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Topic: Noel Boggs - recordings out of tune |
Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 15 Apr 2010 4:27 pm |
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I'm listening to a Noel Boggs collection and trying to play along. The music is a good 1/4 tone out of tune. It is in tune with itself, but sharp of concert.
Do you think that this is from bad transfers/recording speeds? or do you think they played sharp for some reason?
I remember reading that Josh Graves said that the Scruggs stuff was played half a step sharp to give it more excitement. |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 15 Apr 2010 4:43 pm
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Bill:
I don't know, but speeding up recordings during the mastering process happens both accidentally and on purpose.
Fats Domino's early stuff is an example. A lot of people were surprised when the CD reissues began to appear in the 90s and some of his well known songs were slower on CD than on the original 45 rpm. They had been pepped up purposely in the 50s.
Are you referring to Noel's Shasta recordings? That stuff is on both vinyl and CD and I have never done a comparison between the two. That might reveal something. |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 15 Apr 2010 5:12 pm
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| It is a 3 CD collection I downloaded from eMusic. Best of Noel Boggs I think it is called. |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 15 Apr 2010 5:23 pm
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Yeah, I know what that is I think:
Coquette, Perdido, Birth Of The Blues, At Sundown, Liza, On The Alamo, Sheik Of Araby, etc.
Those are among his Shasta recordings and by far the best examples of his instrumental playing.
Some of those songs exist on 45 as well as on the one LP Noel did for the label. There is a single CD with I think 16 tracks of the same material as well.
All I can suggest is you get hold of the CD or vinyl and so some comparing. I'm like you--the only versions I have easy access to are the MP3 downloads and my tin ear probably couldn't detect if they were off a bit. |
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Billy Tonnesen
From:
R.I.P., Buena Park, California
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Posted 15 Apr 2010 7:46 pm
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| When I was getting some Mentoring from Noel in the late 40's Noel had some recordings of a Pop Group he fronted playing Intermissions for some of the big Swing Bands at the Hollywood Paladium on Sunset Blvd. He had one or two horns and some Vibes in the group. There was nothing Country, he was playing more of an Alvino Rey style. One of the songs I learned was called "Moonlight On The Ganges". Too bad I had no way of getting copies of these cuts. |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 15 Apr 2010 11:23 pm
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 It's absurd to trust old recordings for being on pitch. You can't rely on the way they are presented to us as being a pure recording.
They didn't have modern recording techniques much less digital tuners or digital anything. Tape recording was great for it's time, but it was far from being totally accurate in pitch.
ha-ha 
It's been documented that Flatt and Scruggs would tune up a half-step to make their instruments sound better and they were not ashamed of it, but a quarter tone differrence is probable a recording qlitch. |
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Rick Winfield
From:
Pickin' beneath the Palmettos
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Posted 17 Apr 2010 1:09 am sharp
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When I used to gig, with a 6 string, I purposely tuned my E & B strings sharp. Made it stand out more during a solo, playing mostly in a 3 piece group, (guitar bass,drums) Joisey Shoar power trio 
Rick |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 17 Apr 2010 6:00 am
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| The pitch of the recording would usually be due to the speed of the machines used. The first tape machine to record the session, the second tape machine used to master the session, the third tape machine used to transfer the material to digital. Right there is three opportunities for a machine not to be running up to specs and changing the pitch. Also with pitch change come tempo change. |
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Bob Hickish
From:
Port Ludlow, Washington, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 17 Apr 2010 7:36 am
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Bill
Quick time can play CDs faster or slower to get back on pitch
If you have Quick time look under controls -- A/V controls , at
the bottom you will see Play back speed
Maybe this will help
Hick |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 17 Apr 2010 8:11 am
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Thanks.
Just ran it through Amazing Slowdowner, which allows you to adjust the pitch and found the recordings were about 50 cents sharp.
The CD is a 3 volume set called Noel Boggs Country Masters. |
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