[Leica] Dylan's Pitch

[rpalmier at depaul.edu (bob palmieri)]

Folks-

Well... what do I find as a result of my monthly perusal of LUG  
activities but a discussion of Bob Dylan's pitch acuity...

All I'd better say is that Dylan's pitch is so wide that it's  
sometimes hard to even name the note he may be intending to hit.   
But, as in the "in-out of focus" analogy, pitch accuracy is not an  
important part of his gestalt, and in fact I wouldn't be surprised if  
measurably accurate pitch would detract from his overall sound.  And,  
I might also say that anyone who focusses on this aspect isn't  
"hearing" these performances in the most advantageous way.

These days many of us on the production side of music are often paid  
a pretty penny to fix the pitch on every note of a vocal track (with  
the audio equivalents of Photoshop), and in the wrong hands (which  
can often be those who place the pitch of every note "right on the  
money" in terms of the measurable center of the pitch) the results  
can sound pretty silly.

However, I will say that I went to see Dylan & Joni Mitchell on a  
double bill a few years back and Dylan's live band and vocals were  
actually so out of tune that I (among many others) actually had to  
leave for the Bobster's portion of the program...

Joni, however, just killed.

Me, I'm going back to looking at Luis' collapsible 'cron shots.

Bob Palmieri