Planet gong tunings
The tones Hans Cousto calculated for the Earth, the Moon, the planets and the Sun, from his tables Hans Cousto — Tuning Data / Sun Earth Moon Planets. Planet gongs are tuned to these numbers.
Every tone here is calculated. None was recorded: nothing in space makes these sounds. Most start from a measured cycle. The Sun tone is a construction, and the Platonic Year uses a traditional figure. Planet gongs explained walks through the arithmetic.
How to read the tables
- Tone
- The frequency of the cycle, doubled until it can be heard. Each doubling is one octave.
- Note
- The nearest note of the scale.
- Concert A
- What an instrument’s A must be set to, so that this tone lands on that note.
- Cents from 440
- How far that A is from the standard A = 440 Hz. A cent is one hundredth of the step between two neighboring piano keys.
- Tempo
- The same cycle doubled fewer times, until it is a beat of 120 per minute or slower.
- Pendulum
- The length of a pendulum that swings at that tempo.
- Color
- The same cycle doubled until it reaches the frequency of visible light. This is arithmetic. It does not show that a tone and a color are connected.
Pluto is shown at 140.64 Hz, Cousto’s current figure. His 1984 book gave 140.25 Hz; the source notes on the Pluto entry say why.
Source and license
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.
Earth
The day, the year, and the slow turning of the Earth’s axis.
The table is wider than the screen. Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Cycle | Length | Tone | Note | Concert A | Cents from 440 | Tempo | Pendulum | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth — Synodic Day | 1 day (86,400 seconds) | 194.18 Hz | G | 435.90 Hz | -16.10 | 91.02 BPM | 10.8 cm | Red-Orange, 702 nm |
| Earth — Sidereal Day | 86,164.09054 seconds | 194.71 Hz | G | 437.12 Hz | -11.40 | 91.27 BPM | 10.7 cm | Red-Orange, 700 nm |
| Earth — Tropical Year | 31,556,925.9747 seconds (365.2422 days) | 136.10 Hz | C♯ | 432.10 Hz | -31.38 | 63.80 BPM | 22.0 cm | Blue-Green, 501 nm |
| Earth — Platonic Year | 25,920 years (traditional figure) | 172.06 Hz | F | 433.56 Hz | -25.51 | 80.65 BPM | 13.8 cm | Red-Violet, 396 nm |
Moon
The Moon has several cycles. Each gives a different tone.
The table is wider than the screen. Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Cycle | Length | Tone | Note | Concert A | Cents from 440 | Tempo | Pendulum | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon — Synodic Month | 29.530588 days | 210.42 Hz | G♯ | 445.86 Hz | +22.91 | 98.63 BPM | 9.2 cm | Orange, 648 nm |
| Moon — Sidereal Month | 27.321661 days | 227.43 Hz | B♭ (A♯) | 429.33 Hz | -42.49 | 106.61 BPM | 7.9 cm | Yellow, 599 nm |
| Moon — Culmination Period | 24 hours, 50 minutes, 28.33 seconds | 187.61 Hz | F♯ | 446.20 Hz | +24.24 | 87.94 BPM | 11.6 cm | Red, 727 nm |
| Moon — Node Circulation | 6,793 days, 9 hours, 29 minutes | 234.16 Hz | B♭ (A♯) | 442.03 Hz | +7.98 | 109.76 BPM | 7.4 cm | Yellow, 582 nm |
| Moon — Saros Period | 6,585 days, 7 hours, 42 minutes, 24.4 seconds | 241.56 Hz | B | 430.41 Hz | -38.17 | 113.23 BPM | 7.0 cm | Yellow-Green, 564 nm |
| Moon — Apsides Rotation | 3,232 days, 16 hours, 27 minutes | 246.04 Hz | B | 438.39 Hz | -6.34 | 115.33 BPM | 6.7 cm | Yellow-Green, 554 nm |
| Moon — Metonic Cycle | 235 synodic months | 229.22 Hz | B♭ (A♯) | 432.71 Hz | -28.91 | 107.45 BPM | 7.7 cm | Yellow, 595 nm |
Planets
One trip around the Sun, for Mercury through Pluto.
The table is wider than the screen. Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Cycle | Length | Tone | Note | Concert A | Cents from 440 | Tempo | Pendulum | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 87.969 days | 141.27 Hz | C♯ | 448.51 Hz | +33.17 | 66.22 BPM | 20.4 cm | Blue-Green, 483 nm |
| Venus — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 224.7008 days | 221.23 Hz | A | 442.46 Hz | +9.64 | 103.70 BPM | 8.3 cm | Yellow-Orange, 616 nm |
| Mars — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 686.98 days | 144.72 Hz | D | 433.67 Hz | -25.07 | 67.84 BPM | 19.4 cm | Blue, 471 nm |
| Jupiter — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 4,332.59 days | 183.58 Hz | F♯ | 436.62 Hz | -13.34 | 86.05 BPM | 12.1 cm | Red, 743 nm |
| Saturn — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 10,759.22 days | 147.85 Hz | D | 443.04 Hz | +11.93 | 69.30 BPM | 18.6 cm | Blue, 461 nm |
| Uranus — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 30,685.93 days | 207.36 Hz | G♯ | 439.37 Hz | -2.47 | 97.20 BPM | 9.5 cm | Orange, 658 nm |
| Neptune — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 60,187.64 days | 211.44 Hz | G♯ | 448.02 Hz | +31.26 | 99.11 BPM | 9.1 cm | Orange, 645 nm |
| Pluto — Sidereal Solar Orbit | 90,487.277 days | 140.64 Hz | C♯ | 446.49 Hz | +25.36 | 65.92 BPM | 20.6 cm | Blue-Green, 484 nm |
Sun
A tone Cousto constructs for the Sun. It is not the Sun’s rotation.
The table is wider than the screen. Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Cycle | Length | Tone | Note | Concert A | Cents from 440 | Tempo | Pendulum | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Tone | Original tone at octave 0: 32,312.52 Hz | 126.22 Hz | B | 449.80 Hz | +38.13 | 118.33 BPM | 6.4 cm | Yellow-Green, 540 nm |