Analog or Digital? Have We Lost Ourselves?
Thirty years ago, music was huge. There were groups that were larger than life. Mysterious. And they sold albums. Moved units. Made money. Gained lifelong fans.
And all of that was done without the aid of digital technology. Without computers, external hard discs, or A/D converters. Their music was created using the same kind of recording studios using the same guitars, drums, and microphones as today. But when it was recorded, it was done so using analog 2″ tape (if it was 24 tracks, that is). It was done so using tube mic preamps, and FET compressors. The music didn’t have the huge dynamic range (soncially speaking) that we do with today’s digital capability, but it had warmth. Punch. Energy. Love. AKA tape compression.
Tape compression occurs when you try to force a high amount of signal onto a strip of tape. The magnetic response of the tape is to do everything it can to allow for this, even if that means compressing some of the magnetic flux to the edges of the tape. This is more often than not present in the lower frequency instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, kick drums, and floor toms.
That last paragraph may have been over some peoples heads. But this isn’t: tape compression gives a track that “warm” sound we all love and remember from our favorite artists.
Everybody is going digital these days. The funny thing is that we’re also creating software plugins dedicated to emulating that tape compression that we thought we’d get rid of by switching to the digital realm. So, while digital gear and software definitely have their place, we can’t forget our roots. The analog sound. One way you can revisit this is to put on an album. For those of you reaching for your iPod or CD carrying case, I meant record album. As in vinyl. Or go to a garage sale and pick up a $5 tape player and pop in your old favorites. Sure, you’ll get the tape hiss and fuzz that you forgot existed since listening to your iPod, but you’ll be taken back to a time when music had a little more love in it. It wasn’t quite as sterile as it can be today. And our digital music can often times be of worse sound quality than the old tapes and records; have you listened to an MP3 lately? We’ve replaced tape compression with the digital compression of data.
Which is worse? I’ll let you decide. For me though, nothing beats putting on a vinyl record of Elton John and just losing myself in an era gone by.
Thanks for reading. Till next time, cheers.
Josh Walker
You’re totally right on this Josh. There’s also a big resurgence in vinyl. CD’s had worse sound than LP’s did, but the bad sound was cleaner. MP3′s sound worse than CD’s do, but they’re uber-portable.
Now people are looking for the tangible product to hold in their hands, and if that’s what you’re looking for (Artwork, liner notes, etc.), then the large canvas of an LP cover is the way to go. And most records I’ve bought lately, (yes, I BUY RECORDS!) have a free digital download of the MP3 version of it.
I’m curious about what’s going to happen with FLAC, though. Sounds like the best of both worlds, being able to record at high sample rates, and be able to compress it down to a managable file. What’s your take on that biz? Sorry for the huge post, but you have an interesting subject here!
I appreciate the comment, Nick.
As far as FLAC, I’m actually developing an article that will deal with multiple digital formats and try to explain their benefits and drawbacks to the average listener. Many people still think MP3s are the greatest thing under the sun! It’s our job to educate the masses and help them realize that we all deserve better quality music. Not the wishy-washy sounding lossy compression of an MP3.
Keep your eyes peeled.
My wife picked up a box of old Disney stories and kids’ songs on tape at a garage sale last summer and they’ve become our 2 year old son’s favorite thing (for few weeks). He can stack them, flip them in the player, and play them. He did learn to say “tape” before mp3, album, or compression.
A similar discussion that keeps coming around in the digital vs film photography conversations. Analog retains its magic there as well.
That’s very true about the film issue. I’ve always enjoyed photography as a hobby. My first experiences with photography were with 35mm film and a dark room. We couldn’t afford digital cameras when they first came out. And since having that knowledge and experience, I always revert to my 35mm Nikon for serious shooting. The color and warmth of film is something that is still difficult to replicate even in the high-end DSLRs. Kind of like the expensive plugins that we can buy for audio editing. They’re close, but not quite there.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Josh Walker and Josh Walker, Transient Media. Transient Media said: Just wrote a post: "Analog or Digital?" http://bit.ly/anebJd We've replaced one drawback with another. #audio #music [...]
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