From classical to rock, musicians tune instruments to a standard frequency. For at least 80 years it has been 440 Hz, which defines the frequency of A above middle C, with the other notes being tuned accordingly. However, more and more artists in various genres are questioning this standard by preferring 432 Hz tuning. It is only slightly lower and yet for them it makes all the difference in the world.
Radiohead's Ed O'Brien became interested in the topic a dozen years ago, when he was at the Glastonbury festival. «There I had a stimulating chat about the ancient solfeggio scale and this led me to discover 432 Hz», says the guitarist, who will release his second solo album on May 22nd Blue Morpho. «I liked the idea that music can be something more than a pleasant or emotional thing, that the very frequency at which it is played can be healing and vibrate in harmony with the cells of the body and the world around us».
The effects of 432 Hz tuning, the guitarist says, are profound. “I feel like it sounds…right. I find it deeper and more powerful. It is more harmonious. In comparison, 440 Hz music appears slightly shrill. Instruments sound better at this frequency, especially acoustic ones like guitars.”
New age artists have been releasing records at 432 Hz for decades now. For them, music tuned to this frequency sounds better. Not only that: 432 Hz, together with the related pitches and harmonics, would be more in tune with the natural frequencies of the human body and the Earth. The distance between 432 Hz and 440 Hz is surprisingly minimal, less than a third of a semitone, yet recent studies show that this difference produces interesting effects on listeners including a greater appreciation of 432 Hz music compared to 440 Hz music, a reduction in heart and breathing rates, and a decrease in anxiety. The seemingly disproportionate effects of this only slightly lower tuning are fueling the growing spread of the 432 Hz movement.
For James Blake, who began exploring this tuning while working on Trying Times«it just gives you a different feeling. I'm not someone who tunes everything that way, but I notice that when I make music at that frequency I find it particularly relaxing.”
On YouTube there are many 432 Hz music videos including meditative drones that would reduce stress, slightly slowed down versions of Mozart, retuned pop hits, ambient songs. Among the artists who have always recorded at 432 Hz is the composer Steven Halpern. His albums are presented as «a sort of tuning fork for the brain». Spotify and Apple Music also offer 432 Hz playlists, with a strong presence of Italian artists.
Yet few popular musicians have so far used anything other than 440 Hz when it comes to recording. The thesis according to which Jimi Hendrix, Prince, John Lennon and the Grateful Dead did it, in the studio and live, is perhaps due to experiments or perhaps to detuned guitars. A sure supporter of 432 Hz is Ziggy Marley, who recorded the new album like this Brightside. «All my life I've tried to make spiritual music, so 432 Hz has been on my radar for a while. I've heard that it's a frequency closer to the frequency at which we human beings vibrate and now when I make music I feel more at ease.” Marley also began performing with instruments tuned to 432 Hz. «It was a rewarding experience. From what I see, it has an effect on the audience, on me, on the band. It creates a stronger connection, provokes a different reaction.”
The tuning has changed several times throughout history. In the 17th century, orchestral instruments were usually tuned to lower pitches, and since then, pitches have gradually risen and become increasingly standardized. Today, 440 tuning dominates most Western music. Proponents argue that 432 Hz corresponds to the natural electromagnetic resonant frequency of the Earth-ionosphere cavity – 7.83 Hz – and its harmonics, known as Schumann resonances. Despite this and other questionable mathematical calculations, often accompanied by pseudoscientific language and “harmonious” AI-generated images, concrete evidence of the benefits of 432 Hz is rather scarce. But is it important?
Artists like Ed O'Brien and Ziggy Marley hear the difference. And as the title of Ziggy's mother Rita Marley's 1980 album said, Who Feels It Knows Itwhoever hears it knows it. «It's a new source of inspiration for music», assures Ziggy. «When you do it at a different frequency, the brain feels things in a different way, it creates a different type of energy, it's like you're making music for the first time». Beyond studies on the effects on heart rate and breathing, Marley believes in the power of frequencies and is convinced that 432 Hz music is about to experience a renaissance. “Listen, it's going to be incredible.”
From Rolling Stone US.
