From Vox.

The Gray Area is taking a short break this week — but we’ve got something special for you.

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We’re dropping an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, Unexplainable. In it, host Emily Siner explores deceptively simple questions: What is a musical note? And how did something as fundamental as the note A become standardized across the world?

It’s a story about science, history, and the hidden complexity behind the sounds we listen to every day.

0:47 The note that the orchestra tunes to
3:05 What is the current standard for the note A?
6:57 Why would we standardize A?
15:16 The history of pitch standards

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