Sheng tuning

[sanmenxia]

Are shengs tuned to a particular pitch standard, e.g. A = 440hz?

I've tried two 17 pipe shengs and they are both tuned slightly higher than A=440, perhaps about 445hz, both match each other i.e. they will play in tune with each other. I don't think they came from the same factory/maker. One is mine which I got recently, it was made in Tianjin. The other is similar but it's not exactly the same; the main difference is it has a bamboo band around the pipes instead of the metal one on mine.

Or perhaps shengs are supposed to be a bit sharper than the other instruments in a group, or they don't use A=440 in China for traditional music.


Edit: I've just tuned it to A=440, but I can always tune to it to some other pitch if needed.

[sanmenxia]

I've gone for tuning in beatless pure fifths.

This means compared with equal temperament, re, mi, sol, la and si are a bit sharper, and fa is a bit flatter.

The intervals in cents (one equal tempered semitone is 100 cents, one octave is 1200 cents):

0 204 408 498 702 906 1110 1200


In theory, when you combine any of the seven notes in the scale with the fifth above and/or the fourth below, you should get a sound without any beating.