Playing an A4 sine in Reason doesn't give me a 440Hz sine!?

[jappe]

Hi all,

can anyone explain why I'm seeing double the frequency of the expected A4 when I play an A4 sine in the Reason sequencer?
I expect to see 440Hz, but Adobe Audition (and reason spec analysis) shows 880?

[Kenni]

Hi all,

can anyone explain why I'm seeing double the frequency of the expected A4 when I play an A4 sine in the Reason sequencer?
I expect to see 440Hz, but Adobe Audition (and reason spec analysis) shows 880?

I might be mistaking, but refering to the "keyhole C" which is C3, wouldn't the 440Hz note be A3, and not A4?

[jappe]

Hmm...do you mean that Reason uses another definition of C3 than the one shown in Wikipedia for example?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(musical_note)

I'm sure there's a simple explanation to this which has to do with my lack of understanding something...

[normen]

Afaik MIDI notes start counting at "0" / C=32Hz

[jappe]

Afaik MIDI notes start counting at "0" / C=32Hz

Thank's Normen, you are right; MIDI obviously can use different notation; how confusing

"Notation that appears to be scientific pitch notation may actually be based on an alternative octave numbering. While they are still note-octave systems, if they are called "scientific pitch notation", this is certainly an error. For example, MIDI software and hardware often uses C5 or C3 to represent middle C (note 60).[5]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation

[selig]

There has been a "C3 vs C4" issue with MIDI since it's inception - I haven't heard about C5 before now. Many sequencers give the option to choose between Middle C = C3 or C4. Some may even give you an Octave Offset preference. But again, the main discrepancy is between C3 vs C4, not C3 vs C5 as far as I've ever heard.