There seems to have been a good deal of variation among recording speeds in the earliest days of the gramophone, which would (in addition to the points already made) result in some distortion to singers' voices if these were then played back at a standard 78 rpm, or, indeed, if early cylinders and/or records were re-recorded at speeds which ensured that the pitch was as scored; Fernando de Lucia, in particular, would often record arias a semitone below the given pitch (according to one of his pupils - ?Tom Burke), meaning that his voice sounds rather thinner, and tempi slightly faster, than the reality. Lily McCormack tells how John McCormack was in Japan, and heard one of his own recordings being played far too fast, and went into the record shop to point this out. The shopkeeper said something like, "no, no, this is John Comic, very famous Irish singer..."