Hi, Doug,

It's not that I have perfect pitch- I don't. I do hear differences in tone, however. Maybe I only think I do, in some cases, but I'm certain of it in others. But I've worked with enough professional musicians to know that it matters to them, especially string players.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Douglas Pomeroy
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2019 9:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] LP playing speeds

 Hi Steve,
Years ago I started checking the pitch of every single recording which came my way.The tape recorders without servo circuitry, like the Ampex 350 and most non-pro decks are especially difficult to fix. There is some software available for making gradual corrections over time, but these programs are not a panacea.
I would add that a range of 15 to 20 cents is close the the limit of human hearing acuity, at least for those of us without perfect pitch. But I totally agree we should correct alldetectable errors.
Doug PomeroyAudio Restoration and Mastering Services
193 Baltic St Brooklyn, NY 11201-6173
718 855-2650
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    On Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 10:11:33 AM CDT, Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
 I've found about 50% of the mono LPs I've been dubbing are off-pitch, mostly sharp, or so my Korg tuner informs me. Both the Menotti Sebastian with Stokowski and his Violin Concerto with Spivakovsky and Munch are sharp maybe
15-20 cents. I tune to fixed pitch instruments so I bypass vocalists and string players whenever possible- in the regard, at least. Some other RCA LPs are accurate and match what the strobe on the TT tells me, so it's not the playback that is at fault.

 

This is not tape drift- a problem encountered on old tape masters- the Ampex
350 was prone to this problem- when splicing together the end of one eel with a segment from the beginning of another or if done on two recorders should they have been running at slightly different speeds..

 

This seems an unreported problem except for my previous post on this issue.
If the users of older recordings are to draw performance and scholarly information from "how it was done," then straight, unchecked for this issue
33.33 dubbings are perpetuating misinformation.

 

Steven Smolian