Cosmetic Surgery for the Voice: All's Fair in Love and Pitch
2011; Routledge; Volume: 67; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2769-4046
Autores Tópico(s)Musicians’ Health and Performance
Resumo[Associate Editor's note: When I asked my colleague and friend, Paul Presto Jr., to write another column for me about what he does as a recording engineer, the request came on the heels of my revisiting the video of the legendary Woodstock concert of July 1969. What wonderful, human, flawed, unaltered, and magic performances there were-Janice Joplin's captivating singing that featured notes that didn't come out of her throat as well as incredible notes that did; the Crosby, Stills, and Nash struggle with out-of-tune voices and guitars; Joe Cocker's stunning cover of the Beatle's song, With A Little Help From My Friends, complete with sincere albeit pitch-challenged backup singers; and, one of the top musical events I have ever heard, Jimi Hendrick's guitar rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Paul's first column, Confessions of a Recording Engineer (JOS January 2003), opened a lot of eyes as to what can happen in the studio. Eight years later, many of you are about to learn that Doctor Frankenstein, as I affectionately call Paul, can do even more to change the natural order of things. I'll have a few comments at the end of the piece including a link to what Paul and my alter ego, Les Pitchy, did in Paul's Skylite Recording studio to demonstrate how this relatively new technology works.] IF YOU'RE ANYTHING LIKE ME, you know a great singer when you see one. If you think I'm misquoting a cliche, just hold that thought. Hold your career choice as well because what I'm about to tell you may make you open a pretzel stand instead of teaching people how to sing. You see, for over twenty years I've been recording, singing, and performing live music. My father, a musician/entertainer for over fifty years, started me in this crazy business when he put my finger on middle C on the keyboard at the age of eight. I played in bars when I was fourteen (Don't tell anyone!), worked cruise ships, weddings, parties, etc., all while honing my craft of precise playing and singing on key (even when no one cared). For me, it was always about my personal best. I felt that I owed it to myself to be the best player/singer I could be. I'm a perfectionist-a curse and a blessing sometimes, yet I've been fortunate to play with other musicians who feel the same as I. My recording career started with a cassette multitrack machine in 1982. I progressed to reel to reel, then to modular digital multitracks (a system based on S-VHS video tapes), and finally arrived in the computer based D.A.W. (Digital Audio Workstation) age with Pro the software recording program of choice for many studios. Since Pro Tools entered my world in 2001, I've been able to alter a performer's pitch, timing, phrasing it's ridiculous. I often tease my clients when they ask, Is there any way to . I cut them off and say yes before they ever finish their sentence. answer is always yes with Pro Tools, I say. To put this whole thing into context, it may be helpful to trace the recording process from its origins in the late nineteenth century. Thanks to Wikipedia, here's a brief overview: The first practical sound recording and reproduction device was the mechanical phonograph cylinder, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and patented in 1878. The next major technical development was the invention of the gramophone disc, generally credited to Emile Berliner and commercially introduced in the United States in 1889. Discs were easier to manufacture, transport and store, and they had the additional benefit of being louder (marginally) than cylinders, which by necessity, were single-sided. The Vinyl microgroove was invented by a Hungarian engineer Peter Carl Goldmark. The vinyl microgroove record was introduced in the late 1940s, and the two main vinyl formats-the 7-inch single turning at 45 rpm and the 12-inch LP (long-playing) record turning at 33 1/3 rpm-had totally replaced the 78 rpm shellac (sometimes vinyl) disc by the end of the 1950s. …
Referência(s)