then become different from the pitch of the tuning fork. So, why do we say now that a performance was played in A 415, A 432, A 440 etc, if every time we tune a instrument from C it changes the frequency of A?


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