[Dixielandjazz] FW: Correct pitch in recordings

[Jim Kashishian]

Correct pitch......

Bob Ringwald wrote:  
>........or a recording engineer such as Jim Kashishian might be able to
shed more light on the subject.  

As I didn't start working as an engineer until my purchase of the first hard
disk editor out on the market in 1986 followed by acquiring an all digital
mixer in 1992, my knowledge of recordings in unusual keys is about as good
as the next guy that has been around studios since the late 1960's.  I
worked as a session musician & writer/producer for some 25 years before
getting "technical".

*  I know that some recordings were sped up on purpose (or not on purpose)
for whatever reason, which threw the music into a weird key. I personally
saw that in practice. 

* I doubt very much that earlier musicians, especially brass players, would
have prefered to play in A or D, etc., rather than the more usual brass
keys.  So, if one comes upon an old recording that is in an unusual key, you
can probably assume that there was some faulty or non-standard gear used.

*  I know that all the recordings I did as a musician over a 30 yr period
were based on about 444 pitch, instead of 440.  I don't know why most
Spanish pianos were tuned to 444 in those days, but they were.  That
wouldn't particularly effect the actual key of a recording, though.

*  I know that you can change the tempo of a song, arriving at a weird key,
by speeding up or slowing down a tape machine.  However, the tempo of a song
can now be changed, digitally, without effecting the key of the music.
This, as mentioned by others, can eventually cause glitches in the music.
However, a slight change on a professional hard disk recorder will be
handled with no problem.

* I have never, ever, changed the key on music that I have been restoring,
and I have worked on such projects as the Monks of Silos, who are the famous
Gregorian Chanters of about 10 yrs ago fame.  I also know that the first (&
famous) recording put out by EMI of the Monks was done with no processing
whatsover.  They even took such little interest as to put a Monk floating in
the sky on the cover dressed in Franciscan garb, when the Silos Monks are of
the Benedictine order.  I took over after that and restored about a dozen of
their recordings from the early 1950's which had been recorded on 7.5 inch
tape dating from before the Spanish Civil War! We spent approx 35 hrs
restoring each one of what were originally LP's.  We did not touch the keys,
although we spent a lot of time on the silences, as the Monks left large
echo gaps in between phrases, and I was working with a producer who had the
original scores & understood Latin, so gaps were closed up where they needed
to be to make a proper phrase, etc.
Just a mention as people often make comments on djml about what is done
during mastering without necessarily knowing the detailed work that is quite
often done.

Jim