Odd question for any theory/tone buffs here.

[ooooo]

well.. i guess it could be a tone/key question... anyway.

 

what key/pitch/tone (not sure of the right terminology) is "she's got a way" by billy joel off of the "COLD SPRING HARBOR" album?

 

the story:

 

ok recently went home for vacation and just before had asked my parents to get their upright tuned by a professional because it needed it. was dissapointed when i started playing with my harmonica ( key of C) and it was clearly not in tune... thought it was tuned a half step down or up for some reason... anyway i frequently play along to cd's from the stereo so i put in some songs that i knew were tuned up or down on the recording and it didn't match any of them. I was like... ok, i guess this guy they had come tune it just did a lousy job and it is in between keys or something...

 

THEN... just by chance on the cd player i had "She's Got a Way" by Billy Joel off the Cold Spring Harbor album and it was EXACTLY in tune with my piano ??? When i got home i played that track while transposing every key i had on my digital piano and it doesnt match any of them. So what is going on here? What key (or tuning) is that track in ? I've heard of different tunings based on the A frequency or something.... A440, A420.. or whatever they are.... is this what is up, or is something else going on? I want to know so i can explain to the piano tuner the next time i go home... i doubt that he and billy's piano were both accidentally tuned to the exact same pitch. haha. Any help is mucho appreciated!!!!!!

 

NOTE: this only applies to the "she's got a way" track off of the cold spring harbor album.... the one's from his greatest hits and live cd's are in the key of C. there is a snippet of it here to listen to on the sample tracks:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Spring-Harbor-Billy-Joel/dp/B00000DCHH/ref=pd_sim_m_6/102-5666312-6316133?ie=UTF8&qid=1180126525&sr=8-10

[mate_stubb]

Pitch can change during the mastering step, when it's played on the radio, when it's mixed down, etc. These were analogue tape machines back in the day, and sometimes they were mis calibrated.

[ooooo]

i posed the question wrong btw.. should be "what tuning is the piano set to on that specific track in which that song is played in the key of G major" (asked same thing on another keys forum and several people replied that it is in G.. not what i was asking. the song is in G, but that recording is out of tune when played along a standard tuned instrument.)

[memphis]

A440 refers to the frequency of that particular note which is the A above middle C, if I'm not mistaken and its frequency is 440 Hz

 

I've heard of orchestras tuning to A 442 or A 444 to slightly change the timbre of the ensemble. Maybe you're piano tuner was just stoned or something.

[ooooo]

yeah matestubb.. i thot it could be the speed of the recording cause it is only slightly out of tune (but very noticeable when playing along to or comparing recordings from other albums) however i thought it would be a slim chance that this guy mistuned our piano EXACTLY to the pitch of the piano in that recording. thought it would be cool to find out that it was done on purpose... who knows . th

[object.session]

cool. sounds like you have the right idea:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring_Harbor_%28album%29

 

"through an error in the album's mastering, the songs were slightly too fast, up one half step, causing Joel's voice to sound high and reedy."

[GrimLuka]

Either your tuner did a lousy job, or a quite good one.

Tuning a piano can be dangerous business for an instrument. Often, if it's too badly out of tune, a tuner will tune it to 436, 438 or something like that. Then next time, he can tune it to 440. That way, there is less stress during tuning, and tuning lasts much longer. Had he tuned it to 440, he could have damaged your instruments or your strings. And anyways it would have detuned after 2 weeks.

[justinulpherdt]

In the old days of analog, radio stations would frequently run their turntables a bit fast, shortening the time for music in order to get in more commercials.

 

That can be done in the digital realm as well. If it resulted in a change of pitch, the station is using a cheapo program that doesn't correct the pitch along with the speed change.

[ooooo]

 

cool. sounds like you have the right idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring_Harbor_%28album%29 "through an error in the album's mastering, the songs were slightly too fast, up one half step, causing Joel's voice to sound high and reedy."

 

 

thx object, that confirms what someone in another forum told me that he has a live '77 concert of Billy where he references the fact that the tracks were sped up.... mystery solved! Funny coincidence that the tuner had it off just enough so that it was perfectly in tune with the mixing error. Could be like someone else said that he had to tune it a little off due to not being tuned for a while, but wanted to make sure he didn't do it on purpose because of how it matched that track. thx all.