From: [email protected] (Keith Erskine)
Subject: Re: Parkening
Date: 1999/11/05
Message-ID: <[email protected]>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 544896127
References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <Pine.GSO.3.95.iB1.0.991104141936.28107C-100000@halifax.chebucto.ns.ca> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar


Matanya Ophee ([email protected]) wrote:
: [email protected] (Steve) wrote:

: >>OK Steve. Explain to me how it is possible for Parkening to have
: >>recorded the Bach Sinfonia on his Simple Gifts recording at 3:22, when
: >>most other guitarists are doing it at an average of 4:30 to 5 minutes?
: >>He is a better and faster guitarist than them. Right? why then his
: >>recording sounds in F Major when the original is a half tone lower?
: >
: >I think you're arguing that he upped the pitch on his system to make it seem 
: >like he was fast.  The typical reason is to make it sound better.  When you 
: >start messing around with that pitch, you discover that some peices sound 
: >better faster or higher, or both.  If you play it slowly for precision and 
: >accuracy, then speed up the playback, you often have a nice recording.  Its 
: >just a common trick.  It doesn't require dishonesty.


: No it does not, and I am willing to accept it if it was stated clearly
: on the record that this is what was done. But since this was _not_
: stated, and the guy comes on at a minute less for the same piece as
: played by the majority of guitarists, Barrueco, Williams, Fisk,
: Yamashita etc, and then further covers the fact that this was done by
: saying a capo is needed on the first fret in his edition of it, I have
: no choice but to conclude that he and his handlers were not entirely
: forthcoming.

Do the math, Matanya.  1 half-step modulation increases pitch & tempo by
the twelfth root of two, 1.059462....   This translates into a 6% pitch/tempo
increase.  If his recording is at 3:22, 202 seconds, 6% is a whopping 12 seconds!
So he would have played it in either 3:34 (shifted half step), 3:46 (whole step),
3:58 (minor third), 4:10 (fourth), 4:22 (dim fifth), 4:34 (perfect fifth).
That's it, they shifted it a perfect fifth! :-)  Or maybe they used Digidesign
Pro Tools to curtail the end of each note to achieve the speed up!

Maybe the other guitarist played it slower because they liked it that
way ??? (with the notable exception of Fisk, tee hee ;-)  

Keith Erskine
I don't espouse mathematical chicanery for HP or its new ameobic offspring :-)