[Dixielandjazz] FW: Correct pitch in recordings

[Harry Callaghan]

Well spoken, Jim..........and even though Bob alluded to me as a possible
source of info on the subject, I at this time really have nothing further to
contribute.

I am just what I like to think of as an easy going guy who happens to  host
an internet radio program and probably wouldn't be able to tell the
difference if something was playing at 43 or 31 rpm.and certainly no
authority on recording techniques, past or present.

But, if anyone cares to hear someone who I have always considered to be
marching to the sound of the different drummer that Thoreau talked about, I
invite you to check out:

"Callaghan's Corner" on Radio OKOM (okom.com)
heard 7a & 7p Eastern, Saturdays and Sundays

If you want to hear a wide variety of music of all styles, I think you'll
find it to be an enjoyable listening experience.  If you're looking for
perfection, I might suggest that you look elsewhere.cause most of the time
I'm "flying by the seat of my pants"

If I was doing it for money, it might be different, but it's really all in
the interest of good, clean fun.  I, along with several other Radio OKOM
program providers do it because of our own love for music and a desire to
share it with as many as possible.

Tides,
HC
(down here in Humidity City where it's at least a little more tolerable
during the colder weather)

That's Houston, TX for any "new kids on the block"


On Sun, Dec 26, 2010 at 11:18 AM, Jim Kashishian <jim at kashprod.com> wrote:

> 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
>
>
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