Real 106.1 pitching up? (I hate that.)

[Miguelito]

I'm not imagining it, am I? Maybe the stream is crummy and it's messing with my ears but it sounds ridiculous to me. Destiny's Child just played and Bey sounded like a friggin chipmunk cartoon.

 

[Fakeem]

They are probably using the old Q102 gimmick from the late 80's and 90's. Supposedly research showed that pitching up made the music sound "hotter" or as I read it, more acceptable to young white listeners. Most people I knew, of all races, did NOT like the practice, but that didn't stop them. I guess that is one way to distinguish your station's playlist, plus if pitched up enough, you can squeeze in more commercials or another song per hour, which is probably the real reason.

 

[Miguelito]

It sounds really noticeable to me in this case. This afternoon, they played City High "What Would You Do?", which I would have really appreciated because that's a forgotten gem. But instead, it annoyed me because it sounded so ridiculous and I ended up turning it off.

 

[MarcB]

I think I-Heart pitches up all their stations. Sometimes I listen to their Variety Hits station (70s/80s leaning) in Hartford The River 105.9 and notice that it's pitched up. The River plays some of the same music as Full Power Radio's Oldies station in the market and I can tell the difference in how the song sounds.

 

[CTListener]

I think I-Heart pitches up all their stations. Sometimes I listen to their Variety Hits station (70s/80s leaning) in Hartford The River 105.9 and notice that it's pitched up. The River plays some of the same music as Full Power Radio's Oldies station in the market and I can tell the difference in how the song sounds.

Blame it on psychoacoustics, Research has shown that a brighter sound retains listeners, so goodbye authenticity, hello artificiality. Must cater to the lowest common denominator at all times.

 

[davideduardo]

Blame it on psychoacoustics, Research has shown that a brighter sound retains listeners, so goodbye authenticity, hello artificiality. Must cater to the lowest common denominator at all times.

The practice dates back to the very late 60's and early 70's, when audio processing started to go beyond just an Audimax/Volumax. AM stations discovered they could sound "brighter" by speeding up the songs just a little. An early practice was to put scotch tape on the drive shaft of a tape deck when dubbing to cart. Then some enterprising engineers built a kit for the preferred turntables of the day; the kit changed the frequency of the AC going to the hysteresis synchronous motor in the turntable. Stations would then dub direct from 45s or albums to cart, but with a percent or two of speed increase.

Usually, only the PD and the production person knew the system. Listeners simply thought that the music sounded dull on the other stations, which was the intent.

 

[TheBigA]

Blame it on psychoacoustics, Research has shown that a brighter sound retains listeners, so goodbye authenticity, hello artificiality. Must cater to the lowest common denominator at all times.

You're assuming that the original recording is authentic and unprocessed? I wouldn't be so sure.

 

[Fakeem]

It sounds really noticeable to me in this case. This afternoon, they played City High "What Would You Do?", which I would have really appreciated because that's a forgotten gem. But instead, it annoyed me because it sounded so ridiculous and I ended up turning it off.

That's the kind of reaction Q102 got when they did it. I'm surprised that gimmick returned, yet alone at a different station. If they are gonna pitch up the songs, they should at least keep it in the original key, so it's not as noticeable.

 

[Fakeem]

Blame it on psychoacoustics, Research has shown that a brighter sound retains listeners, so goodbye authenticity, hello artificiality. Must cater to the lowest common denominator at all times.

Just be glad they aren't auto-tuning everything.

 

[Miguelito]

It's always bothered me when someone comes along and changes the product from what the artist or producer intended. Even radio edits irk me. (Because clipping 12 seconds off a record is totally gonna get it more airplay. haha.)

 

[Miguelito]

That's the kind of reaction Q102 got when they did it. I'm surprised that gimmick returned, yet alone at a different station. If they are gonna pitch up the songs, they should at least keep it in the original key, so it's not as noticeable.

Agreed. And sometimes a vocal track gets pitched up during production of the original song ("Vogue" comes to mind)...or the record company speeds up the radio version before sending it out (the single version of "The Promise of a New Day" comes to mind because I'm apparently trapped in the '90s right now). These of course sound even worse when played on a station that pitches up its entire library.

 

[Gunsmoke]

What I don't quite understand is why is goddamnyou allowed on Harvey Dangers, flagpole sitter but blocked out on Panic at the Discos goddamn door, on all stations that play both..

