More Senseless Ramblings

Quiet on the Set!

     Reading through a few journals during my very recent Florida vacation something reminded me about a small yet kinda important thing to do. Well, buried somewhere on the Tweaks Pages is an article about subjecting your ears to less noise pollution. You'd be amazed how much of it we are clobbered with everyday! i've seen studies where men located in what some might refer to as very rural territories in Africa still retain hearing which can perceive very quiet sounds and whose frequencies which extend impressively wide (above 16kHz at age 55+).

So reading through the New York Times (i think) was an article about how New Yorkers (New Yawkas to the locals) are subjected to potentially damaging street noises daily to the extent that permanent hearing damage can occur. Jackhammers, automobile horns honking, emergency vehicle's sirens, shouting at bars... Over time all these can cause permanent hearing loss which at this point in time science can not give back to you. Even the best hearing aids leave much to be desired in the frequency response and dynamic levels that even a mediocre analogue cassette player can better. So here are the results of a survey as right now i'm literally on an aeroplane wearing my EarPlanes (see Tweaks Page about these) and am about 32,000 feet above the ground flying. Well, i gotta get high sometime :-{)+ . Anyway, this survey is printed in Continental's March 1998 magazine on page 20 to 21 and is about why some folks can't sleep while on the road (traveling):

1,000 business travelers surveyed from the United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan
48% reported experiencing problems sleeping on a trip

97% of the British cited noise as the main culprit
84% of the Germans cited noise as the main culprit
69% of the Americans cited noise as the culprit.

Hmmm... now why could there be such a discrepancy from 97% British to 69% of Americans? Are Americans subjected to more noise? Hence, could their hearing of low level noises be altered (read: diminished) due to hearing damages from subjection to unsafe sound pressure levels? Could it be that the British and German business traveler's have been less subjected to damaging noises? Ok, so a few articles from a few sources does not a full scientific study make. The article in the Continental magazine was co-sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation by the way, not just some minimum-wage telemarketers. The article in the New York Times was from a gentleman who carried around a type of sound pressure level (SPL) meter. Did you also know that even some recording studios have been fined for subjecting their clients to high sound levels over a long period of time. This type of ear harassment has been proven to cause permanent long-term hearing damage.

It's not just the volume level that matters per se, it's also the length of time you are exposed to it. As a music lover, it brings me much joy to hear all the music i can. Not just in quantity, but also in quality. How can we hear very low level resolution if our hearing has been damaged so that we can no longer hear it? How can we enjoy the upper harmonic structures of, say, concert bells and cymbals if we have damaged our hearing? And why are some 60+ year old reviewers still reviewing if even they admit they can't hear above, say, 12kHz? Ya see, usually the lowest levels and uppermost frequencies are damaged first. Time and age take their toll. Please, pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry be kind to your ears. They are the only ones you have. Too many great musicians like Peter Townsend have learned this lesson the hard way. Hopefully you and your loved ones won't. On the Links Page in a link to a FAQ about Tinitus. May i humbly suggest you take a look, read it, and maybe even take your own study of how much noise you yourself are subjected to daily. Your ears will thanks you and in the end it may help you to better... Enjoy the Music.

Suspension of Disbelief

...and in the end Disney World is a great place.

     Let's face it, reproducing music is fake. There's not one real thing happening in my home so to speak. Ya know, Disney World is like that too. A big castle in Florida? A talking mouse? Surely you don't believe that an elephant with big ears can fly. How much fun would Disney World be if we only believed in total, absolute, rigid, pure reality?

All around you at Disney World are contrived rides, shows, and other thingies. Computer controlled robots, loud sounds played back in perfect time using SMPTE with some fully manipulated ride/attraction. How many times can one endure hearing "It's a small world after all" over and over and over again while sitting on some cramped damp boat squeezed next to people you never met? Hey, let's not even talk about the people walking around in costumes who resemble a genie, a dog, a mouse or even that chick all dressed up as Cinderella. C'mon, who ya tryin' to fool. Well, not me! This is all fake, nonsense, hogwash, and not real! So, are we having fun yet?

Reproducing music is like Disney World too my friends. Are you trying to tell me that some live acoustic performance can be recorded using a microphone(s), the signal sent through wires to a recording device so that when it's played back on vinyl, tape, and/or polycarbonate can somehow send a signal to something else that uses electronics that then sends the signal eventually to speakers and this will somehow, in turn, in some way make live musicians suddenly appear in my home and sound exactly like they did during the live performance? C'mon, who ya tryin' to fool. Well, not me! So, are we having fun yet? Now if i may so bold as to ask you to view all this in another way. Say, in the eyes of a five year old.

