Recording Technique
The Chipmunks' voices were recorded at half the normal tape speed onto audiotape by voice talent talking or singing at half the normal speaking rate. When the tape was played back at normal speed, they would sound a full octave higher in pitch, at normal tempo. The technique was by no means new to the Chipmunks. For example, the high and low pitched characters in The Wizard of Oz were achieved by speeding up and slowing down vocal recordings. Also, Mel Blanc's voice characterization for Daffy Duck was sped up to some extent. Now, the same effect is created digitally and in real time with a pitch shift.
However, the extensive use of this technique with the Chipmunks, coupled with their popularity, linked this technique to them. The term "chipmunk-voiced" has entered the American vernacular to describe any artificially high-pitched voice. A similar effect could be obtained in playback by merely taking an LP recorded at 33⅓ RPM and playing it back at 45 or 78 RPM, a trick sometimes tried out by ordinary record listeners. The instrumental portions of the song are sped up as well, however, making it obvious that the music is being played at the wrong speed. Bagdasarian recorded vocals and music at different speeds to combine properly on his recording. (Guitarist and studio wizard Les Paul claimed to have visited Bagdasarian's studio in 1958 and helped with the recording.)
The technique was frequently imitated in comedy records, notably songs by Skrillex, "Transistor Radio" by Benny Hill, "Bridget the Midget" by Ray Stevens, "The Laughing Gnome" by David Bowie, and on several tracks on Joe Meek and the Blue Men's album I Hear a New World. The technique also appears in the instrumental break in Bobby Lewis' 1961 US #1 hit "Tossin' and Turnin'". It was used extensively in the British puppet show Pinky and Perky. Prince has used the technique on several of his songs, as well as Frank Zappa on We're Only In It For The Money and on the instrumental album Hot Rats, among others. In the early 90's rave scene, many breakbeat hardcore productions would utilize the same studio tricks, often taking acappella from old soul and house records and speeding them up to fit the faster tempo. Vocals in songs that used this method would typically be referred to as "chipmunk vocals".
Read more about this topic: Alvin And The Chipmunks
Famous quotes containing the words recording and/or technique:
“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
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