The "middle C" issue

[adamszabo]

Here is some relevant info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation

For example some apps use the Yamaha system and start with the lowest C playable by MIDI as C-1.

[tulamide]

Here is some relevant info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation

For example some apps use the Yamaha system and start with the lowest C playable by MIDI as C-1.

Yes, I linked to it as well, because ISO adopted scientific pitch notation, as I said in my opening post.

[adamszabo]

Yes, I linked to it as well, because ISO adopted scientific pitch notation, as I said in my opening post.

Ah sorry, I missed it on your post

[MichaelBenjamin]

But the only scientific pitch notation is hertz in cycles per second.
All that classical notation scripture and piano octave numbering is just a name convention of the classical equal temperament community, and as scientific as a picasso picture. That is why you will never have any disambiguation when someone says 440hz. But you have it for "middle C", because if it were scientific, it would have automatically been standardized by scientific methods.

[tulamide]

As there is often confusion about "middle C" and octave numbers, pretty much every plugin and DAW goes their own way. This should stop, as it is annoying. We need a standard, that all apply.

1) MIDI standard
Although it doesn't help much, it is necessary to know, that the MIDI association standardized midi key 60 as "middle C". This enables us to recognize a range (10 1/2 octaves). We also have a direction, as key 72 is one octave above "middle C" and key 48 is one octave below "middle C", etc.

2) ISO norm
ISO stands for "International Organization for Standardization", and at the same time is derived from the greek "isos", which means "equal". That's why the organization is called ISO anywhere in the world, no matter the language. I think this shows how serious ISO is about standardizing. ISO replaces the American ANSI and the German DIN. ISO standardized octave names and midi notes to define other standards of this group as follows.
The MIDI standard of middle C was of course adopted.
Additionally, they adopted the scientific pitch notation with midi key 69 for A440 tuning (so, the A above middle C refers to 440 Hz). The octave naming is based around middle C being C4. So the range of octaves goes from C-1 to G9

The ISO standard makes sense and is easy to understand. For example, a grand piano, following the standard (incl. tuning), has only 3 notes below octave 0, A-1, A#-1 and B-1. Pretty much all of the time you will be within positive octave numbers.
As most musicians, I'm used to middle C = C3, as this is what most DAWs implement as default. And who has ever changed the default of that? I didn't even know, that most DAWs offer options to change it!
But ISO is the only international standardization organization, and as such I pledge to follow their standard!

As they say: "ISO standards are internationally agreed by experts. Think of them as a formula that describes the best way of doing something. "

(Linking to the ISO standards is impossible, as they are hidden behind a paywall. But at least the front page of the A440 tuning is here: https://www.iso.org/standard/3601.html)

[k brown]

The largest ditto in captivity.

[trogluddite]

[Moderator Note: Thread locked by request to avoid an infinite comment loop!]
Summary: Tulamide suggested that adopting a common pitch-class/octave notation would make life easier for us; and everyone expressing an opinion on this point has agreed that it would do (albeit they might think it unlikely to happen in practice). This notation is purely a way of naming the places where you can put the "dots" in standard "Western" musical notation (or for us, MIDI note numbers, which map unambiguously to the "dots") - tuning standards are another topic entirely, as this isn't something which either notation is intended to convey (FWIW: the MIDI standard is: note #69 = 440Hz, equal-temperament; unless changed by SysEx tuning instructions).