Paiste Planetary Gong — Pluto
140.64 Hz
Nearest note: C♯3, 25 cents above standard tuning
Paiste tunes its Pluto gong to 140.25 Hz. Cousto’s current table gives 140.64 Hz, the tone shown and played here. The two are about 5 cents apart.
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
There are two figures for this gong. Paiste tunes it to 140.25 Hz, the value in Cousto's 1984 book. Cousto's current table gives 140.64 Hz, and that is the tone shown and played on this page. The two are about 5 cents apart, a twentieth of the step between two neighboring piano keys. The tone comes from the time Pluto takes to orbit the Sun, about 248 years. Cousto doubled its frequency 40 times, until it became a tone people can hear. Paiste names the gong by its lowest tone, C#2 at 70.12 Hz. That is one octave below Paiste's 140.25 Hz.
- Step 1. Start with the length of the cycle
Pluto orbit around the Sun: 90,487.277 days.
- Step 2. Turn it into a frequency
One divided by that many seconds is 1.28 × 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 140.64 Hz.
- Step 4. Name the note
140.64 Hz is a C♯, 25 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 446.49 Hz instead of 440.
- Step 5. Keep doubling and the number lands in the range of light
42 more doublings give the frequency of light with a wavelength of 484 nm, which is blue-green. 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 deep transformation and shadow work.
Facts
- Frequency
- 140.64 Hz
- Wavelength in air (20 °C)
- 2.44 m
- Nearest note
- C♯3, 25 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
- Pluto orbit around the Sun
- Length of the cycle
- 90,487.277 days
- Octaves up
- 40
- Concert pitch (A)
- 446.49 Hz
- Difference from A = 440 Hz
- +25.36 cents
- Tempo
- 65.92 beats per minute
- Pendulum length
- 20.6 cm / 8.10 in
- Color by octave
- Blue-Green (484 nm)
Tempo and pendulum length, octave by octave
| Octave | Frequency | One cycle | Tempo | Pendulum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33tempo | 1.10 Hz | 910.13 ms | 65.92 BPM | 20.6 cm |
| 34 | 2.20 Hz | 455.06 ms | 131.85 BPM | 5.1 cm |
| 35 | 4.40 Hz | 227.53 ms | 263.70 BPM | 1.3 cm |
| 36 | 8.79 Hz | 113.77 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 37 | 17.58 Hz | 56.88 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 38 | 35.16 Hz | 28.44 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 39 | 70.32 Hz | 14.22 ms | Too fast to count | Too short to build |
| 40tone | 140.64 Hz | 7.11 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 | 140.64 Hz | C#3 | 446.50 Hz | +25.40 |
| 81/80 | Syntonic comma | 142.40 Hz | C#3 | 452.09 Hz | +46.91 |
| 531441/524288 | Pythagorean comma | 142.56 Hz | C#3 | 452.60 Hz | +48.86 |
| 128/125 | Diesis | 144.02 Hz | D3 | 431.56 Hz | -33.54 |
| 648/625 | Greater diesis | 145.82 Hz | D3 | 436.95 Hz | -12.03 |
| 25/24 | Chroma | 146.50 Hz | D3 | 439.00 Hz | -3.92 |
| 16/15 | Diatonic semitone | 150.02 Hz | D3 | 449.54 Hz | +37.14 |
| 10/9 | Minor whole tone | 156.27 Hz | D#3 | 441.99 Hz | +7.81 |
| 9/8 | Major whole tone | 158.22 Hz | D#3 | 447.51 Hz | +29.31 |
| 8/7 | Septimal whole tone | 160.73 Hz | E3 | 429.10 Hz | -43.42 |
| 6/5 | Minor third | 168.77 Hz | E3 | 450.56 Hz | +41.05 |
| 5/4 | Major third | 175.80 Hz | F3 | 442.99 Hz | +11.72 |
| 4/3 | Perfect fourth | 187.52 Hz | F#3 | 446.00 Hz | +23.45 |
| 3/2 | Perfect fifth | 210.96 Hz | G#3 | 447.01 Hz | +27.36 |
| 8/5 | Minor sixth | 225.02 Hz | A3 | 450.05 Hz | +39.09 |
| 5/3 | Major sixth | 234.40 Hz | A#3 | 442.49 Hz | +9.76 |
| 7/4 | Natural seventh | 246.12 Hz | B3 | 438.54 Hz | -5.77 |
| 16/9 | Pythagorean minor seventh | 250.03 Hz | B3 | 445.50 Hz | +21.49 |
| 9/5 | Just minor seventh | 253.15 Hz | B3 | 451.07 Hz | +43 |
| 15/8 | Major seventh | 263.70 Hz | C4 | 443.49 Hz | +13.67 |
| 2/1 | Octave | 281.28 Hz | C#4 | 446.50 Hz | +25.40 |
Source notes
Cousto uses an orbital period of 90,487.277 days, calculated for 2004. NASA’s fact sheet lists Pluto’s period as 90,560 days. The difference moves the tone by about 1.4 cents.
Source: Hans Cousto — Tuning Data / Sun Earth Moon Planets. View the source PDF, page 39.
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.
Legacy value: Earlier Cosmic Octave book value was 140.25 Hz (C#). The 1984 book used a period of 90,737.2 days, which gives 140.25 Hz. Cousto’s current table uses 90,487.277 days, calculated for 9 September 2004, which gives 140.64 Hz. Paiste tunes its Pluto gong to the older figure.
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.