Herr Knudson writes,

> Finally, while anyone should know that A-sharp is B-flat (A# == Bb),
> usually prefer to say Bb rather than A#, since in most keys it really
> is Bb.

Not if you are German, in which case  A# is called "H" (as in B-A-C-H).
This could partially explain why Carl Frei chose H as the "accidental"
for his 20-note scale.  So for mechanical organs, it isn't really A#
or Bb.  It's H.   ;-)

(There are musical reasons that A# is not technically the same as Bb.
For example, if you play guitar, an open-string B cannot be fingered to a
Bb, but the open-string G can be fingered up to reach A#.  Most music for
strings is written in keys with sharps.  The opposite is true for most
wind instruments, especially brass, so band music is usually written in
keys with flats.)

Since mechanical instruments strive for efficiency, enharmonics are
treated as equivalent (A#  =  Bb) to minimize the required number of
keys, pipes, strings, bells, etc.

Auf wiedersehen,
Robert Linnstaedt

 [ The result of all this is usually the Equally Tempered tuning method,
 [ which minimizes the bad enharmonic effects and permits keyboard
 [ instruments to perform in any key.  The drawback is that the "pure"
 [ chords continue to growl at the ears!  Steve Goodman and Fritz
 [ Gellerman and I hope to experiment with the almost-forgotten "Just
 [ Tuning" methods.  This means that Fritz's Wurlitzer band organ will
 [ have to play only in C and G, but heck -- that's all it ever played
 [ in anyhow!  -- Robbie