Klarinet Archive - Posting 000224.txt from 1998/09

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Short barrels
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 11:41:25 -0400

On Sun, 6 Sep 1998, Roger Garrett wrote:

> When an American orchestra and a the Vienna Philharmonic are played back
> on the same machine, why is the European orchestra A446 and the American
> orchestra A441?

Because at some point or points in the process of recording, mastering,
producing the final products, and playing them back, there was
insufficient quality control in setting the speeds of some of the
machinery involved. Remember, A=440 or A=446 or anything else is of
essentially no consequence to a recording engineer, and much less so to
someone working in a factory which produced records. It is only musicians
which consider the question so critical, and who much suffer the
consequences if the pitch rises.

This doesn't mean that all orchestras play at the same pitch, because it
is obvious that they don't, and that European orchestras generally play at
higher pitch level than American ones. However, what I am arguing here is
that the pitch that comes from a turntable is so many steps removed from
the original that there is no way to extrapolate the original pitch level
from that of a record. This all tends to be much more constant on compact
disks, so they can be used as more reliable indicators of the pitch of
performances.

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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