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Topic: The Big Hurt |
Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 31 Jan 2004 2:10 am |
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Friday night while driving home from work I heard a song called "The Big Hurt" by Miss Toni Fisher, recorded in 1959. The song is unique in that it was recorded with alot of reverb and a slight phase shift employed. It must have been one the first songs to use phase shift.
Toni Fisher
Born 1931
Died Feb 1999
Genres Rock
Styles Girl Group
See Also Miss Toni Fisher
Best known for her 1959 Top Ten smash "The Big Hurt," teen pop singer Miss Toni Fisher was born in Los Angeles in 1931. She recorded "The Big Hurt" for the tiny Signet label, and not only did the single become a major hit, but its innovative use of electronic phasing effects anticipated the increased studio experimentation which increasingly characterized popular music in the decade to follow. Fisher subsequently enjoyed two more hits — a rendition of the Irving Berlin song "How Deep Is the Ocean" and the 1962 Top 40 entry "West of the Wall," a one-of-a-kind ode to love and freedom inspired by the Berlin Wall — before receding from the limelight. She suffered a fatal heart attack in February of 1999
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 31 Jan 2004 5:21 am
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| According to legend, the phasing on the record was an accident. The engineer first thought he had ruined the record, than discovered how to eliminate it, but the producers liked the sound and decided to keep it in. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 31 Jan 2004 9:38 am
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There was also an "urban myth" that the phasing was accomplished by broadcasting the vocal track across the Atlantic Ocean!
People who listen to short-wave broadcasts hear this "phase change" quite often in broadcasts, and it's caused by irregular reflections of radio waves off the ionosphere.
The ionosphere is one of the upper levels of our atmosphere, and it's radio waves' curious tendency to "bounce" off this ionized (electrically charged) atmospheric layer that allowed us to transmit radio signals (which normally move in a straight line, or "line of sight", as it's termed) around the world before communications satellites became commonplace.
However they did it, it's a unique sound and song, and one that's been in my record collection for many decades. |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 31 Jan 2004 10:31 am
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| Quote: |
| However they did it... |
I don't know how THEY did it, but I've done it in my home studio by dubbing the material from one track on the tape deck on to another and playing them both back. I suspect this is how it was done on the record, and the fact that the effect occurs under these circumstances, and can be eliminated by removing one of the tracks, gives creedence to the story I mentioned earlier.
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 31 Jan 2004 12:05 pm
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Mike, you did it correctly.
The term is "flanging" which refers to the
flange on a tape reel.
You start two machines together and create the effect by putting your thumb on one of the reels to get the desired effect.
Here's a link to a complete explanation:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Articles/Flanging/
Blake |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 31 Jan 2004 12:41 pm
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Mike...thanks for the email. I thought you were arguing about my little "story". I didnt mean to get defensive, either! 
Anyhow, I researched the matter, and here's what I found in a discussion group on the web...
"We (Gold Star Recording) did 'The Big Hurt' with Toni Fisher. In those days, the pressing plants had their own labels. Allied Records, a big pressing plant in Hollywood in the '50s and '60s, had Signet Records. They put out 'The Big Hurt.' I was the engineer on that, the first record to use phasing. It was an accident. It was a binaural recording, and Bill Shankle, the producer who also wrote the song, didn't believe in two-track. He wanted mono and that was it. If he heard the voice, it was good. If he did not hear the voice, it wasn't good. It was all live at one time, orchestra, singing, everything. I gave him a take that I liked but I thought the voice was too shallow on. He liked it and took it home, then decided I was right. I offered another take, but he liked that one, said it was exciting. I said, 'It's only exciting because the voice is low.' He said, 'No.'
"So we put two version of the same take together, synced them, and played them together. The speeds didn't match exactly, and as they passed, they phased. We learned to control the beast and used it. It often happened by accident before that, and everyone always canned it and started over. But we used it this time. We talked him in to using it, he was reluctant but said 'Yep, use
it.' He's dead now, but I give him a lot of credit for being brave enough to use it."...
Alec Palao
[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 01 February 2004 at 04:56 AM.] |
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Paul Graupp
From:
Macon Ga USA
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Brandin
From:
Newport Beach CA. USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2004 9:38 am
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Thanks for the plug Andy.
GB |
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