The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory

Re:The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory by zokier on Monday October 24, 2016 @02:46PM (#12781611)

439 from 18M requires a divisor of 41, which does sound trivial. Meanwhile 440 from 1M requires only dividing by 5 and 2 when first multiplied by 11, which might have been significantly simpler than dividing by 41.

I wonder if there is some easy way of figuring out the simplest base number-multiplier-divisor chains for getting certain numbers?

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Re:The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory by duskwuff on Monday October 24, 2016 @04:29PM (#12782576)

Dividing a frequency by a large prime, like 41, is somewhat difficult without digital electronics. Smaller factors are easier.

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Re:The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory by nitrogen on Monday October 24, 2016 @06:21PM (#12783433)

I imagine historic gearmakers for watches and clocks would have worked out such a system.

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Re:The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theory by bravo22 on Monday October 24, 2016 @04:51PM (#12782777)

PLL's have been around since the 1920's. They could easily divide by n. The actual value of n didn't matter (within some bounds).

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