Pitch control
Encyclopedia
A variable speed pitch control (or vari-speed) is a control on an audio device such as a turntable
, tape recorder
, or CD player that allows the operator to deviate from a standard speed (such as 33⅓, 45 or even 78 rpm
on a turntable). The latter term "vari-speed" is more commonly used for tape decks, particularly in the UK
. Analog pitch controls vary the voltage being used by the playback device; digital controls use digital signal processing
to change the playback speed or pitch. A typical DJ deck allows the pitch to be increased or reduced by up to 8%, which is achieved by increasing or reducing the speed at which the platter rotates.
Turntable or CD playing speed may be changed for beatmatching
and other DJ techniques, while pitch shift
using a pitch control has myriad uses in sound recording.
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, tape recorder
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
, or CD player that allows the operator to deviate from a standard speed (such as 33⅓, 45 or even 78 rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
on a turntable). The latter term "vari-speed" is more commonly used for tape decks, particularly in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Analog pitch controls vary the voltage being used by the playback device; digital controls use digital signal processing
Digital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
to change the playback speed or pitch. A typical DJ deck allows the pitch to be increased or reduced by up to 8%, which is achieved by increasing or reducing the speed at which the platter rotates.
Turntable or CD playing speed may be changed for beatmatching
Beatmatching
Beatmatching is a disc jockey technique of pitch shifting or timestretching a track to match its tempo to that of the currently playing track e.g. the kicks and snares in two house records hit at the same time when both records are played simultaneously...
and other DJ techniques, while pitch shift
Pitch shift
Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval are called "pitch shifters" or "pitch benders".-Pitch/time shifting:...
using a pitch control has myriad uses in sound recording.
See also
- Chopped and ScrewedChopped and screwedChopped and screwed refers to a technique of remixing hip hop music which developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the 1990s...
- Audio timescale-pitch modificationAudio timescale-pitch modificationTime stretching is the process of changing the speed or duration of an audio signal without affecting its pitch.Pitch scaling or pitch shifting is the opposite: the process of changing the pitch without affecting the speed...
- BeatmatchingBeatmatchingBeatmatching is a disc jockey technique of pitch shifting or timestretching a track to match its tempo to that of the currently playing track e.g. the kicks and snares in two house records hit at the same time when both records are played simultaneously...
- Pitch cuePitch cuePitch cueing is the process a DJ does to seamlessly beat lock two different tracks. It is similar to the process of changing sample rate in the digital domain or time in the analog domain....