432 vs 440Hz concert pitch | Love never dies, but Math never lies.

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"I am aware this is a controversial subject, but I've been intrigued by it for a long time. First, I was open for it, then I became doubtful and ended up in 'it makes no difference' camp. It's just a frequency like any other.
Honestly, this was supposed to be a 'fun' video where I'd investigate the subject like a mad scientist would, without jumping to conclusions.

From a numerologic perspective, 432 is a fun number. When you add all digits, you'd end up with 4+3+2 = 9. If you tune A to 432, the next A would be 864. Again, 8+6+4 = 1+8 = 9. If you'd use equal temperament, all notes in your scale would be integer (whole) numbers with no decimals, and the digits of all frequencies would add up to 9. A440 would have eight 'broken' frequencies in the scale. But that's numerology, it doesn't make music any better or worse. A VCO runs perfectly stable on 345.6701 Hz and it will probably drift all over the place when it's analog. Does 432 make any sense from the perspective of the Universe? Quite. The number constantly turns up in time and space. Ofcourse it also returns in the Great Pyramid and the lightspeed constant.

Again, that's just numerology and it has nothing to do with frequency. That's like apples, oranges or cows. Or is it? Frequency is cycles per second. Cycles are circles moving in time and phase is expressed in numbers like 45, 90, 180 and 360. There's that number 9 again. How about time? There are 4320 seconds in 12 hours. So maybe, just maybe, 432 Hz is not like 432 cows. The number 9 is a funny number.

Mr Spock would say 'fascinating' and raise an eyebrow.

I've set my Mordax Data to 432 and 440 Hz on 'wave generator' so I could play both with a sequence. Sure it sounds different, because it's tuned a tiny bit lower (98,18 of 100%). By itself this would have a psychological effect of relief, of closure. When you start A440 and play A432, it's relaxing.
But this also happens when you move a semitone or note down.

I ran my Mordax raw sinewaves through Joranalogue's Collide 4 and used it as a resonating body (with the filter and the quadrature ring mod).
I ran a sequence spanning a wide range of notes, with plenty of reverb to make the notes interact, blur and sustain. Then, suddenly the differences between A440 and A432 wasn't subtle anymore. It was huge.

Better? I think so, but that's personal taste. Healing? Nah. More natural? I think so too. But there's nothing magical about it, it's math. I figured that a frequency doubles for each octave, so the range of A0 to A9 would sound completely different for 432 and 440. In fact, the high notes in 440 end up 256 Hz higher than in 432. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but A3 (220 Hz) is already one octave below A4 (440).

So my 'conclusion' is that A432 sounds much lower over the full range of 88 piano keys and the highs are less high. Pitch quality is different, it sounds different, and interaction with other complex frequencies will be different. Resonance and FM will be different. It's up to you to determine what sounds best. Please share your experience in the comments, and please note I am just having fun. I don't believe in the 440 conspiracy and I don't think it's bad for your health. I believe ALL music can support a healing process, but always listen to your doctor first."