The Practical Humanities Implications of Pitch Standardization History

Abstract

Practical humanities, as a methodological approach for establishing the social value of humanities, embodies a proactive attitude and an effort to innovate the lack of social communication in the humanities, which has been identified as a root cause of the so-called crisis within this humanities. The standard pitch acts as an international linguistic convention within the musical domain, serving as a mediator for musical communication and is deeply linked to socio-cultural texts. These texts merge musical traditions with the modern era, significantly broadening the discourse-generating logic within practical humanities into a pivotal cultural code. This research aims to construct a methodological model to explore the social implementation of practical humanities by clarifying the historical identities of 435Hz and 440Hz, which lead the narrative of pitch standardization. 435Hz addressed the reality of inconsistent pitch prevalent across the 19th century European musical practice scene by establishing an intermediary pitch standard for musical practice. 440Hz reflects the characteristics of a universal and practical pitch aimed at enhancing the efficiency of musical communication, against the backdrop of the expanding social topography which is linked to pragmatic thinking in the early 20th century.