Paiste Planetary Gong — Neptune
211.44 Hz
Nearest note: G♯3, 31 cents above standard tuning
A planet gong pitch. Paiste tunes its Neptune gong to 211.44 Hz.
How well is this supported?
Calculated from a measured value by a stated method. You can check the arithmetic. What the result means is a matter of interpretation.
This entry gives a typical pitch for an instrument. Real instruments vary.
The button plays a plain tone. Start with the volume low. Phone and laptop speakers play low notes quietly; headphones or a speaker help.
Where this number comes from
Paiste tunes its Neptune gong to 211.44 Hz. The tuning comes from Hans Cousto's tables. Cousto took the time Neptune takes to orbit the Sun, about 165 years, and doubled its frequency 40 times, until it became a tone people can hear. Paiste names the gong by its lowest tone, G#2 at 105.72 Hz. That is the same note one octave lower, which means half the frequency.
- Step 1. Start with the length of the cycle
Neptune orbit around the Sun: 60,187.64 days.
- Step 2. Turn it into a frequency
One divided by that many seconds is 1.92 × 10⁻¹⁰ Hz. That is far too slow to hear.
- Step 3. Double it 40 times
Doubling a frequency raises it by one octave: the same note, higher. After 40 doublings it is 211.44 Hz.
- Step 4. Name the note
211.44 Hz is a G♯, 31 cents above standard tuning. A cent is one hundredth of the step between two neighboring piano keys. To play in tune with this tone, an instrument sets its A to 448.02 Hz instead of 440.
- Step 5. Keep doubling and the number lands in the range of light
41 more doublings give the frequency of light with a wavelength of 645 nm, which is orange. This is arithmetic. It pairs a tone with a color; it does not show that the two are connected.
The method is Hans Cousto’s. Planet gongs explained walks through it and says what it does and does not show.
What is said about it
What is said, not what was measured
In planetary gong practice this gong is associated with spiritual transcendence, intuition and deep meditation, and its tone is described as dreamy and dissolving.
Facts
- Frequency
- 211.44 Hz
- Wavelength in air (20 °C)
- 1.62 m
- Nearest note
- G♯3, 31 cents above standard tuning
- Kind of statement
- Instrument
- Filed under
- Instruments & gongs
Tuning Data
The row for this tone in Hans Cousto’s tables, with the tempo and pendulum length that follow from it.
- Cycle
- Neptune orbit around the Sun
- Length of the cycle
- 60,187.64 days
- Octaves up
- 40
- Concert pitch (A)
- 448.02 Hz
- Difference from A = 440 Hz
- +31.26 cents
- Tempo
- 99.11 beats per minute
- Pendulum length
- 9.1 cm / 3.59 in
- Color by octave
- Orange (645 nm)
Tempo and pendulum length, octave by octave
| Octave | Frequency | One cycle | Tempo | Pendulum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33tempo | 1.65 Hz | 605.37 ms | 99.11 BPM | 9.1 cm |
| 34 | 3.30 Hz | 302.69 ms | 198.22 BPM | 2.3 cm |
| 35 | 6.61 Hz | 151.34 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 36 | 13.22 Hz | 75.67 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 37 | 26.43 Hz | 37.84 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 38 | 52.86 Hz | 18.92 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 39 | 105.72 Hz | 9.46 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 40tone | 211.44 Hz | 4.73 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
Intervals built on this tone
| Ratio | Interval | Frequency | Note | Concert A | Cents from 440 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 | Perfect unison | 211.44 Hz | G#3 | 448.03 Hz | +31.29 |
| 81/80 | Syntonic comma | 214.08 Hz | A3 | 428.17 Hz | -47.20 |
| 531441/524288 | Pythagorean comma | 214.32 Hz | A3 | 428.65 Hz | -45.25 |
| 128/125 | Diesis | 216.51 Hz | A3 | 433.03 Hz | -27.65 |
| 648/625 | Greater diesis | 219.22 Hz | A3 | 438.44 Hz | -6.14 |
| 25/24 | Chroma | 220.25 Hz | A3 | 440.50 Hz | +1.97 |
| 16/15 | Diatonic semitone | 225.54 Hz | A3 | 451.07 Hz | +43.03 |
| 10/9 | Minor whole tone | 234.93 Hz | A#3 | 443.50 Hz | +13.70 |
| 9/8 | Major whole tone | 237.87 Hz | A#3 | 449.04 Hz | +35.20 |
| 8/7 | Septimal whole tone | 241.65 Hz | B3 | 430.56 Hz | -37.53 |
| 6/5 | Minor third | 253.73 Hz | B3 | 452.09 Hz | +46.94 |
| 5/4 | Major third | 264.30 Hz | C4 | 444.50 Hz | +17.61 |
| 4/3 | Perfect fourth | 281.92 Hz | C#4 | 447.52 Hz | +29.34 |
| 3/2 | Perfect fifth | 317.16 Hz | D#4 | 448.53 Hz | +33.25 |
| 8/5 | Minor sixth | 338.30 Hz | E4 | 451.58 Hz | +44.98 |
| 5/3 | Major sixth | 352.40 Hz | F4 | 444.00 Hz | +15.65 |
| 7/4 | Natural seventh | 370.02 Hz | F#4 | 440.03 Hz | +0.12 |
| 16/9 | Pythagorean minor seventh | 375.89 Hz | F#4 | 447.02 Hz | +27.38 |
| 9/5 | Just minor seventh | 380.59 Hz | F#4 | 452.60 Hz | +48.89 |
| 15/8 | Major seventh | 396.45 Hz | G4 | 445.00 Hz | +19.56 |
| 2/1 | Octave | 422.88 Hz | G#4 | 448.03 Hz | +31.29 |
Source notes
The Neptune reference gives the sidereal orbital cycle in the 40th octave.
Source: Hans Cousto — Tuning Data / Sun Earth Moon Planets. View the source PDF.
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as stated in Stimmdaten.pdf (German edition), page 2.
Values are reproduced from Cousto’s tables. Tempo, pendulum length and interval tables are calculated by this site from those values.
See every tone in the tables: Open the tuning data reference.
Sources
- Paiste — Planet Gongs
The maker’s own figures for each gong’s fundamental note.
Paiste AG, Planet Gongs: product specifications.
View source: Paiste — Planet Gongs
More about the pitch
The same note in every octave
Each step doubles or halves the frequency. Tap one to hear it.
Entries close in pitch
Within 35 cents of this tone, in any octave. A cent is one hundredth of the step between two neighboring piano keys. Being close in pitch does not mean two things are connected.