Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ooo, ooo, I've got another one


A further example of my idiocy. I've been slowly mp3ifying [(c) ToffeeBoy 2009] my vinyl and have recently been enjoying converting my Mogwai collection, but I noticed something a bit strange after I'd converted My Father My King. The sleeve says that the track is 20'12" but Audacity was telling me that it was only 14'57". This seemed a little odd given that I listened to it while it was recording, and I didn't notice any scratches or jumps.

Then it occurred to me that I might have John Peeled it and been playing it at the wrong speed. Audacity can rather cleverly convert songs from 45rpm to 33.3rpm, so I did that and, lo and behold, 20'12"! Which means that for nearly a decade I've been playing and loving a song by one of my favourite bands at the wrong speed.

The proper version doesn't quite sound right to me yet, so for now I'm stuck with the SatanKidneyPie remix. Needless to say, you don't have to listen to both versions all the way through, but some reassurance that it's an easy mistake to make would be nice...

18 comments:

SatanKidneyPie said...

By the way, if Mogwai aren't 'M' in the A-Z of Scottish Indie, then *threateningly* we might have a problem.

Blimpy said...

John Peel would be proud indeed!

As for AyeTunes, the A-Z of Scottish Indie - The only thing definate so far is that A is for Arab Strap.

(this is becuase this is the onyl one I've written so far! note i say written, not published!!)

Anonymous said...

Laughing my socks off, SKP!

Will listen to both in the morning.

Thanks.

DsD

Chris said...

I can well understand the mistake. I've listened to the first six minutes of your version fairly happily. But knowing what is to come makes listening to the 'correct' version feel a bit like I'm in a film where I have a premonition that something unsettling is about to happen. I'm going to bed now.

Shoegazer said...

Love the pic; Love the post. Welcome back, SKP.

goneforeign said...

Say no more!

Shoey said...

The pic below, obviously. I mean, this ones just an album cover. & it's a perfectly fine cover & everything, but the other pic was funny. Say no more, don't want to upset Mogwai anymore than you already have. Oh, did I say that out loud. My bad. But you know they're Scottish right & that their 1st album was a tribute to the meanest Scotts gang in living memory?

Erm, when did you say you were coming back again?

tincanman said...

Before long we'll all have very similar tales to tell (if we don't already) about how we spent years enjoying a song by artist A only to find out it was a mistagged MP3 and was actually by Artist B. This will be discovered in embarassing fashion after moaning after a concert that s/her didn't perform said favorite song.

Abahachi said...

I think they're both great, and I don't think it's a criticism of the music to say that there wasn't any obvious reason to prefer one version over the other. If you don't have any vocals, changes in pitch can be tricky to identify; note that recent editions of Kind of Blue have been adjusted to take account of the fact that apparently one of the recording machines was running at the wrong speed...

Mnemonic said...

I have some Carl Craig on vinyl and I still don't know what speed it's meant to be played at. I alternate when I play it and it sounds good at 45 and 33.

Luke-sensei said...

me too, i've got a couple of 7"s where I altern8 between which speed I prefer...it's all good music!

TatankaYotanka said...

I listened to your version first and then the original, which sounded way ploddy after the hi-energy fizz you'd added.

One of the classic Peel 'versions' was Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting where he managed to play the entire first side of the album backwards as he was working with a reel to reel tape copy. This worked out so splendidly that when the album was remastered last year, the bonus disc includes the Peel's revision and for a lark, side two of the album played at 16rpm.

barbryn said...

The SKP remix is absolutely mental, and way better than the original.

Can we hear it backwards now?

Chris said...

'Can we hear it backwards now?'

Please skip the bit about devil worship at the beginning....

Catcher said...

Hear it live . . .

SatanKidneyPie said...

Thanks for the reassurance everybody. Still can't help I've offended the 'gwai, though.

tincanman said...

SKP, you just need to rebalance the mogwai somehow. Perhaps plant a hibiscus where the scent will waft through your open window?

Abahachi said...

But don't water it, or feed it at the wrong time of year.