The good old Pro-Ject record player had to be replaced due to problems with the wiring – repair or buy a new one? I wouldn’t have actually bought a new one, but since it’s for Mother Earth, I made the investment. I am now very happy with it, the new Rega player is simply brilliant.
New straightwire cables, a Pro-Ject Record Cleaner (man, I needed that) and the absolute hammer: a DC filter.
If this is new to you, let me just say: you want one. Believe me.
I didn’t go for the Inakustik AC-4500, which is already working in Christian’s High End Audio Lab and which we all know from the amazing recordings on the show, but I’m very happy with the Supra MD-08 MkIII DC filter I got with the other new stuff.
It needs a few weeks to warm up and settle in and be ready to provide Mother Earth with great music (yes, that’s necessary) – and then I’ll start recording classical records – the classical channel needs it the most.
So that’s how we spend our time here on Mother Earth, it’s demanding!
Thank you for joining us, if you like it and have a few marks to spare, please go to the donation page and support our work and time.
Best regards from Munich,
Florian
Florian,
Can you explain how you convert 440 Hz A1 recordings to 429 Hz A1 recordings?
Hi Hendrik, Thanks for your message!
Yes, I use a software that analyzes the tuning of the piece and uses this information to tune down the whole piece with another software plugin. Analyze does “melodyne”, and the pitch-shifter is a plugin from my digital-audio-workstation samplitude.
Hope this answers your question!
Florian,
Thanks for the answer.
And by doing this, do you shift the whole spectrum down ?
i.e shift all the tones down 11 Hz in case of 440 HZ A1, or is there a change in the intervals (harmony) as well?
The reason i ask this is that listening for instance to Vladimir Horowitz (piano) on your site it sounds odd to me. For my ears it is not just a (same) shift of all tones but there is also change in intervals (harmony) and it becomes a bit ‘honkey tonk’ to me.
Would it be a nice experiment to just lower the speed of the turntable and do no post processing?
I agree that there is much more to hear (and feel) beyound 20 Hz and 20Khz in music (and life over all). I love the dynamics of your recordings. My sound reproduction system go’s from a few Hz up to 50 Khz. And finding the ideal A1 tone is an interesting quest.
Yes, there is no change to the harmonies itself. At least in my opinion, if I take a piece and tune the whole thing down by one interval with a pitch-shifter, I actually retain everything, i.e. the harmonies and the interval distances between the notes in the piece remain the same – I’ve read about the discussion that raises objections to this in the context of concert pitch detuning, I think Mr. Adam Neely argues along these lines, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I may be wrong!
And, again, I completely agree, beyond 20kHz I may not pass a listening test, but I know when I feel something when listening to music. If you know where to listen and practice a little, it’s easy to tell the difference between a hi-res recording and a CD.
All the best,
Florian
Florian,
I think that makes the difference. If one would tune down 1 interval from A440 you end up on A-flat (415.305Hz) on a tempered scale. In fact it is a transposition. And pianos can not make all transpositions without retuning. By not retuning you end up with differences in (some) intervals to the original piece.
Transposition differs from taking 415.305 Hz (in your case 429Hz) as the root frequency for the whole scale.
The tempered scale is a trade-off wich gives musicians both their limits and freedom.
Hendrik, thank you for your insightful comments. You raise a good point about the nature of piano tuning in relation to pitch shifting. While my approach aims to maintain the harmonic structure by shifting all frequencies uniformly, you’re right that for instruments tuned to a specific temperament like the piano, this could subtly alter how some intervals sound. This might explain the ‘honkey tonk’ feeling you mention, as the shifted frequencies might not align perfectly with what we expect from traditional equal temperament.
However, the goal here with 429 Hz isn’t necessarily to transpose but to adjust the reference pitch to explore potential universal resonances. The shift is meant to be uniform across the spectrum, preserving the original harmonic relationships as much as possible.
Regarding your suggestion on lowering the turntable speed, that’s indeed another method to lower pitch without post-processing, but it would also slow down the tempo, which might change the piece’s feel. It’s an interesting idea for experimentation, though, and highlights the complexities of pitch and tempo in music.
I appreciate your engagement with this topic, and it underscores the fascinating intersection between music theory and audio engineering. Thank you for sharing your perspective, and I’m keen to continue this exploration to better understand these nuances
Dear Hendrik,
thank you once again for your comments, which in retrospect explain one more thing: My personal enthusiasm for the 429 Hz also developed to a large extent because I retuned my stringed instruments and played with them to try it out. That was amazing. I had the hope and also the impression that this effect is transferred when existing music is detuned.
But your comments have revealed an important point, there really should be music that is re-recorded on instruments that are tuned to concert pitch A 429 Hz: That would be the goal!
I have many bass guitars, a double bass, some guitars, a Bechstein piano and all sorts of other things that were easily retuned, small adjustments to the neck angle or string thickness are enough to maintain playability, but I have not yet been able to convince any musicians to try it out.
Maybe it will work out one day!
I will also try to retune a piano solo piece correctly with Melodyne, taking into account the well-tempered tuning, but I’m pretty sure that the limits of digital technology will be reached here, and the whole thing just won’t sound good.
Best regards,
Florian