"Voice Grafting" Caruso

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estott
Victor Monarch
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Re: "Voice Grafting" Caruso

Post by estott »

epigramophone wrote:Wearing headphones through which he could hear the original recording, the conductor had the difficult task of making the new orchestra follow the original exactly. During any long orchestral passages the original recording was shut off, leaving the new orchestra on their own. No wonder the new orchestra was not always perfectly synchronised with the old.
It is remarkable that some of the dubs are as good as they are- I thought "Vesti La Giubba" on the Victor "curtain" was fairly successful, Shilkret was able to blend the new orchestra into the old one reasonably well.

melvind
Victor IV
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Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:23 am

Re: "Voice Grafting" Caruso

Post by melvind »

estott wrote: It is remarkable that some of the dubs are as good as they are- I thought "Vesti La Giubba" on the Victor "curtain" was fairly successful, Shilkret was able to blend the new orchestra into the old one reasonably well.
I agree. I think the 30s Victor Curtain label versions worked much better than the 2000s digital versions. I think they sound a bit closer to the original acoustic voice even though the orchestra was recorded electrically. The contrast between the voice and orchestra isn't as obvious as the more recent versions.

Viva-voce
Victor III
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Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: "Voice Grafting" Caruso

Post by Viva-voce »

Yes I find a few of these enjoyable but at best they are curiosities not to be taken seriously as some are laughingly bad lol.

I'm a purist I guess and still prefer hearing original pressings in clean condition either on my modern equipment (for his zonofono, G&T, and Victor Monarchs) or on my wood horn Victor IV for the common Victors.

Steven

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