1012 The songs are too fast......
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 14:23:21 -0900
From: Dan Boccia <redfox@ALASKA.NET>
Subject: The songs are too fast......
Hi Everyone -
During the past 2 weeks, I have been putting a lot of time into
listening to music from various sources. Some of the sources I am quite
certain recorded the songs directly from old 78's with little or no
manipulation of the resulting electronic files. The difference between
these sources and ALL of the commercial sources I've listened to is
astounding. Among other things, what I am hearing is that ALL of the
commercial sources have one way or another made the songs faster than
the original.
That said, a couple of the commercial sources have been doing a
spectacular job of cleaning noise, rumble, etc. out of the music and
enhancing the sound in a pleasant fashion, and I hope they keep it up -
it's a great time to be buying music right now. SOME of the "Solo
Tango" and "RCA Victor 100 Anos" releases are good examples.
Back to the speed issue.The most dramatic I've found yet is on D'Arienzo
valses from the 30's and 40's. Most everyone will agree that the valses
by D'Areinzo are "fast" and in some cases difficult to dance to - you
feel like you really have to move to keep up with the music. What I
have found is that most of the commercial releases have his valses sped
up around 8% faster than the original 78. The commercial tracks with
Alberto Echague singing (Like Cabeza de Novia, for instance) make his
voice sound like a chipmunk who has just sucked helium - it's horrible
and I never used them before. Now with these valses at the proper
speed, his voice sounds fantastic, relaxed and lively. The music
unfolds in an unrushed manner, and you can dance in a dignified manner
rather than rushing to keep up with the music. It's still very rhythmic
and hugely fun but not in a rushed sort of way.
The weird thing is that his tangos are only sped up from not at all to
about 4% maximum. But 4% still makes a difference, especially in the
voice of the singer.
I've found similar speed discrepancies in the recordings of Troilo from
41 and 42 (haven't looked further ahead than that), and Di Sarli from 39
through 42. The Di Sarli tracks from 39 - 42, especially the
instrumentals and with Rufino singing, are heavenly at the proper speed
(but I must admit Di Sarli is my all time favorite), much more enjoyable
than the rushed commercial recordings.
I think this issue needs to be brought forward in full light and I'd
invite anyone who is aware of it and knowledgeable to write about it and
enlighten the general public further. Keith Elshaw is keenly aware of
this, has posted similar notes to this list, and has lots of examples on
his website at https://www.totango.net/restoredi.html DJs should take
a long, hard look at this - I'm finding that the dancers dance in a much
more relaxed AND energetic fashion when the music is at the proper
speed, and not rushed. When the songs are too fast and feel hurried,
the dancers tend to dance with more tension and they burn out faster.
It has makes a BIG difference.
Dan Boccia
Anchorage, Alaska, where it's raining and my skis are getting lonely.
www.tangotrance.com <https://www.tangotrance.com/>
