[78-L] 78-L Digest, Vol 1, Issue 51

[Malcolm Smith]

>
On Oct 14, 2008, at 4:54 PM, 78-l-request at klickitat.78online.com wrote:

>> Another problem is pitch changing during the playing of early
>> records. Not uncommon. One Russian record I have of a tenor is about
>> 80 on one side and and the low seventies on the other. It sounds like
>> two singers if the speed isn't changed.

This is two statements. I could have written it better. As for the  
speed changing while a record plays, there were a number of theories  
out there to explain it, the most commonly held view being that there  
was more drag on the equipment when the cutting stylus was near the  
edge of the record than near the center.

Another problem is that sharps and flats are not the same. The sharp  
of a note is different than the flat of the note above it. Its five  
commas up and the flat is five commas down. There are nine commas  
between regular notes. A singing teacher back around 1800 used a  
specially built instrument with two black keys instead of one for the  
sharps and flats. It must have been a challenge to play. It should be  
pointed out that there are different ways of tuning keyboard  
instruments. Harpsichords are usually tuned differently for early  
music. Most singers are slightly out of tune when singing sharps and  
flats though there are a few who sang true sharps and flats. I  
suppose one could add to this the problem of double sharps and flats.  
Many singers had less than perfect pitch. On early recordings many of  
the singers attack on the pitch rather than below. While this meant  
that the note was sung at the right time rather than late, it also  
led to the note occasionally being slightly out of tune. Clearly  
there are a lot of factors that lead to errors when trying to play  
records at the right speed.

The Tamagno recordings seem to be in groups defined by very slight  
speed changes. This was clear to a couple of us making tape copies of  
the published and unpublished records at the Yale library. He was not  
well when the records were made at his home and presumably they only  
made a few records each day. We believed that the equipment probably  
was running at a slightly different speed after sitting overnight.  
He's an example of an early singer who attacks on the note rather  
than below.

Malcolm Smith.