Third attempt to post this message:
>
> Vocalion probably used a spring driven cutter, and they were
> less reliable than the weight driven ones (according to Ralph
> Peer).  If we knew Johnson tuned his guitar perfectly (re:
> 'A' 440), correct pitching would be a piece of cake.  He probably
> didn't, but still it was probably not too far off, especially if he
> played with other musicians playing un-tunable instruments
> (e.g., harmonicas).
>
> Doug
>>
>>
>>> Date:    Mon, 25 May 2009 11:18:13 -1000
>>> From:    Malcolm Rockwell <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Subject: Re: Robert Johnson RPM debate
>>>
>>> James -
>>> I've read the arguments and heard the pitch shifted samples and  
>>> say it's
>>> possible the recordings are pitched high. This would mean one of  
>>> three
>>> things: 1) Robert really sang that way; 2) the material was  
>>> recorded too
>>> slow; and/or 3) the final pitch was modified by dubbing prior to
>>> manufacture.
>>>
>>> I tend to go with #1, mostly because I've always heard him the  
>>> way he
>>> has been presented on LPs and CDs and my ear is used to that. The
>>> samples are interesting food for thought, though!
>>>
>>> #2 is possible mostly because machines do run slow (there's very  
>>> little
>>> homogenity of 78rpm recording speeds company to company, and  
>>> session to
>>> session within the same company. Add that to playback speed  
>>> variations
>>> and, well...). What was the power source in Dallas? 110 VAC? 120  
>>> VAC? Or
>>> was it DC voltage? If AC, was the frequency (usually 60 Hz)  
>>> solid, or
>>> did it wander? What kind of motor did the portable recording lathe
>>> use... AC, DC or counter-weighted (mechanical)? There are just  
>>> too many
>>> variables here.
>>>
>>> #3 requires forethought and since there was seemingly so little  
>>> of it in
>>> #2, I doubt this scenario. Producers are not going to agonize  
>>> about this
>>> kind of thing; to them Robert was just another blues picker. But who
>>> knew what he'd become 60 years later or that any of this would  
>>> matter?
>>>
>>> Good luck with your research!
>>> Mal Rockwell
>>>
>>> *******
>>>
>>> james mendenhall wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi, Arsclist
>>>> I am doing research about the rpm debate of the Robert Johnson
>>>> recordings.
>>>> Does anyone have any information for me?
>>>> And, is this all speculation or has there been proof found that  
>>>> they
>>>> are indeed too fast?
>>>>
>>>> thanks
>>>>
>>>> james