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Does Kiss-FM pitch up their music?

M

Magnum

Guest
Does 99.3 Kiss-FM pitch up their music? It sure sounds like it.
 
I think they pitch up some songs and not others. Both "Pound The Alarm" and "Starships" by Nicki Minaj seem sped up as does Ellie Goulding "Lights," Cher Lloyd "I Want You Back" and "Good Time" by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen. "Call Me Maybe" seems WAY sped up! On the other hand, "Give Your Heart A Break" by Demi Lovato, "Titanium" by David Guetta and "Whistle" by Flo Rida don't seem sped up at all. The question is why? As Robert Stack used to say....Maybe YOU can help solve a mystery...
 
I believe that CC does that to most of their songs to fit more in to a certain time space (ie. Branding the station as playing the most songs per hour, etc.)
 
I believe that CC does that to most of their songs to fit more in to a certain time space (ie. Branding the station as playing the most songs per hour, etc.
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That's ridiculous! Do you realize how fast you'd have to speed up songs to actually fit in only one extra song per hour? It would be chipmunk radio! Stations have been pitching up music for 50 years. The practice has fallen in and out of favor over time. It tends to make a comeback when the CHR format is hot. Many on this board will remember the WKBO/WFEC pitch wars of the early 70s. The purpose of pitching is to make anyone else playing the same songs you are sound slow and draggy by comparison. Radio tends to be split into two camps on this: those who favor pitching and those who follow "....if the artist/composer wanted it pitched up, they would have produced it that way" philosophy
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I actually did the "pitching up" thing when I was PD here at WIOO back in its 1970s Top-40 days. Used the old splicing tape on the turntable capstan trick. Now I'd just like to hear the songs the way they were recorded!
 
I remember hearing that WKBO's crackerjack engineer Gary McGill actually had custom capstans milled for their turntables as splicing tape tended to wear and become uneven over time. It kept the speed of the records remained consistent.
 
I heard the same thing about WKBO . thought it was brilliant. on the down side... they used to carry Casey Kasems American top 40 countdown. at that time (the early 70s ) it was delivered on 33 and a 3rd discs. when you listened to the show on KBO Kasey kind of sounded like he had been inhailing helium. It did make there records sound brighter though.
 
loeper said:
I heard the same thing about WKBO . thought it was brilliant. on the down side... they used to carry Casey Kasems American top 40 countdown. at that time (the early 70s ) it was delivered on 33 and a 3rd discs. when you listened to the show on KBO Kasey kind of sounded like he had been inhailing helium. It did make there records sound brighter though.
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Casey Kasem was just one example of people who sounded awful when revved-up. Paul Simon and Neil Diamond were two others. A station I worked for in St. Louis revved most singles to 46rpm (I think) but also had the option of good old 45rpm if the artists just didn't sound right. It was really a judgement call on the part of the guy dubbing the music. It worked if done right but if not it just sounded cheesy.
 
A question primarily directed at Ray Thomas, but anyone in the know can feel free to answer: Could you elaborate on the splicing-tape trick you mentioned earlier? I love old radio tricks and never heard of that one.
 
The station's old Russco turntables (still in occasional use before our January 2012 fire that destroyed our building) had a capstan that drove a rubber wheel that ran against the inside of the metal platter. If you wound a couple of turns of splicing tape around the capstan, (I used aluminum splicing tape for its durability) it increased its circumference slightly and increased the speed of the turntable. Back in the days of hits like "Undercover Angel" by Alan O'Day, "Magic" by Pilot, "SOS" by Abba and "Bad Blood" by Elton John & Neil Sedaka. In the words of Archie and Edith...."Those Were The Days".....
 
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