Cassette recorders

[Terry Beckingham]

At 07:30 PM 9/29/98 +0100, you wrote:
>In article <3610C0A6.6FE3@redrose.net>, Clyde Hollinger
><cedel@redrose.net> writes
>>>  What if you have a slower running tape recorder than Mr Potter's how is
>>>  he going to listen to the recording objectively.
>>> 
>>Friends:
>>
>>       For what it's worth, I got curious about cassette speed variations when
>>I was a music teacher.  We had five cassette recorders in the
>>department.  I conducted some tests, recording A440 from a strobe on a
>>cassette and checking it on all the others.  
>>       If I recall correctly, not one of them matched any of the others.
>>Therefore, at most, only one could have been correct.  Which one?  Who
>>knows?  The _cassette_ may have been wrong.  For those few instances
>>where intonation was critical, I bought a variable speed cassette
>>recorder.
>>
>>Clyde Hollinger
>>
>>
>Clyde,
>
>For it to work on testing a tuning,  the testee  would also need to
>record the "A 440" so you can calibrate the recorder too "A440" on the
>testers recorder. Now that way you will  have a sporting chance at
>listening  objectively to intervals.
>    
>I would not like to give advise on a tuning using this method. 
>
> 
>Barrie,
>
Barrie, clyde etal,

The pitch of the tuning is only one aspect that the tester listens to. If,
at the beginning of the recording, the testee played F2 and the fork, and
then F2 and A4, would the comparison of the beat rates not establish whether
or not the pitch was correct, regardless of the speed at which the recorder
played it back? (of course I am assuming that the recorder would pick up the
beating between F2 and the fork). 
The rest of the tuning could then be verified by the tester just by the beat
rate of the testing intervals to each other, regardless of whether or not
the the playback recorder gave the pitch at 440.

Does this make any sense?

Terry Beckingham