What would 1940's and earlier singers sound like on current equipment?

[repoman]

Would they have the charm they have now when listening to their recordings?

I know that stylistic singing differences exist between then and now, such as phrasing which is a very large part of my enjoyment. Billie Holiday with even a small tweak of how she did her phrasing would change her style massively. I even wonder if the combination of unique phrasing and how the recording distort voices compared to our current tech accentuates our perception of the phrasing.

Is there a computer technique to simulate how a vintage singer would sound on modern equipment?

I thought of this topic by listening to some Cambodian pop music from the sixties and the phrasing was totally new unique and cool to me. But the vocals while awesome seemed to be be like 20-30 years behind the West in the recording quality.

 

[jab]

Solomon Linda would be really interesting and cool, I think.
Caruso, the earliest recording million seller, would obviously sound better, but still not my cup of tea. Bessie Smith and Billie Holliday and Julia Lee, would all be interesting.

 

[Bronzeage]

All those old recordings are analog, either vinyl or magnetic tape. Unlike digital recording, an analog recording contains all the sound, not just a sequence of tiny samples. Modern digital processing makes it possible to process the analog sound and reproduce it with the pops and hiss taken out, the variations in speed eliminated. We have modern recordings of Natalie Cole and Hank Williams jr performing duets with their fathers, so anything is possible.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Did you see "Don't think I've forgotten"?

 

[repoman]

Next week I will see it in Seattle...

 

[repoman]

I wonder how much the types of microphones makes a difference.

 

[Ford]

All those old recordings are analog, either vinyl or magnetic tape. Unlike digital recording, an analog recording contains all the sound, not just a sequence of tiny samples. Modern digital processing makes it possible to process the analog sound and reproduce it with the pops and hiss taken out, the variations in speed eliminated. We have modern recordings of Natalie Cole and Hank Williams jr performing duets with their fathers, so anything is possible.

Well, almost anything.

The ability of digital processing to remove noise and apply pitch correction is pretty impressive, and if you've got the original tracks you can create new mixes, but at the end of the day, what's on the tape is what's on the tape.

 

[repoman]

I am not sure about this, somehow old music seems to have voice quality that is different from anything made now and seems unrealistic. Some aspect of the sonic quality is somehow different and I can't explain how. Not just cracks, pop and speed differences.

 

[bilby]

I am not sure about this, somehow old music seems to have voice quality that is different from anything made now and seems unrealistic. Some aspect of the sonic quality is somehow different and I can't explain how. Not just cracks, pop and speed differences.

Almost everyone used to smoke heavily...

 

[Horatio Parker]

Everything then was recorded on a single microphone.

The biggest difference would be better frequency response, more highs and lows. Old music has a midrangy sound.

But production, pop music production also uses tricks. A quality considered desirable such as raspiness can be brought out using eq.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Next week I will see it in Seattle...

It was scheduled late here at IFC, then it was in the neighborhood theaters for only a week, so I blew it. Probably end up watching it with on my iPad.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

What would 1940's and earlier singers sound like on current equipment?

Better than most of the singers out here now. Not all, but isn't that always the way. The best of any era will sound better that the most of any era.

 

[repoman]

So, if the microphone that a particular song was made on is known can it be rejiggered to be close to what it would sound like on a modern microphone?

And if a singer performed on different types of mics, than a data set of their tone might be made.

 

[Horatio Parker]

So, if the microphone that a particular song was made on is known can it be rejiggered to be close to what it would sound like on a modern microphone?

And if a singer performed on different types of mics, than a data set of their tone might be made.

Yes. But I don't know if the tone and the room can ever be completely separated. Probably, but I'm no audio engineer.