TubeNet

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/vide ... 1132095942" target="_blank

The actual clip starts at about 00:48 -

Parading BATS
giant raincatcher
double bell euph

Sousa's Coat

I don't think I ever played it anywhere near that tempo, maybe that's why our band isn't as popular as Sousa's was. Seems to be a half step lower than written, and I guess it couldn't be 11 half steps high, as the instruments don't sound an octave high.

I've always wondered why the old recordings sound a bit lower in pitch and also faster. I kind of wonder if it has anything to do with being super old recordings and the technology they used. I mean, the man's voice sounds a little weird, too.

At least for video, things look sped up, because they were recorded with fewer frames per second, and are being played back as if they were recorded with modern numbers of fps. Maybe the audio was sped up to match the video? But also, wouldn't speeding it up make it higher in pitch than lower?

I dunno... There's something there. Not sure what, but I do wonder if watching Sousa's band live was noticeable different in speed or pitch than today's recordings.

Thanks for that very interesting post. Great stuff!

What's with that old wrecked car on your ID? What kind of car is it?

Ace

Interesting that some focus on the speed of the action or pitch of the music - I found those things to be of less importance.

For me the most interesting things are watching Sousa's conducting style (which, according to contemporary accounts, was a spectacle) and seeing players I've heard of my entire life in action like real human beings, and not a static picture in some book.

That film was made in 1900, over two decades before sound capture on film was possible, and the band playing on the film clip was probably the Paramount studio outfit, not the Sousa Band.

Cameras at that time were hand-cranked, and in the year 1900 was still quite a new skill. The speed of the film was influenced by the cameraman's skill (or lack thereof) at keeping a steady arm speed, consistently.

I remember watching a documentary about early Hollywood and the film industry, where an early cameraman said the way he kept the optimum tempo in his head while filming was to imagine Verdi's "Anvil Chorus" and move his arm accordingly - every cameraman had his own idea of what was "standard". The film speed actually wasn't standardized until the late 20s when "talking pictures" were introduced.

There is a sound film of the Sousa Band playing the "Stars and Stripes", from 1929 - it's quite a bit slower than the one above. Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate it

Ace, the car in my avatar is a Model T Ford, and from the looks of it, probably a 1921 or 1922.

Cool!

roweenie wrote:...

That film was made in 1900, over two decades before sound capture on film was possible, and the band playing on the film clip was probably the Paramount studio outfit, not the Sousa Band.

...

They might have picked a tempo that let the music end in a good spot along with the movie clip.