Reply #57: I don't think it was an orchestra... [View All]

[regnaD kciN]

...I think it was a canned backing tape.

Which leads us to one of two possible explanations:

1) Sarahbou didn't bother to tune her flute to the backing tape before the performance, or

2) since this happened in 1984 (early enough in the CD era for the technology to have not become generally available), it was probably an analog tape, either reel-to-reel or cassette -- if there was any pitch instability in the tape duplication or the playback machine (say, a battery-powered cassette deck that started running low on power), it is possible for the recording to drift out of pitch with the performer even if they had tuned properly to begin with.

I would tend to go with the second explanation, since it sounds to me like she started off in tune with the backing track, and they got seriously off-pitch starting about midway through, and getting worse until the end.