by Kevin Becka December 18th, 2009


The End of Hi-Fidelity – Digital distribution of music has lowered the fidelity bar to new levels offering consumers less quality than ever. George Massenburg recently spoke out on the effects of compression formats that introduce distortion, destroy stereo image and generally sound awful giving us something to think about and the knowledge to fight back.


Illegal Downloading – The popularity of illegal peer-to-peer music “sharing” eroded the power of copyright and greatly affected the bottom line of our industry. The Supreme Court came down on the side of copyright holders but not before the damage was done and an entire generation grew to feel they were entitled to free music.


Pitch Correction Abuse – Pitch correction software is nothing short of amazing, but in many cases it created a music culture where talent is optional and production is driven by “fix it later” instead of “get it right.”


The Death of Dynamics – While audio pros continue to fight the misconception that louder is better, it keeps rearing its ugly head, even in mainstream media where Metallica fans cried foul when they realized that Guitar Hero: Metallica game mixes sounded better than the record because the songs had more dynamic range.


Staying Inside The Box – There’s no question that digital audio workstations, modeling software and plugins are here to stay and have changed our industry. But completely eschewing analog processing and recording in favor of staying “inside the box” denies adding a flavor and color to music that can never be modeled. Case in point, The Dead Weather’s Horehound which was recorded on 2", 8-track analog tape and is a feast for the ears.


Mix Magazine: http://blog.mixonline.com...noughties/
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My quick takes on the above.

1. Many folks really don't care about fidelity. Their primary concern is how many mp3 files they can cram into their music players.

2. A large segment of the public has decided that music has no value so they've developed a sense of free entitlement to someone else's labor.

3. Many of today's "popular artists" do not have the ability to “get it right” period.
The easiest way to fix someone that can't sing in the first place is to auto-tune it.

4. The "Loudness Wars" (see answer #1)

5. Digital vs Analog (see answer #1)




Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

EXACTLY especially on your number 2 listed. A majority of the consumer has no interest to who recorded it, who played on it, who wrote it, or what it came from, music has no value at the end of the day to, most, i'd say about 80% of the public maybe more.

5 Worst Audio Trends of the Noughties

by Kevin Becka December 18th, 2009


The End of Hi-Fidelity – Digital distribution of music has lowered the fidelity bar to new levels offering consumers less quality than ever. George Massenburg recently spoke out on the effects of compression formats that introduce distortion, destroy stereo image and generally sound awful giving us something to think about and the knowledge to fight back.


Illegal Downloading – The popularity of illegal peer-to-peer music “sharing” eroded the power of copyright and greatly affected the bottom line of our industry. The Supreme Court came down on the side of copyright holders but not before the damage was done and an entire generation grew to feel they were entitled to free music.


Pitch Correction Abuse – Pitch correction software is nothing short of amazing, but in many cases it created a music culture where talent is optional and production is driven by “fix it later” instead of “get it right.”


The Death of Dynamics – While audio pros continue to fight the misconception that louder is better, it keeps rearing its ugly head, even in mainstream media where Metallica fans cried foul when they realized that Guitar Hero: Metallica game mixes sounded better than the record because the songs had more dynamic range.


Staying Inside The Box – There’s no question that digital audio workstations, modeling software and plugins are here to stay and have changed our industry. But completely eschewing analog processing and recording in favor of staying “inside the box” denies adding a flavor and color to music that can never be modeled. Case in point, The Dead Weather’s Horehound which was recorded on 2", 8-track analog tape and is a feast for the ears.


Mix Magazine: http://blog.mixonline.com...noughties/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

My quick takes on the above.

1. Many folks really don't care about fidelity. Their primary concern is how many mp3 files they can cram into their music players.

2. A large segment of the public has decided that music has no value so they've developed a sense of free entitlement to someone else's labor.

3. Many of today's "popular artists" do not have the ability to “get it right” period.
The easiest way to fix someone that can't sing in the first place is to auto-tune it.

4. The "Loudness Wars" (see answer #1)

5. Digital vs Analog (see answer #1)

theAudience said:

You can actually trace the beginning of the end of hi-fidelity all the way back to the introduction of the Sony Walkman. It was that point that people chose convenience over sound quality, as they wanted their music to be portable and taken wherever they wanted to. The introduction of the CD temporarily put a stop to the loss of sound quality, but it hastened the demise of analog recording and mastering.

And as for downloading, I would argue that the people who download music think that they're entitled to free music; on the contrary, they feel that the record companies were vastly overcharging for music in the first place, and with the Gestapo tactics that the record companies took by suing their own customers, the act of downloading became justified civil disobedience.

theAudience said:

EXACTLY especially on your number 2 listed. A majority of the consumer has no interest to who recorded it, who played on it, who wrote it, or what it came from, music has no value at the end of the day to, most, i'd say about 80% of the public maybe more.

Very sad. I finally got an mp3 player this year and only use it to make work at the office go by a little faster. I totally don't see the point of listening at home where I have all the originals on the shelf and can just play them instead.

I have that Dead Weather album. I'll have to listen to it more closely (NOT on the iPod).

The Dead Weather’s Horehound which was recorded on 2", 8-track analog tape and is a feast for the ears.

theAudience said:

You can actually trace the beginning of the end of hi-fidelity all the way back to the introduction of the Sony Walkman. It was that point that people chose convenience over sound quality, as they wanted their music to be portable and taken wherever they wanted to. The introduction of the CD temporarily put a stop to the loss of sound quality, but it hastened the demise of analog recording and mastering.

And as for downloading, I would argue that the people who download music think that they're entitled to free music; on the contrary, they feel that the record companies were vastly overcharging for music in the first place, and with the Gestapo tactics that the record companies took by suing their own customers, the act of downloading became justified civil disobedience.

sextonseven said:

What's the biggest difference, if any, in the listening experience (iPod vs stereo system)?


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

Specifically I hate how my ipod (an old model) has preset eq settings, none of which are what I want.

I think it's like looking at pictures on a computer vs. looking at actual prints.

The computer screen gets the point across but it's lacking the subtleties of the print.

Specifically I hate how my ipod (an old model) has preset eq settings, none of which are what I want.

NDRU said:

I don't use an iPod, which is why I asked.

What I was trying to figure out is if there was a similar "super-stereo effect", a term that used to be applied to music when listening through headphones.


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

#5 Jack White (Dead Weather) has always embraced old technology & classic sensibilities. I believe that despite his many great songs he has yet to produce a masterpiece of an album, but his style & attitude set him apart from so many of his "peers"

sextonseven said:

What's the biggest difference, if any, in the listening experience (iPod vs stereo system)?


Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

NDRU pretty much said it all. The default bit rate for iTunes used to be a low 128 kbps. The latest version has now raised the bit rate to 256, but if your ears aren't burned out from too much abuse (like loud concerts) then you can still tell the difference between those files and the original discs. When you rip your own CDs, you can change the iTunes setting to lossless (like how I did for that rare Are You Experienced CD that I accidentally sold ) but lossless files take up too much space on your hard drive--which perhaps makes me guilty of your quick take #1.