 

[mjb1124]

It's always bothered me when someone comes along and changes the product from what the artist or producer intended. Even radio edits irk me. (Because clipping 12 seconds off a record is totally gonna get it more airplay. haha.)

On that note, I noticed Real has been hacking up some songs. "Ghetto Supastar" had the entire first verse and part of the second cut out - basically most of Pras' parts, despite him being the primary artist - plus a couple extra repetitions of the chorus were added. That's something I'd expect more out of a CHR than a station that emphasizes hip-hop, and I don't even remember CHR stations chopping up the song like this back in the day.

 

[JayPee]

Way, way back in the day, when jocks--or, more commonly, techs and engineers--played 45s on turntables, a station engineer would literally shave some metal from the turntable spindle so the 45s played a few percent faster. (Somebody once told me as much as 10%, but that sounds a little extreme.) The physics behind it--conservation of angular momentum--is the same as that behind a skater rotating faster when she draws her arms closer to her body: make the spindle thinner, and the turntable rotates faster. The theory was--as has been stated in this thread--that a slight elevation in the pitch of the music would make the station sound brighter than its competition.

 

[davideduardo]

Way, way back in the day, when jocks--or, more commonly, techs and engineers--played 45s on turntables, a station engineer would literally shave some metal from the turntable spindle so the 45s played a few percent faster. (Somebody once told me as much as 10%, but that sounds a little extreme.) The physics behind it--conservation of angular momentum--is the same as that behind a skater rotating faster when she draws her arms closer to her body: make the spindle thinner, and the turntable rotates faster. The theory was--as has been stated in this thread--that a slight elevation in the pitch of the music would make the station sound brighter than its competition.

First, at the vast majority of stations, meaning those that were not union shops, the jocks spun their own 45's. While there were some stations that had "engineers" or board ops, it was not common.

It was not easy or, as far as I know, even technically possible to mill a turntable drive shaft with the degree of precision needed to avoid a lot of flutter. The solution was to vary the frequency of the AC going to the motor itself. The most widely used system was sold by a little firm out of West Texas that had a cheap box that was easy to install.

The fastest speed up I ever witnessed was KIRL in St Charles (St Louis) that was up between 4 and 5 percent. It was very noticeable. And ugly.

 

[Miguelito]

Wasn't WAYV in Atlantic City doing 3 or 4% for a while? When I lived in NJ, I couldn't listen to them at all. Every time I tried, I had to turn it off.

 

[John Gallagher]

Silly question...how does one pitch up an entire library of songs if they weren't pitched up before?

 

[davideduardo]

Silly question...how does one pitch up an entire library of songs if they weren't pitched up before?

Today, many of the digital storage / automation systems have the option to do what is the equivalent of batch processing of a whole library of songs.

The alternative is to do the changes in any audio editor that is capable of speed adjustment. In some cases, this will be accompanied by pitch adjustment.

 

[miketheradioguy]

I think I-Heart pitches up all their stations. Sometimes I listen to their Variety Hits station (70s/80s leaning) in Hartford The River 105.9 and notice that it's pitched up. The River plays some of the same music as Full Power Radio's Oldies station in the market and I can tell the difference in how the song sounds.

I don't think all of iHeartMedia's stations are high pitched. In fact, there are non-iHeartMedia stations that also play high pitched songs. For example, Beasley's Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte, NC plays high pitched songs, and is one of the stations that I listen to on the iHeartRadio app on my phone. Hot 99.5 used to play high pitched songs until 2015 when they shifted to normal pitch. For me, I like it when the songs are high pitched because it makes the song more enjoyable for me to listen to.

 

[Miguelito]

I don't think all of iHeartMedia's stations are high pitched. In fact, there are non-iHeartMedia stations that also play high pitched songs. For example, Beasley's Kiss 95.1 in Charlotte, NC plays high pitched songs, and is one of the stations that I listen to on the iHeartRadio app on my phone. Hot 99.5 used to play high pitched songs until 2015 when they shifted to normal pitch. For me, I like it when the songs are high pitched because it makes the song more enjoyable for me to listen to.

Oy! Do they ever!!! I checked them out to see if my ears are still firing on all cylinders. I noticed the pitch right away. I also just witnessed about four seconds of dead air between songs. How does that even happen anymore?!