Original Vinyl
Unlike Jonah, I have always loved music. I love the tones and the rhythm, the cacophony and the silence. I take walks along the shore just to hear the pounding cadence of the ocean, settling my heart into time. And I love my vinyl.
Though I was born after 8-tracks, into the cassette tape generation, I was raised on vinyl. We had a lovely Pioneer sound system, which would rival many modern acoustic offerings. My mother kept a constant flow of music playing in the house, and my father curated our ability to hear.
Some of my earliest memories involve my dad getting us all to lay down in front of the speakers in the living room, and turning out the lights. Telling us what to listen for, my father started a record (such as Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee) in the dark, knowing by feel and years of experience exactly where to set the needle. Off we went to a world observed only by sound.
The Typewriter and The Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson, performed by Arther Fiedler and the Boston Pops, still bring fond memories, as does Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf as narrated by Boris Karlov. We learned to hear both the instruments and the images. My father taught us the glory of stillness and silence and imagination. To listen rather than speak.
To this day, I prefer the sound of original vinyls for any recording before 1980, and refuse to buy remastered works. I generally refuse to buy vinyls of modern recordings for the same reason - the mastering is different, and an analog sourced vinyl will have a very different sound than a vinyl cut from a purely digital recording, at least to some ears.
While I have a deep appreciation for the development of modern recording and mastering methods, there is something special about vinyl and the sounds it produces. Something I can feel, not just hear. Something that vibrates closer to the original sounds - like touching a piano versus hearing it from across the room. So when I want to hear a piano, I plug in my iPod. When I want to feel it, to absorb all that it is saying, I pull out my vinyl - my original vinyl.
YouTube Playlist: Original Vinyl
YouTube Playlist: Original Vinyl
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| Photo credit: audioarchaeology.com/ - The best vinyl shop in Chicago |
So I'll admit... I've yet to listen to a vinyl. I've had the opportunity before but haven't taken it. I grew up in the CD age but was raised on cassette and VHS tapes. One of the only things I remember is the click of the buttons and the reels of the tape spinning, my mom would play a tape while I went to sleep, which is one of the reasons I feel that type of ambient noise relaxes me. While I've never heard a vinyl recording, I've heard rips of records and I absolutely LOVE when you can hear the vinyl scratches. (Especially in old jazz albums.) Here is one of my favorite examples (the audio quality is bad but the atmosphere is amazing) https://youtu.be/w8buDQtwWOY
ReplyDeleteBut it's kind of pointless if you look at it from your perspective... Why not just get the vinyl and play that? Right?
Still for me I have a deep love for that little touch that it adds, which is one of the reasons why ambient music speaks to my soul.
My parents started me on classical and Beatles. I had a stereo CD player eventually and a CD called "top 100 favorite piano pieces" I ended up playing that one so much the disc busted. (Wait, doesn't that only happen to vinyl? If you don't run over the disc with a chair yeah.)
I kinda wish I had the experiences you did, but I don't really regret it either.
It makes me want to cry that you've never heard vinyl, especially listening to that piece on my computer. I can hear why you would love it, but I can also fill in the gaps of all that's missing - what it would sound like on an actual turn table.
DeleteListening like this isn't pointless - it makes you hungry for more. And you can't always get the vinyl (though I am searching for that one to add to my Christmas list - for the inlaws. Counting on you for the NES). It's a very different sound, that's all. And I have a Mumford and Sons on vinyl that would probably sound better on CD or iPod, so it really is a matter of preference.
There's actually a huge debate about remasters, especially of old jazz recordings, because of the limits of vinyl. The potential to present classic pieces the way the artists would have wanted them heard if they'd had the option. To an extent it becomes a debate of clarity and musicality and technicality versus depth. I personally would rather a technically inferior recording that feels like I'm there versus a technically perfect rendering of the artists vision that registers with by brain as a recording. For me, it is something in the vibration - the tactile feel of sound - though I don't know if or how that affects anyone else.
From that recording, to me it gives me the sense of looking into a window and having a glimpse of something far off. The pianist is unaware of my presence and is content to play for no one. The room is empty and dark but somehow it becomes filled with images and feelings from the melodies. (Kind of like a Patronus?)
ReplyDeleteThe noise of the record is a constant reminder that I'm only a visitor, but it isn't a negative, simply the means of what brought me here to begin with.
I have a comment on Jazz remasters but I'll have to save that for later. Grr!
Now that you've heard vinyl, your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteBefore I reply, I remembered something from a while back https://traubeck.bandcamp.com/album/years
DeleteSo what are my thoughts.
Delete1. I loved it, it was funny how everything you tried to explain in your post simply made sense after 30 seconds.
2. Producing an album for digital seems so easy now. Heck, a monkey could probably do it. A lot of what was running through my mind was how much work it took to record/mix on tape, master for vinyl and how unforgiving it was. (I could probably flesh those thoughts out into a longer post.)
3. Music really seems to come alive (when done right). I really enjoyed the Water Music album we listened to, and that's probably the first time in a long time I sat down and really paid attention to classical music. (Very tempted to set up my dad's record player now)
4. I also noticed something about myself, namely how little I still understand about audio. It's making me wonder about how all sorts of things are done now - which is good. It helps add to the wonder of music and makes my experience all the more wonderful.
(Did any of that make sense? I'm scatterbrained today)
Being now awake and of sound mind and judgment...
ReplyDelete1 - YAY (but you already know this)
2 - I'd be interested to hear you expound on this. I suspect you're thinking more of the technical aspects of mixing/mastering, while I'm stuck on the final product and ear for how things need to come together.
3 - Did you ever get out your Dad's record player? You should come listen at our house again sometime - I picked up a David Serie album only to find it had a song of his that I loved but never really connected as his even though I know he composed it. #notsoawake
4 - I love learning new things, especially learning how little I really know. I think that's why I love music so much - there's always something I haven't heard before! and being able to put that to use in your eventual career? Even better.