I think my first contact with them was via the mid 2000s movies, I never saw it while it aired on Brazilian TV in the 90s
Yep, they changed the playback speed on the tape to get those voices. Made audio engineering history with one simple trick.
I imagine this was a brilliant mistake.
Someone played a 45 at 70rpm, and thought tee hee, they sound like a chipmunk! Wait a minute…
That’s 78, youngster. :)
Thanks! My bad.
I’m from the cassette generation, so I have experience with vinyl, but occasionally mess up the details.
Yes but the chipmunks are exactly 2x faster (1 octave higher) to hit exact notes; also the standard tape speeds were in this ratio: 1⅞ and 3¾ ips for domestic settings, and 7½, 15 and 30 ips in professional settings. The technology to change pitch and speed independently without undesirable effects only appeared with digital signal processing in the 1980s or thereabouts, so Seville needed to record at half speed, and you can hear him sometimes not holding his breath accordingly.
The effect was first introduced in his 1958 song Witch Doctor for the chorus. Like many songs in the Cold War era, it was covered by a Czechoslovak artist: actress Aťka Janoušková (and voice actress later known for Maya the Bee) was chosen for her comedic childlike voice so that she could sing the chorus a few notes (not an octave) higher in live performances. The resulting song Zázračný doktor is in third person about a guy with “nerves in shambles” visiting a psychiatrist in Kentucky (incorrectly pronounced as Ken-toots-key to rhyme with cucky – Czech for shambles), otherwise the plot is very similar.
Yeah lol, like they left it on 70, noticed after the recording, and when they switched it back they were like “OK this is it. This is the banger.” and ran with it.
I wish I could come up with a small gag/mistake that would earn me 3 grammy’s or some other equivalent 😄
He did a slew of novelty hits, so the talent and persistence were definitely there!
Many of them are still quite listenable IMO, as compared to other novelty songs which didn’t age very well…
Alvin and the Chipmunks introduced me to so much music as a kid. I’d hear a song, go ask my mom what it was, then listen to the original on cassette or record if she had it (which she usually did)
I specifically remember trying to keep the melody of Paul Simon - Mother and Child Reunion in my head while waiting for her to get home from the store. And holy shit the relevancy of that song just hit me 30 years later lol
Relevant: https://youtu.be/hBga7yYBJ6Y
Chipmunks at 16 speed. Gritty sludgerock.
It’s a pretty legit album. I’ve listened to it several times over the years.
Christmas has never started for me without playing the alvin and the chipmunks LP (it starts with some christmas songs). Or the Dr Demento Novelty Christmas Songs CD i bought when i became an adult. We put on the album when we began decorating. I have good parents sometimes.
