'sounding-pitch' is a modern English compound formed from 'sounding' (the present participle of 'sound') and 'pitch' (musical sense of 'pitch', meaning the height of a tone). 'sounding' derives from the verb 'sound' (Old English root meaning to emit or cause to be heard); 'pitch' in the musical sense developed in English to mean the perceived highness or lowness of a tone.

'sounding-pitch' developed in modern English usage as a technical compound to contrast the actual sounded tone with the written or notated pitch (common in descriptions of transposing instruments and acoustics).

Initially, 'sounding' simply indicated the act of making sound and 'pitch' indicated tone height; together the compound came to mean specifically the pitch that is actually heard (as opposed to the pitch as written or intended).