Compression squeezes the life out of music!
Dynamic range compression isn't new, it's been used by recording, mixing, and mastering engineers for many decades. A little bit of compression is fine, but over-compression can sound downright ugly. Most of today's music, whether it's on LP, CD, the radio or iTunes is over-compressed. Most remastered CDs are over-compressed.
Before we go any further, I'm not referring to the lossy compression used in MP3s, or lossless compression used in Apple Lossless. They've got their own set of problems, but dynamic range compression is a very different predicament.
To the casual listener compression can sound "good," mostly because it makes the music seem louder and punchier, and once music's natural soft-loud dynamic shifts are squashed flat music is easier to hear in noisy environments like cars or over iPods. Compression reduces the need to adjust playback volume--because it's always nearly the same volume--loud.
Engineers worry that if they don't compress their recordings the music would seem too soft and low. That is, if a music listener went from really loud, compressed music to quieter, uncompressed music they probably wouldn't like uncompressed music--unless they turned it up! That way they would hear the music's natural soft-loud dynamics.
Unfortunately, that's not an acceptable scenario to most engineers or record labels. They're addicted to over-compression, it's a hard habit to break.
But the unnatural onslaught of compressed sound obliterates musical nuance, delicacy and emotional power. Compression's loud-all-the-time nature sucks the life out of music.
Here's a great video that demonstrates the evils of compression.
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I play records, Christian Marclay plays with records. They're not the same thing.
He cuts up LPs and glues together slices from different records. He'll mix rock and big band jazz together in alternating slices. The effect can be mesmerizing.
Marclay's interested in the sounds people don't want. Every crack in the record becomes part of the rhythm, the skips, groove roar, static, speeding up, slowing down, wow and flutter are all acceptable to Marclay. He uses his records' fragility, purposely messes with the grooves and puts adhesive tape on them. He brings the recorded music to life, making new, unheard music out of old recordings.
It's performance art, and when Marclay performs live, he's no DJ, it's more about manipulating turntables to make altogether new sounds--the cut-up records are the instruments. When Marclay scratches, he really scratches. Trust me on this one, you've never seen or heard anything like it.
The Audiophiliac's primary mission is turning readers on to high-quality audio products and great music, but today, it's more about super lo-fi.
Google's YouTube has loads of wacky videos on how to make cheap speakers. Check out my favorite so far, "How to Create a High-Def Speaker for Under a Buck," right. It doesn't work, but it's the most entertaining.
After that, watch "Attempting to Make a Homemade Speaker for Under a Buck." It's a response to that first one.
If you really want to give speaker building a try, go to Jose Pino's "How To Make a Speaker" page. His step-by-step instructions look more promising.
No, I didn't actually try to build any of these things, but Pino's project looks as if it would work.
LittleFlashlight's hilarious YouTube video portrays audiophilia at its most extreme, er, light. The title, "Why Valhalla power cable is better than a woman" merely hints at the possibilities. LittleFlashlight has a bunch of videos up there, but "Woman" is the best of the ones I've seen.
Full video after the jump.
... Read moreThis American Express ad on YouTube runs like an ad for audiophiles. Turntables, tubes, and high-end headphones all get glamour shots. No brands are mentioned, so unless you're already in the know you'll probably never figure them out. Oh well, it's still kinda cool.
(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)
The iPhone commercial parody on YouTube with genius filmmaker David Lynch hit the mark for me. His insight about people watching movies on iPhones, I'm paraphrasing--"You think you've seen the movie after watching it on your iPhone, but you'll be cheated. You haven't seen the movie."--could also be applied to music.
Just because you were listening to music while text messaging your boy/girlfriend doesn't mean you've actually heard the music. Exposure to music, art, film, what have you, is not the same as active engagement. It's kind of like having sex while watching Lost or Law & Order, which might not necessarily be a bad thing, but it does say something about the sex.
So the question is, do you ever just listen to music--without also doing something else at the same time?
Or do you--
Read
Cook
Work
Exercise
Commute to work
Or ________
while listening to music?
And when you just listen, does it change your feelings about the music?
Stumbled up upon this great video on YouTube that starts with the various band members crafting their instruments--carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins, leek-zucchini-vibrators, cucumberophones and celery bongos! The Vegetable Orchestra consists of 11 musicians, a sound engineer and a video artist. Based in Vienna, the orchestra plays concerts in Europe and Asia. From time to time workshops are given - on how to manufacture an instrument or on musical topics. The orchestra was founded in 1998.
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