[Zelda]

We've been struggling with this one for a bit. The available audio sample is very short, but the section of music it contains does seem to be distinct to my ear. We are more interested in knowing what piece of music this sample is from rather than an exact recording. It seems to be derived from a piece of music that features a solo operatic singer with a men's choir - I'm certain the original key of the recording is one of these three pitches heard in the audio example below. The recording this piece of audio was derived from will have been in circulation by 1989 at the latest.

My description is certainly a little vague, but the melody the singer is performing does sound highly distinctive to my ear, I'm hoping this may stick out to someone better versed in opera than myself. Thank you!

Audio Example (SoundCloud)

 

[classicalmusicfinder]

Hm, what are the 3 segments you posted? Are these 3 original parts or is it the same part pitch shifted 3 times?

 

[Zelda]

Correct, it is a single audio recording being played back at three keys, one of which will be the original key the piece of music it is derived from will be in.

 

[classicalmusicfinder]

Correct, it is a single audio recording being played back at three keys, one of which will be the original key the piece of music it is derived from will be in.

Out of curiosity, how did this happen? You aren't sure which key is correct? Also, do you know any general info like time period or maybe it would be helpful to know how you came across it?

 

[Zelda]

Amended the OP to include a latest possible year (1989). This piece of audio has quite a story attached to it. It is derived from an E-mu Emax II keyboard program designed for live use by the English band Depeche Mode for their famous song "Enjoy the Silence". This musical part is one of several layers of sampled sounds derived from classical recordings and other sources that are used in creative ways to form the ethereal choir staccatos heard throughout the song. The sample is used very subtly and is best heard during the delivery of the chorus lyric: "Here" - sample occurs on the first beat of the new measure - "in my arms." Very quiet and just barely there - the art of sound design!

As the audio samples used for these keyboard programs were often encoded at differing pitches during the production process, the key this sample was encoded at (which is the first play-through heard in the audio demonstration) may not necessarily be the same as the source audio recording. For this reason, the sample is played here at "educated guess" pitches, one of which is likely to be the audio's original root key.