Thanks Subby, as both a DM fan and a sometime muso, I acutally found that a really interesting read.

Dammit, I was all ready to just come in here and post some Dead Milkmen lyrics:

You'll dance to anything by Depeche Commode...
..You'll dance to anything by any bunch of stupid Europeans who come over here
with their big hairdos intent on taking our money instead of giving your
cash, where it belongs, to a decent American artist like myself!

But this guy is absolutely right. Digital has killed the quality of music, just like CD's killed album cover art.

/Off my lawn.

unremarkable asterisk: Digital has killed the quality of music, just like CD's killed album cover art.

It's not wholly the digital. Phil Spector killed dynamic range like he kills movie stars. Post-hip-hop rap pushed the 5 note hook. Franky, there's but so many times you can hear the same hook repeated at ridiculously loud volumes before you just don't want to hear music anymore.

It's a struggle for me to find anything to put on my Sansa. I would pay good money for some new, interesting music. New music? I won't even steal it, it's so bad.

Gah. 20+ years later and he still is whining.

I think it's really simple: when you take the business aspect out of music, the only people who will be left making music are the people who are doing it because that's all they care about and all they do.

it's just a question of time Alan...

/that DM song rules

I always remember this gf of a friend who asked me if I had any Duhpeechee Mode. heh

younger listeners have grown so used to dynamically compressed music that the battle has already been lost.

They haven't just grown used to it. It's all they know.

If they ever heard some vinyl on just a decent setup it would probably scare the shiat out of them.

wtf - ever.

This is pathetic. I couldn't begin to describe how weak this was. Really, I couldn't...

i like the idea of putting (just) music on DVD's and having improved audio...

Maybe it will shift to Blu-Rays for video, DVDs for music...

barneyfifesbullet: I always remember this gf of a friend who asked me if I had any Duhpeechee Mode. heh

younger listeners have grown so used to dynamically compressed music that the battle has already been lost.

They haven't just grown used to it. It's all they know.

If they ever heard some vinyl on just a decent setup it would probably scare the shiat out of them.

Uhh, I know four or five people my age who have pretty good vinyl collections. I don't have a record player myself, but I can appreciate the quirks of vinyl and, yeah, it does have a much warmer sound.

P.S. I also have a pretty big collection of mp3s. HOLY DIGITAL MUSIC BATMAN

/17 y/o

Seems one thing that could be done with digital media that isn't generally done is to expand on the traditional concept of an album with 10 or 12 recordings of an equal number of songs. Instead, you could have significantly different recordings of each song. Not just remixes of the same take, but different takes in different styles. You could have mixes specifically made for better listening via headphones. You could even have special takes recorded with binaural microphones (example) that are more spatially interesting. Lots of possibilities on that little CD that aren't being explored. I think I've just applied more imagination to it in three minutes than the music industry has in a decade. (Pats self on back)

Hey, isn't that the guy from Depeche Mode? And he's with a girl!

The result - an unsatisfying, brittle, indistinct, hollow experience with no punch.

Funny, coming from the guy who used to be in Depeche Mode :-)

And you might expect that I would be full of resentment and bitterness.

Well, you ARE the guy from Depeche Mode.

Kar98: The result - an unsatisfying, brittle, indistinct, hollow experience with no punch.

Funny, coming from the guy who used to be in Depeche Mode :-)



PRIOR to the Loudness War, mind you.

/95% of Farkers have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to audio mastering
//digital does not necessarily mean bad
///just the way its abused

Their music was pretty frikkin tinny sounding for a good part of their career (yes, when Alan was in the band.) I happen to like music with balls.

I mean, they had some really good songs, but talk about cheesy production...

Someone must have been snorting coke off of the sound board. I've heard that cokeheads have a way of cranking the treble; because it's not all that audible to them.

Good read, and the guy is mostly right.

unremarkable asterisk wrote:

"Digital has killed the quality of music"

This is a common misconception. the fact that it's digitally recorded or in analog is inconsequential. It's bad recording and mastering practices dictated by the record company pinheads that has killed the quality of music. There are plenty of digital recordings that sound every bit as great as the best analog recordings.

You know what REALLY killed music for you? Growing past the age of 23.

unremarkable asterisk

Dammit, I was all ready to just come in here and post some Dead Milkmen lyrics

So we jumped up on the table
And shouted "anarchy"
And someone played a Beach Boys song
On the jukebox
It was "California Dreamin'"
So we started screamin'
"On such a winter's day"

/Except "California Dreamin'" is by the Mamas & the Papas. That always irked me.

Beach Boys did a cover of it. No need to be irked now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVhnxZej0w4

turbotikigod

I stand corrected and unirked.

/1980's era Beach Boys. Blech!

GibbyTheMole: "Digital has killed the quality of music"

This is a common misconception. the fact that it's digitally recorded or in analog is inconsequential. It's bad recording and mastering practices dictated by the record company pinheads that has killed the quality of music. There are plenty of digital recordings that sound every bit as great as the best analog recordings.

THIS. i cant believe some of you are retarded enough to think otherwise. and as for:

palladiate: It's a struggle for me to find anything to put on my Sansa. I would pay good money for some new, interesting music. New music? I won't even steal it, it's so bad.

you are either making NO effort to discover new music or you should just listen to books on tape.

did some one say dead milkmen thread?!!!

"Hangin' out in the comode
Listening to Depeche Mode"

This isn't the first time I've heard the cry that compression is ruining music; and it is.

And record companies that still do this are old dinosaurs, destined to die.

/big lizard in my backyard...I don't have to feed him anymore!
//Didja see what I did there? ; )

viccellini:

I mean, they had some really good songs, but talk about cheesy production...

Someone must have been snorting coke off of the sound board. I've heard that cokeheads have a way of cranking the treble; because it's not all that audible to them.

Probably true. There is a reason that a lot of 80s music sounded ultra bright, and part of it was the enormous amount of drugs being used in the studio.

Another part of it was that records in the UK were often deliberately mixed super bright in order to sound clear on radio. In fact, I recall reading about how the 84 DM album Some Great Reward was mixed with the help of a box that simulated radio compression/eq. Not so good when you play your CD version years later on a good system.

The later albums Violator and Songs of Faith And Devotion have truly excellent production and lots of balls.

FTFA
Leaving viability aside for a moment, I would like to see a return to high quality art, embracing all the wonders of technology and science, delivered at a price that reflects the time and effort the artist has put in. Call me old fashioned. Just as one would expect to pay for a hand-crafted piece of furniture or a designer dress or a beautifully printed photograph.

Uhh, I think you may be in the wrong business if you think that that is the way it should work for music. A hand-crafted piece of furniture or a designer dress are one of a kind items and a beautifully printed photograph are printed in limited editions, music is (and has been for quite some time) mass produced. GET OVER IT

Compression is like a handgun.

A useful tool when needed but if you just keep playing with it, it doesn't always end well.

Digital compression is like an H-bomb.