There are two kinds of audio compression, and they’re not the same. But people get them confused all the time, and it’s driving me nuts.
Today, it was Bob Stanley from St Etienne, being interviewed on Radio 4′s PM programme. The discussion was prompted by Neil Young‘s recent claims that the sound of music today makes him angry. You can hear PM’s discussion of this issue here, about 41 minutes in.
During this discussion though, they managed to completely mangle the distinctions between the two kinds of compression, and the whole ‘analogue versus digital’ debate, too.
They’re not alone though, it happens all the time.
So in an attempt to clear the water, I’m going to explain the difference, using sponges.
I don’t go out and see live shows nearly as often as I should, in fact. [Note to self !]
And I really love hearing acoustic music live. I love enjoy loud, distorted guitars as much as the next man, but there’s something magical about hearing music in it’s simplest, most honest form.
The superb video above captures that, beautifully – and also explains in only a few minutes how the internet opens up a whole new world of possibilities for independent musicians to tour, build their audience and see the world, if they have the desire, determination and drive.
Well, it’s true – there doesn’t seem to be much point in denying it any more – after all, Radiohead are one of the biggest bands in the world, and they’re prog, right ?
So while it may not be exactly hip, I don’t think that enjoying progressive rock can be considered quite the crime against music that it once was.
And, being me, one thing I’ve always enjoyed about “progressive” music is that it almost always sounds superb.
And what a boat… well, houseboat. Watch the video and see.
Once you’ve finished wiping the drool off your keyboard, you may be thinking –
“Well it’s pretty bloody obvious why he writes on a boat, Ian – and, if I’d sold 50 million copies of Dark Side Of The Moon, I think I’d record on one, too.”
It was a response to a study by Professor John Berger of Stanford University which he claimed showed that young people today actually prefer the sound of mp3 to CD audio.
Now, you probably already know what I think of mp3:
- so it probably won’t come as a surprise that I disagreed quite strongly with Prof. Berger ! You can read my full response on that link, but the reason for this post is to present some new evidence that I was right.
Just yesterday, Dr Sean Olive posted a comment on my old site with a link to research he has done on the same subject, which
(a) is fully documented (unlike Professer Berger’s work) and
"Everything you have advised us on has been invaluable... We learnt a hell of a lot from those two emails. We will absolutely be in touch regarding future mixes"
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