Episodes at Fast Speed

[CusBlues]

I have noticed a few episodes that sound like they are being played at a faster speed. I remember this also when I was a teenager listening for the first time. Did CBS use time compression to get the episodes into the required time slot? I know this has been done with TV shows sometimes when they are put into syndication (MASH for instance).

[Charlie]

Let me start by saying, I don't know.

But, I think it is unlikely that they did that. I would [b:f453965724]assume[/b:f453965724] that problem was created somewhere in the analog/digital/mp3 conversion process.

You can slow it down with software to see if that will solve the problem. SoundForge or a similar product can slow it down and also change the pitch.

Charlie

[Ross]

Also remember the variety of tape players we had back then. There were huge variances in recording speed with those cheaper ones. Not nearly as consistent as today. Luckily, when my parents bought me the recorders, I had the sense to pick out good ones to record RMT. Good quality RMT recordings were always my goal.

I have an MP3 player with adjustable pitch! Real nice. It would be nice if people went ahead and did the corrections BEFORE putting them out there.

Ross

[brian1984_2001]

WOR used to hack up the episodes to squeeze them into a 45 minute period to allow for a 15 minute news commentary to fill out the hour.

They cut out the preview that opened the show, the preview of the next tale, and most of the ending music.

Depending on who recorded the WOR show, some are very good and some are bad. Part of it depends on how much you like news. I relived most of the downfall of Richard Nixon through the 1974 season and the Fulton Lewis commentary. I loved it. Others like just the show.

You'll find other episodes, primarily late in the 1975 season where some poor soul was trying to get the most out of his batteries. They are really slow.

[CusBlues]

Thanks for all the replies. I do remember some being faster during the original run. It's not like there were a lot, but there were a few. I understand that some the MP3 files you get have been edited to death. Thanks again.

[Texas]

No disrespect meant whatsoever to the man, but it was always amusing when they did this and E.G.Marshall sounds as if he'd just inhaled helium. :D

[Charlie]

Running things at the wrong pitch is a cancer.

I am the program director of a "Classic Hits" broadcast operation and we play music from the late 60's through the early 80's. We play the music at actual pitch.

I listen to airchecks quite a bit at http://www.reelradio.com and I hear a lot of the same music we play and it is flying in some cases. I'm sure that in the 70's a lot of radio stations ran music from 2 to 5 percent fast in order to give them more broadcast time - but also to make the music sound "peppier" than it did on a competiting station.

Whatever the reason for doing it, it is not a good one.

Charlie

[brian1984_2001]

I don't care if it's E.G. Marshall or Robert Plant, things should be played at the same speed the were recorded.

I didn't know this was a common practice. I have friends who are disc jockeys (I know Charlie hates the term, but I don't know what else to call them.) I'm going to pin them down on this and see if they do it.

[Texas]

I feel kind of guilty for saying what I did now. I hate hearing these things at speeds any other than what was intended.

[Charlie]

[quote:2d8c81e35b="brian1984_2001"]I have friends who are disc jockeys (I know Charlie hates the term, but I don't know what else to call them.) I'm going to pin them down on this and see if they do it.[/quote:2d8c81e35b]

In today's digital world, I seriously doubt if this is happening - but, it could be. In the days of records, when most radio stations received music on vinyl and dubbed them to carts for airplay, it was easy to pitch the turntable up 3% or whatever when recording. Working with digital audio, you could do that of course, but I doubt if it is done in very many places. Although, in a large radio market where competition is heavy, it would not surprise me to find out that a station had kicked everything up 1 or 2% to get that "peppy" sound.

Charlie

[CusBlues]

This is all very interesting to me. I remember when I was younger that when I bought an album, sometimes it sounded slower than what I remembered when I heard the songs on the radio. I remember when turntables had the orange strobes on the side so you could set the pitch exactly. I always thought it was my imagination when music sounded slower at home. I learn something new every day.

[Charlie]

[quote:8f0b98e1f9="CusBlues"]I remember when I was younger that when I bought an album, sometimes it sounded slower than what I remembered when I heard the songs on the radio.[/quote:8f0b98e1f9]

That is probably exactly what was going on and I recall the same thing. I was a constant buyer of 45's when I was growing up and they always sounded slower than on the radio - because they were!

Back in the early days of Top-40 radio most of the songs were 2 to 2 1/2 minutes long. It made them easy to play, easy to time out, easy to play a lot of music, etc.

Over time, songs got longer. Most of the 70's stuff was in the 3:30 range on the radio. Speeding it up gave it a more "exciting" sound, plus you could squuze in more tunes and more spots.

You'll be glad to know that if you ever visit Downeast Maine or Southwest New Brunswick, you'll hear all of those tunes from the 70's at the proper speed, and in most cases, we play the album versions instead of the shorty radio versions when available. smile.gif

Charlie

[CusBlues]

[quote:8b9f63ec9a="Charlie"]

You'll be glad to know that if you ever visit Downeast Maine or Southwest New Brunswick, you'll hear all of those tunes from the 70's at the proper speed, and in most cases, we play the album versions instead of the shorty radio versions when available. smile.gif

Charlie[/quote:8b9f63ec9a]

That's great to hear. That's my kind of radio station.