Posted by One-Shot Scot on 10/22/05 17:03

"Kimba W. Lion" <kimbawlion@aol.com> wrote in message
news:oinkl1pdhn3gd2t8oupm01v741n5jbqfav@4ax.com...
> Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
> >How many people have absolute pitch, where they can tell that a song
> >they learned in D is being played in D sharp or D flat? And even if
> >they can accurately identify it, does it actually bother them, the
> >way it would if individual notes were actually off key from the rest?
>
> If you are familiar with the way something is meant to sound, the
> difference is very obvious. And not just music; on my PAL Laurel and Hardy
> DVDs, their voices are noticeably higher than they should be. Your ears do
> adjust over the course of a film, but the initial shock is real.


I agree. Reality is a person's frame of reference. Overall, real-time
speech, mannerisms and motion exhibited by real people and motion picture
characters become a person's normal frame of reference.

While some people may consider a 4% increase in speed so small as to be
insignificant, I am bothered by it. When music is sped up by 4%, I find the
difference in pitch to be irritating, particularly when a familiar piece is
being played. I have been exposed to radio stations which speed up their
music at least 4% in order to squeeze more commercials between songs.
Hearing familiar songs bastardized in this manner makes me cringe.
Apparently, some stations continue to speed up songs.

The opening scene of my PAL version of _King Kong_ (1933) makes the 4%
increase in speed very noticeable. The RKO tower, with its high-pitched
beeping, is really off key. After that, the sped up Max Steiner soundtrack
becomes a hyperactive burlesque. The normally-fast early-30's dialogue then
takes on a Chip and Dale characteristic.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming Region 1 DVD of the original
_King Kong_. I will no longer need to trade audio quality for video
quality.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/heard-it-on-the-radio/2005/08/04/1122748709000.html

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