Have ya ever taken a five year old to Disney World? Look at their eyes as they first walk into the Magic Kingdom theme park. "Oh look! There's from Jasmine from the movie Aladdin" s/he might also say. "WOW! Does Mickey Mouse live in the big castle mommy/daddy?" Why is it that if we 'view' the world in the eyes of a child life may be more enjoyable? Is it their lack of knowledge? No. Lack of wisdom? No. Is it ignorance? No. Children may enjoy life more because they have less responsibilities, will take things on face value, and are willing to believe in things they know aren't true. Furthermore, children haven't been preconditioned with limitations. My life is always enhanced by just seeing the world through the eyes of a five years old. They allow themselves to not be pulled down by hard factual reality. Sometimes removing constraints of what is and isn't possible can bring higher enjoyment in life and, in turn, even new inventions! Personally i wish more people would forget about limitations and feel that many things are possible.

Unfortunately some folks who claim to love music seem so caught up in the mechanics, the Shim Mick pucks, the cables, the CD treatment, the vinyl cleaning formulation, the room treatments, the capacitors, the power supply, the chair height, how the speakers are angled into the room, the stands, the resonances of the speaker's cabinet, microphonics, jitter, THD, S/N, TEF, RTA... that sometimes i begin to wonder? But hey, why worry because the die-hard one's i'm referring to rarely really listen to an album all the way through anyway (let alone have time to enjoy it). Heck, why not just call them equipment-o-philes? Naaa, they also buy music too. How about Tweak-o-philes. Naaa, to limiting on such a vast and diverse group. Hmmm, i got it!!! We'll call then reality-o-philes. Yeah, that's the ticket! Reality-o-philes are those who refuse to accept anything less then absolute reality all the time... even if it kills them (and i wish it would). They will never allow themselves to divert off of their reality, not even for one jittery picosecond.

While at Disney World can you relax in the fun of singing "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me" while riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean? Can you believe the house you are about to enter is haunted? Yes, there is a six foot mouse named Mickey. By letting go of restrictions life might be more enjoyable and, better still, no one gets hurt. Reality is good, yet can you let go of it for even one hour for a good cause?

While playing recorded music do you have the ability to give yourself permission to just sit back and take pleasure from what you are hearing? Can you suspend your disbelief and let the music flow into your soul? If you're at Disney World and one employee doesn't exactly fit the character they are portraying will this ruin the entire experienced? When you are reproducing music in your home, if one instrument isn't just right, has the whole experience been useless? So i ask you, no, i beg and plead while groveling at your feet for you to give yourself permission to take a leap of faith. To look at the world in the eyes of a child and stick with it for a few days every moment you can. Carefree pleasures, imagination, wonderment... You may be amazed at the 'new reality' you see with your 'new eyes'. Who knows, you might not ever wanna go back again to that other way you were experiencing life and hearing music. Hopefully by suspending your disbelief a deeper enjoyment of music might unfold right before your eyes, er, um, ears. Please forget about that reality-o-phile in you... and in the end Disney World is a great place.

Lyrically Speaking...

"Science, like nature
 Must also be tamed
 With a view toward its preservation.
 Given the same
 State of integrity,
 It will surely serve us well. 

 Art as expression,
 Not as market campaigns
 Will still capture our imaginations.
 Given the same
 State of integrity,
 It will surely help us along." --- Neil Peart of Rush

     Ahhhhhh, one of my fave rock groups too! Here are only three guys putting our their soul making amazingly awesome music. Neil Peart has been the lyricist since virtually the bands professional recording career. Over the years you can sense the growth in the band too. Not just from the music alone, but also in the lyrics too. If i may humbly be so bold as to break down the above lyrics and write how my feelings interpret them. Your feelings about my interpretations may be different. Art is like that at times dettes/dudes.

"Science, like nature
 Must also be tamed
 With a view toward its preservation."

     Science can take on may forms. There's the physical sciences and social science to name just two. If we allow science, like nature, to go totally unchecked it could lead to what appears to be detrimental consequences to some. Taming nature, like science, can be very difficult. Sometimes human nature can interfere with these sciences. Should we limit the amount of procreation of humankind as we feel nature (mother earth) can support us? Who is to choose what chemicals are good for mankind and which are bad... or illegal (progressive medicines, cannabis, etc.). Also, would it be right to kill the entire shark population because of the possible dangers to humans. Shall we humans have the right to eliminate one species to let another one thrive? In my humble opinion we should look to preserve nature and science, yet at the same time tame (or get a better understanding) of it as well.

