The Loudness Wars and the impact

I have blogged about this before...the trend towards first music listening occurring on portable devices, which are really not hi-fi devices. The de facto standard for initial distribution of much music is now MP3, a lossy compression standard which is way below the standard and resolution at which music is recorded and mixed.
As a result, as this NPR article explains, released recordings have been steadily getting louder, and recording and mixing engineers are making extensive use (way beyond abuse) of compression.
I can tell the difference by listening to various different CDs in my collection bought over the last 10 years. Some of the more modern ones are insanely loud compared to older CDs, but not in a nice way - they sound abrasive and the dynamics are hopelessly compressed. Since I like dynamic range in music, I am not impressed by this, and it deters me from listening to recordings mangled in this way.

01.7.2010 • Music Industry • PermalinkPermalink

Here is an example of how the music industry screwed up on DRM

Link: http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx

This article by a Windows expert from 2005 explains in some detail how Sony's attempt to include Digital Rights Management (DRM) on a CD release led them to implement a solution that installed a rootkit on Windows, compromising the safety and integrity of the operating system.
I remember in the mid-80's when software manufacturers attempted to implement DRM on their products, it was a failure, mainly because every single DRM solution was broken, in some cases very quickly. Many software vendors spent millions of dollars on copy-prevention solutions, but most of the money was wasted. Eventually manufacturers abandoned copy-protection for all but the most unregulated marketplaces. The music industry appeared to be unwilling to learn anything from the software industry, so we have been treated to ludicrous, ineffective and dangerous solutions like the one detailed above.

01.4.2010 • Music Industry • PermalinkPermalink

Doug Rauch - an appreciation

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Rauch

One of the treasured LPs in my collection from the mid-70's is "Lotus" by Santana. "Lotus" was a special project by Sony Japan, who wheeled in an entire recording console to one of the concerts in Japan by what was then known as the New Santana Band. This band had recorded "Caravanserai" in 1972, which marked a new more jazz-focussed direction by Santana, and the same band would record "Welcome" in 1973. This was the tour to promote "Welcome".
Sony Japan, being the perfectionists that they were, recorded the whole concert, mixed it and released nearly all of it on 4 LPs as "Lotus", complete with extensive packaging and sleevenotes, with some beautiful artwork. For a long time "Lotus" was only available in Japan. Apparently CBS declined to release it outside of Japan unless it was edited down to a double LP, which Santana reportedly refused to agree to.
I bought my vinyl copy of "Lotus" secondhand in Manchester in 1975 for what was a tidy price at the time. This is a unique LP in that you get to hear a great band playing superbly in excellent sound quality, and you get to hear virtually the entire concert in the same sequence as they played it in the auditorium. (It is a little-known reality that tune sequences in live albums are often significantly different to the actual concert).
One of the most impressive features of "Lotus" is the great bass playing by Doug Rauch, who had joined the band in early 1972 to replace original bass player David Brown. Rauch was in his early 20's and this was his first major band role, but he sounds like he had been in the band for years. Listening to this concert, his playing is perfect for the band soundscape - tight, sinewy yet melodic. He sounds as bedded into the band as Berry Oakley did in the Allman Brothers at the time.
Sadly, Doug Rauch fell victim to the music industry drug culture. This short Wikipedia article explains how his career stalled out due to drug issues, and he died in 1979 of a drug overdose before he had even reached 30. However, it also explains how he was the pioneer of the double-thumb approach to hitting the strings, a technique since popularized by Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten (among other players). He was in some respects ahead of his time, and "Lotus" shows that he was an excellent all-round player, especially considering his age at the time. Sadly he did not live long enough to make his mark in music.

12.30.2009 • Artists • PermalinkPermalink

Nice interview with Joe Zawinul

Link: http://www.innerviews.org/inner/zawinul.html

Sitting around last night contemplating the fact that it is over 2 years since Joe Zawinul left us, I did some searching and found this interview with him from 1998. Not earth-shattering stuff, but some interesting comments from Joe about his career, projects and bands etc.

12.15.2009 • Artists • PermalinkPermalink

The new old Prefab Sprout CD

Link: http://www.prefabsprout.net/discog.html#anchor_123

Prefab Sprout, the ensemble built around the songs of Paddy McAloon, has a new CD available, with the title of "Let's Change The World With Music".
Only...this is not a "new" CD. It is actually a slightly reworked variant of a collection of songs intended to be the follow-up to the 1990 CD "Jordan: The Comeback". Intended for release in 1992, the album, in demo form, was rejected by the Sprouts' record company of the time. Paddy McAloon then shelved it and moved on to writing other collections of songs.

10.15.2009 • Artists • PermalinkPermalink