In listening to vocal recordings from the early years of recorded voice (movies, speeches, music, etc), it seems that voices come through at a far higher pitch than you'd think they would sound in person.
Is this due to limitations of recording and audio processing equipment of the time? Was it due to taste preferences for higher voices?
I'm confused -- are you asking about why there was a preference for higher voices (tenor, soprano, etc.)? Or why the same song sounds higher than the written pitch?