GG: Pitch Shifting of GG Clips

["John P. Hill" <jphill@frank.mtsu.edu>]

Greetings to Elisha and the Collective:

Regarding your observations on tuning (which were really cool),
here are some things to consider.

I doubt that this pitch discrepency had to do with uncertainty about
piano tuning.  A440 has been an established tuning reference for pianos
and orchestras for some time now (music historians in the group could
shed some light on the dates involved).  Modern concert grand tuning is
based upon equal temperment, wherein each semitone is equivalent to
every other semitone, with the frequency ratio being the twelfth root
of two.  A440 refers to A4 (the one above middle C on the piano) being
referenced to 440 cycles per second (Hz.).

Of course, it' not *quite* that simple, as piano tuners commonly employ
"stretch" tuning to slightly expand the ratios of the various octaves
going down (lower) and up (higher) so that the octave ratios are not
*exactly* 2:1.  Also, some orchestras have, at various times, tuned
slightly higher than A440, ostensibly to have a more brilliant string
tone (or a greater sense of "urgency" to sturm and drang repertoire??).

Baroque repertoire (like the Sinfonias) were intended for keyboards of
the day, which were *not* equal-tempered and had a lower reference for
A4 than 440 Hz.  That's not relevent for discussing Gould, however, as
he normally employed a Steinway grand for his recordings and it *was*
tuned using the modern standard of A440.

All that is kind of beside the point though, with regard to your examples,
since we're talking here about a *semitone* or so's worth of difference
between the printed score and the pitch you perceived from the video
clips (absolute pitch can be wonderful *or* a curse, depending on your
perspective).

I suspect that the pitch difference you heard resulted from mechanical
manipulations needed to conform the audio tape (probably an analog master)
to the video (or film) of the clip in question.  Conforming audio and
video elements can involve what are known as "pull-downs", wherein the
audio tape must be run faster or slower than the recorded speed in order
to match the same length of time that the film runs (film runs at 24
frames per second). If the elements were not recorded synchronously
(in other words, the audio tape and film were separate elements), then
this type of manipulation may very well have been necessary.

I'm afraid none of that has to do with artistic considerations,
but rather mechanical ones like having a video or film clip time out
correctly.   Since video and film editors and producers are usually
not musicians and probably wouldn't even *know* what perfect pitch is,
they would generally not be too sensitive (or worried) about the kinds
or pitch-shifting issues you noticed.

Hope this helps without getting too technical...


John Hill
Department of Recording Industry
MTSU

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Sat, 14 Mar 1998, Elisha J Tseng wrote:

> Dear F-minor members (especially those who are specialized in recording),
> I went to the Nat'l Archive GG Website. I frequent there often whenever I
> have research paper to type and like to type with music in the backgroud.
>  There are clips with duration as long as 20 min.  I liked the Strauss
> Burleske for Piano and Orchestra and listened to that one the best of
> other clips.  I have assorted pitch, and when I heard it, I recognized it
> as c# minor(it begins with e major).  I got interested enough to do
> research on the piece, only to discover that it is d minor, not c#!!  I
> thought something was wrong with me, so I played the chords on the piano
> with the computer stereo blaring, and convincingly enough it sounds like
> c# minor.  Then I took my Images CD 1 and played the two part invention
> No.1 along with the clip where GG played some sinfonias and one part
> contained this piece.(I had suspicion that when GG said e flat, it
> sounded like d)  The clip was flat-COMPLETELY.  I had to turn it off
> because it sounded uncomfortably dissonant from the CD.  Try it: play the
> two pieces at once.
> I learned that GG lived around the time when there was still conflict in
> standardizing the correct pitch.(Correct me if I'm wrong(;-)  Does the
> piano always sounds flat when recorded on an ordinary recording machine? 
> Or was it GG's piano?(I doubt it, though.)
> Regards, Elisha
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Strong conviction is capable of destroying any prejudice.  The proof:
> Glenn Gould.
> --Nathan Perelman
> 
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