I'm sure this has been covered in a previous post, and I don't know which one it is nor do I have time to look for it, but whenever I listen to AMP (and Mix for that matter), I've noticed every 2-3 songs is pitched higher. Why is this?
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AMP speeding up songs, then slowing down
- Thread starter ksradiogeek
- Start date
So they can fit in more commercials--has been going on for decades. It also could be that it makes for a smoother mix (beats per second) going into the next song. Also of course top 40 radio would
play "radio edits" of songs.
Consider for example a CD single put out of the blues group Roomful of Blues doing White Christmas.
Not that it would get airplay on many stations, but does radio play the 3:41 long cut or the
4:40 cut? Heavens, play the shorter one, fit another ad in.
Another theory, makes it sound "brighter"
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-442582.html
>>During the god-awful popular period of Eurobeat dance music in the late ninties there were a few stations in Oz (Australia) that were refusing to play anything under a certain BPM, which meant a bunch of popular tunes like for example "My Heart Will Go On" were played primarily in their dance mix version
or
>> The powers that be determined that was the level that would make the music sound "brighter" without adversely affecting the pitch of the singer's voice.
Also sometimes it needed to be sped up so they could get to, say, a network newscast on time.
play "radio edits" of songs.
Consider for example a CD single put out of the blues group Roomful of Blues doing White Christmas.
Not that it would get airplay on many stations, but does radio play the 3:41 long cut or the
4:40 cut? Heavens, play the shorter one, fit another ad in.
Another theory, makes it sound "brighter"
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-442582.html
>>During the god-awful popular period of Eurobeat dance music in the late ninties there were a few stations in Oz (Australia) that were refusing to play anything under a certain BPM, which meant a bunch of popular tunes like for example "My Heart Will Go On" were played primarily in their dance mix version
or
>> The powers that be determined that was the level that would make the music sound "brighter" without adversely affecting the pitch of the singer's voice.
Also sometimes it needed to be sped up so they could get to, say, a network newscast on time.
raccoonradio said:
ksradiogeek said:
You're (Mix) ears deceive you, we don't pitch songs up or down. I can't speak to Amp's music.
Looks like I screwed up the quoting, my reply to raccoon radio was in reference to the comment that music is pitched to "fit more commercials" that's an old wives tale.
I think the page I quoted did say it was an old wives' tale, or an urban legend maybe. Yes that may not be the real reason...as it is I think someone said one 3 to 5 per cent speed up only gains a few
seconds.
from a diff page on straight dope:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-451163.html
>>Back in the 70s, radio stations routinely sped up songs by about 10%. Thus, a three-minute song has about 18 seconds cut out of it. Do that twice and you can easily fit an extra 30 second ad. If you had a good ear, you could tell the difference.
>>Reported in one of the broadcasting magazines back in the 70s, listeners would get used to the faster versions, call the other stations and tell them their turntables were slow.
As for editing songs, yes--fit more songs in --example Beach Baby by First Class which was close to 5 minutes, but faded early
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG8MQ8f4nF4
4:56 but most stations faded it at 3:30 or so
And I think RKO was the station that helped Light my Fire become a hit--through an edit, but I'm getting off topic here
seconds.
from a diff page on straight dope:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-451163.html
>>Back in the 70s, radio stations routinely sped up songs by about 10%. Thus, a three-minute song has about 18 seconds cut out of it. Do that twice and you can easily fit an extra 30 second ad. If you had a good ear, you could tell the difference.
>>Reported in one of the broadcasting magazines back in the 70s, listeners would get used to the faster versions, call the other stations and tell them their turntables were slow.
As for editing songs, yes--fit more songs in --example Beach Baby by First Class which was close to 5 minutes, but faded early
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG8MQ8f4nF4
4:56 but most stations faded it at 3:30 or so
And I think RKO was the station that helped Light my Fire become a hit--through an edit, but I'm getting off topic here
karsonwithak said:
...or "Your"...I'm am idiot. :-\
Another reason might be to make "Amp" a faster=-paced, more high-energy format.
No one has ever pitched records more than Kiss 108 did back in the early to mid 90's.
I remember "Two Princes" by The Spin Doctors sometimes sounding like it was pitched +15% or even higher.
And back then they were known as "Your 12-In-A-Row Hit Music Station". And the clock dictated that they had to fit those 12 songs in about a 40-45 minute window.
I remember "Two Princes" by The Spin Doctors sometimes sounding like it was pitched +15% or even higher.
And back then they were known as "Your 12-In-A-Row Hit Music Station". And the clock dictated that they had to fit those 12 songs in about a 40-45 minute window.
Karson, we all have grammar problems every now and then lol. You're forgiven!karsonwithak said:
I was using the radio.com app...I think it was two months ago...and I swear I heard "Beautiful Day" by U2 sped up. Maybe it was my ears after all!
It makes sense for AMP to speed up songs, but why not on EVERY song?
Personally, I like music pitching, but only on Pop/Rhythmic stations. The songs sound so much cleaner and from what I've noticed, its like the day can fly by by having music that's pitched. When other formats do it, it sounds horrible.
ksradiogeek said:Karson, we all have grammar problems every now and then lol. You're forgiven!karsonwithak said:
I was using the radio.com app...I think it was two months ago...and I swear I heard "Beautiful Day" by U2 sped up. Maybe it was my ears after all!
It makes sense for AMP to speed up songs, but why not on EVERY song?
Well, maybe you caught that song during the morning show after we had to hit the dump button on a live caller? After we use the dump button, there is a noticeable increase is speed as the machine "rebuilds" the delay. This only lasts a song or two, that's the only thing I can think of that would make one of our songs pitched faster. Also, most newer CD units (and we have them) allow you to speed up the song without increasing the pitch by using a feature called Pitch Lock. So again, it wouldn't sound as if it had been pitched up. The only real way to tell would be to count the BPM's then compare the number to the original, I guess.
My final thought on pitching up songs...it just doesn't happen that often anymore. PD's are more worried about increasing PPM occasions than they are about spending the time to pitch up a record. A very successful radio guy once said to worry about the stuff that increases the number to the left of the decimal point. Let someone else worry about what's to the right. Pitching up falls to the right, IMHO.
A
amp insider
Guest
I assure you AMP does not pitch up any songs...it's your imagination...
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