432Hz: What the freq do we know?
Brad MacClure (July 3, 2023)
Music is an amazing phenomenon. It's something probably every neurotypical person feels connected to. You rarely hear someone say “I hate music” or “that person hates music” and, if you do, I suspect it's not really true. I think it's more likely that that person dislikes loud music, or being in a crowd listening to music, or certain types of music they've been over-subjected to. Perhaps even it could be that they had a bad, maybe humiliating experience related to music when they were young. There are many reasons I can think of that someone might say “I hate music”, and that not actually being true. Music isn't unique to humans either. Many birds are amazing singers. Only I suppose when a bird is singing it's most likely interpreted as “who wants to get laid?”...so… not much different to humans then. All this to say that being such a ubiquitous thing, so universal, and yet how it works is so poorly understood by so many, you know that sooner or later someone will invoke magic or spirituality to define it, and cash in on ignorance to sell something.
Of course, when you google “432Hz” (also, your search engine might even default to “432Hz benefits!” which will bias your results even more), as is the case with so many pseudosciences, the search results are already biassed coming out of the gate. The overwhelming majority of people writing articles about, or recording podcasts about, or recording music at, 432Hz are the ones already heavily invested in it.
It's just like if you google “do vaccines make me sick” you'll probably get answers confirming that they do!
Let's have a look at some of the most popular arguments for the benefits of listening to audio that uses 432Hz:
Appeal to antiquity, because of course…
“Ancient instruments were tuned to 432Hz” tibetan bowls, flutes, Pythagoras, Mozart, Verdi, Haydn etc. all had 432Hz, but we've lost the ancient wisdom…”
We have only been measuring CPS (cycles per second, same thing as Hz) since 1833.
It's impossible to know what things were tuned to before then. If you found an old flute tuned to A=432hz, it has to be a coincidence, because the maker would not have known what Hz or CPS was, let alone how to measure it. It's highly unlikely that seconds were a measure of time when Pythagoras existed, let alone cycles per second a measure of pitch.
Regarding Mozart, Hayden, Beethoven et. al., the best evidence is that all their pianos and organs etc. were around A=421Hz, so even lower than A=432Hz.
“432 Hz is the frequency of (insert lofty thing here)...heart / brain / earth / sun / water / universe…”
Have you ever seen something so fictional it's not even “wrong”, it's just fantasy? Let's look at your heart. 1Hz = one beat per second, = 60 bpm. On a good night's sleep I get down to that (I'm not very fit), a moment ago my heart rate was 106 bpm, or 1.77Hz. I think if my heart rate hit 432Hz (that's 25,920bpm) I'd be really freakin' worried! It also makes no sense to argue (in case you're thinking this) that the heart beats at a factor of 432Hz, (whichever one you were about to pick) it doesn't stay the same long enough. The same goes for brainwaves. Nothing matches the claim. Any oscillations you might choose with regard to the cosmos, or the earth, or water…whatever you might mean by that claim (and at this stage I'd wager that most claimants probably don't know what they mean), the frequencies emitted by these things are all over the place.
“The Nazis tried to take over the world with A=440Hz”
Just not true. A=440Hz was agreed as the world standard by a conference organised by the “British Standards Institute” in 1933, so nope, not the Nazis.
The health benefits.
There is no good evidence of any health benefits to tuning or listening to music tuned to A=432Hz, as opposed to any other frequency. Reading the claims, you'll find a lot of weasel words. For example:
- It helps in releasing the stress and releasing tension from the body and mind naturally
- It unites the body and consciousness with Nature.
- Due to more harmonic and pleasant nature of 432Hz music than 440Hz, it helps in the release of serotonin and endorphins, which in turn keep the blood pressure and heart rate stable. [sic]
- 432Hz Music helps in releasing the negative energy blockages and acts as a good sound healing tool to release toxins.
