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[ARSCLIST] Fwd: Recording Speed



Begin forwarded message:

From: Thornton Hagert <vmr@xxxxxxxx>
Date: June 17, 2009 12:01:21 PM EDT
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx
Cc: Annie Stanfield-Hagert <hagert@xxxxxxxx>, Lawrence Gushee <lgushee@xxxxxxxx>, David Sager <jassbone@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Recording Speed


In response to Dave Lewis' recent message "I Heard the Voice of the Chipmunk" - about recording speeds, I have noticed instances of recording companies deliberately recording at other-than-playback speeds, for various reasons. The following examples come to mind; if I check them more carefully, this message will never be written.
Edison 51056, Broadway Dance Orchestra "Russian Rose", plays back in the key of F but was clearly performed in Eb and recorded "slowly". See my notes for the Smithsonian album DMM2-0518, "An Experiment In Modern Music" Paul Whiteman at Aeolian Hall. How often did Edison do this ?
Okeh 40675, Cookie's Gingersnaps, "Love Found You for Me" plays back in the key of B natural (which seems unlikely) Why the speed-up ? I don't know. (I haven't checked the others recorded at this session.)
Vocalion 1108, Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, "Forevermore" plays very slow (I forget what key); the song was published in C, and the orchestration in Db which is the key that Guy Lombardo recorded it. My guess is that Vocalion wanted the recording to fill the whole record and so recorded it at a faster speed.
I'd be interested in other such examples.
Thornton Hagert, Vernacular Music Research.


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