Quality Bacon with no sizzle!

[thereallyniceman]

I have just added MP3 recordings of compositions by Thomas E Glynn and George Gregory to their PLAYER BIOGRAPHIES pages, and thought that I would post them here too.

The Thos Glynn composition is “West Lawn Polka”, and here is an excellent recording of Fred Bacon playing it, but this time at the correct speed and pitch as per composition. As seems to be usual, the normally available MP3 recordings are reproduced too fast and according at too high a pitch.

 

This is Fred Bacon how he would have sounded, and pretty good too!

 

WEST LAWN POLKA played by Fred Bacon

 

The second track is a composition by George Gregory entitled “L’Infanta March”. The MP3 recording was at the correct pitch, but noisy, so here is a much nicer version as played by Fred Van Eps.

 

L’INFANTA MARCH played by Fred Van Eps

 

I have added the sheet music for each of these compositions to the MUSIC LIBRARY.

 

[Jody Stecher]

These sound great. But how do you (how does anyone) know to what pitch Bacon or FVE were actually tuned? "A 440" as a standard is a relatively new idea.  In the case of FVE he is accompanied by brass instruments and he would have to tune to them. It is only recently that symphonic brass and military brass (instruments, not officers) were tuned the same. Military brass instruments on both sides of the Atlantic were typically tuned a good deal higher  (A 457) during the 19th and early 20th century.  In the case of other recordings, the banjoist would have to tune to the piano, which could be lower or higher than today's "standard" pitch. 

[thereallyniceman]

Agreed. The recording from Van Eps was as near as can be to concert pitch and matched the score. The Bacon one was WAY out, not even within shooting distance of concert pitch and I don't think that a few hertz variation would explain the pitch or the speed. Now at least we can play along with Fred and the score, so it sounds better all round.

[Jody Stecher]

Yes, the Bacon recording now sounds like a human being playing a banjo.

thereallyniceman said:

Agreed. The recording from Van Eps was as near as can be to concert pitch and matched the score. The Bacon one was WAY out, not even within shooting distance of concert pitch and I don't think that a few hertz variation would explain the pitch or the speed. Now at least we can play along with Fred and the score, so it sounds better all round.