The 432Hz 'God' Note: Why Fringe Audiophiles Want to Topple Standard Tuning
In the men's dressing room at the Musical Drama Theatre Konstantin Kisimov in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, Yanakiev, a young, National Academy-schooled conductor, had his friend, Velimir, tune his cello down eight Hz from the standard A=440Hz. They were arranging an experiment.
Velimir, "a skilled cellist," Yanakiev told me, started in on the prelude to Bach's "Cello Suite No. 1 in G major."
"So, la, si, so, si so, si, so/ So, la, si, so, si, so, si, so," Yanakiev sings to illustrate. It's one of the most often performed and well known pieces by Bach, but in that backroom rendition, transposed not even a half of a piano key lower, the song sounded fresh and exciting.
"It was a channelling of pure light and love that vibrated through the whole room," he said. "It was new. It was brilliant."
In November 2013, along with Alexandros Geralis, Yanakiev cofounded the 432 Orchestra. The group is comprised of 12 string players, some borrowed from the best professional ensembles in the country, and is led by the two conductors, all of whom work for no more than goodwill to explore and profess the power of that particular frequency. So far, they've made two recordings and they're fundraising to take their show on the road, hoping to concert throughout Europe.