(from: https://meditativemind.org/healing-benefits-of-music-tuned-to-432-hz-music-of-nature/)
“Negative energy”? “Release toxins”? Really? OK. I'd wager the writer couldn't even define these terms. “Energy” in science simply means “ability to do work” goodness knows what “negative energy” is, perhaps it's the ability to do negative work? “Toxins” are organic poisonous substances like snake venom. If you have any toxic substances in your body, listening to lame synth music won't get them out, I promise. Assuming for one second (we have ‘seconds' now as a measure of time, a luxury they didn't have when this was supposed to have been a thing, but I digress) that music tuned to A=432Hz does any of these things, one wonders if they've honestly checked that music at A=440Hz doesn't as well. I mean, it's plausible that some relaxing music will have an effect with regard to things like blood pressure, endorphins, etc. But one frequency is not magical over another. With regard to the repeated phrase “helps in releasing…”, yeah them's weasel words! There are a few things that “help in releasing”, but this is a family show.
“Music sounds so much better at A=432Hz”
This is the one I really wanted to get to, because it's my area of experience. This is such a subjective claim. If, however, you prime someone to think that, they might just believe you. Also, if you search for 432Hz music you will likely only get the relaxing meditation style stuff, so if you're prone to magical thinking of course you're likely to say it's more relaxing.
All of this is ignoring the fact that only one note is actually 432Hz. A4 on the piano. That's the A above middle C. The argument that 432 divides up nicely only applies to A, the other notes don't at all. In this respect 440Hz is just as tidy anyway.
A word about instrument design: All quality instruments are designed to be set at an optimal frequency. Usually nowadays that frequency is A=440Hz. It doesn't have to be, but it's the accepted standard. I did my piano tech training under a chap who also made violins. I literally watched him tune the wooden back (not the strings) to a D in the process. If you stray from the accepted pitch too much, it loses some resonance. A flute has a scale. The higher notes are a shorter distance and the lower notes are further away from the bit you blow. The way you flatten (lower the pitch on) a flute is to lengthen it at the bit you blow, but this would have a big effect on the close high notes, and a small effect on the low notes at the other end. The whole scale would be messed up a little bit. It would not sound quite as good if you had to flatten an A=440Hz designed flute by 8Hz. You have to design/build a flute for that pitch, then it would sound nice at A=432Hz, but not at A=440Hz.
Pianos would tune okay, (As a professional piano tuner, I've been asked to tune a piano at A=432Hz before) but they don't sound as brilliant at the lower pitch. They're slightly duller. If you've ever put a string on a guitar, you may recall there being no tone until you tightened the string. As you approach the correct tension the tone gets better. Heavier strings produce better tone, mainly because there is more tension (the greater massed string moves slower, so you end up with higher tension to get it to pitch). So to get a decent sound at A=432Hz on a piano, you need to restring with heavy strings. There are about 250 strings on a piano, and maybe 40 of them are custom made wound strings, so good luck… but seriously let me know when you want that job done, I'm up for it.
Spiritual/supernatural claims.
I have nothing to say here really. These are often claims interwoven into the claims about meditation and relaxation so that if you're a dualist, or religious, or spiritual, they will draw you in. That's the point of course, but the words are so vague and undefined they're meaningless.
“When Ivan Yanakiev heard an instrument tuned to 432 Hz, he said, it was like he'd heard God speak. For him, it is not just pleasant to the ear, but very helpful in unlocking mysteries on the level of consciousness itself. He wanted 432 Hz vibration to be spread around the world.”
(source: https://meditativemind.org/healing-benefits-of-music-tuned-to-432-hz-music-of-nature/)
In conclusion, I'm going to say I think this 432Hz craze is complete bunk. Sciency sounding terms being used by proponents are used out of context. The arguments show an ignorance of the physics of music and musical instruments. Well, I mean, it's either ignorance, or it's a contempt for science and an attempt to mislead ignorant people with sciency sounding words. You can tune your instrument down if you think it sounds nice, or don't. There's nothing magical about any pitch, but bear in mind your instrument is probably designed to sound best at A=440Hz.