Computers have long been able to cut and splice without a telltale pop . But an ad appeared recently touting a new breakthrough in recording technology which makes vocal study obsolete! The Automatic Mode …identifies the closest pitch in a user specified scale and corrects the input pitch to match the scale pitch,” declares the ad. “The Graphical Mode displays the detected pitch and allows you to draw in the desired pitch on graph [sic]. This mode gives complete control over adding or repairing scooping pitches and large vibratos Even audiophiles cannot tell a sound has been processed, except that it is perfectly in-tune.
A recent discussion on the Internet documented a particular singer who allegedly has never sung on pitch in the theater and whose success was attributed to the wonders of recording studios. An example was used of hearing the singer in the actual performance where a specific recording was made and the comment made: “She was sharp, he was flat, but the high C released on disc was right in tune.”
Gaston C. Maurin, a music critic, jumped into the discussion and wrote, “I skimmed over this comment because I simply couldn’t believe tampering at this level was possible. I thought, if this could be done, why didn’t they correct the horrible, off-pitch singing we hear [in this singer s recording of a complete opera], or the taped live performance broadcast a while back?
“Maybe the answer is, they didn’t have the budget to do the fixing and figured the recordings would sell anyway because of the cast. I’ve always known that engineers can enhance recordings, although their attempts are usually audible or at least detectable by an expert engineer. A professional can hear splices, compression, expansion, or adding echo to smooth vibratos, etc.
All these technologies and techniques have an effect that is opposite to what is intended. They remove me one more step from the reality of the performance. I suspect this is why so many of us prize honestly engineered, unedited live performance tapes.”
(Used by permission)