"Given the same
 State of integrity,
 It will surely serve us well."

     Let's take a closer look at this phase more then the first one if ya don't mind. Ya see, integrity defined by my Webster's New World Dictionary sez:

1. completeness; wholeness
2. unimpaired condition; soundness
3. honesty, sincerity, etc.

     Science, as complicated as we make it, is elegantly simple like nature. As we learn more about it, the more we find a balance, a wholeness, and is felt to be generally sound. After all, the law of nature is, at times, that the strong survive. Nature doesn't lie and thus is very truthful. Lions don't make excuses why they have killed and eaten a young, weaker animal. So why is it that some folks feel the need to rationalize and justify their actions most of the time? Can't we try to understand where the other person/people/species are coming from instead of constantly arguing? In the end the strong do seem to survive over the weak and hopefully the truth eventually is realized over falsehoods. If we strive for complete honesty and integrity is will surely serve us well.

"Art as expression,
 Not as market campaigns
 Will still capture our imaginations."

    Art can be expressed in a virtually limitless way. Paintings, poetry, and music just to name a few. So very talented folks have the ability to express themselves better through art then words. A great painter, like Salvador Dali, can do amazingly deep yet wonderful things to share their visions, feelings, and whatnot though some strokes of a painters brush. Others write heartfelt words into a form we call poetry (which also usually lyrics in the music we enjoy too). Lastly i'll cover music. Music is an art form that has transcended thousands of years in time. Music seems to also mimic the culture, lifestyles, and times. This century has brought about may new items which allow us to express ourselves more freely in music, and so music has also expended into many genres. Not as a way used only for someone to market and schlock off whatever they're tryin' to sell, though as expression. Pure expression without some underlining 'bought 'n conception' will surly capture our imagination and make us grow stronger.

"Given the same
 State of integrity,
 It will surely help us along."

     So with the purity of expression will art and music help us along. Yet only with this purity, truth, and integrity (not some marketing rubbish) will the music and music reproduction industry truly survive in the long-term. If manufacturers, magazines, and whatnot would only adhere to the utmost integrity. Seek out the pure venture of bringing better music to us and not get all caught up in some marketing campaign chasing after the almighty dollar. Not to use art and music as some way to leverage their campaign(s). It would be great in my humble opinion if they stayed true to the pure art forms just as some enjoy the 'purer sciences'. There are many great folks in this industry my friends and they seem to continue to financially survive while not 'selling out' to themselves and the purity of the art form. Although we might not all enjoy the same art forms, we certainly have the right to enjoy what we choose to. Many artists, manufacturers, magazines, etc. survive because it seems their desire(s), with the deepest of integrity, is to further the ability of us to... Enjoy the Music!

"Oh yea, back again. Hope you've enjoyed our little excursions.
 Tipping, toeing through the mind of a muthaf---a that needs a little
 f---'n stomping on. Yea, but don't take it wrong. See we ain't trying
 to tell you how to think. We're just trying to get you to think. And we
 ain't trying to control nobody. We want the people (individually speaking)
 to be in control; to know who they are and what they want to be.
 Yea, and question authority, what the f---. But not for the sake of
 argument, but because you took the time to analyze it and you found
 a better f---'n way, not just a f---'n excuse to complain. And beware
 of people who try to use you as a statistic to back their claims of
 power, that use you simply as a vehicle to get themselves where they
 want to with no reference to your best interest except for their
 disclaimer that their best interest is your best interest.
 And remember... cool is only 3 letters away from fool!" --- Suicidal Tendencies

Year In Review

     As this is the last senseless rambling for the year of 1997 i'd like to reflect a bit on what good stuff there was, and will hopefully be in the upcoming year. Let's start with all the great music and go to the electronic then internet/computer stuff. After all, music first!

Musically we had what was once called underground music crossover into the mainstream. Who'd have ever though Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers (to name a few) would now be playing on top 40 radio? MAN-O-MAN, even Pennywise is becoming popular in the mainstream! For jazz lovers around the world Analogue Productions gave us the Miles Davis The Great Prestige Recordings into full swing while the long awaited Monk box set is just now hitting your doorstep. All the old war-horses on Mercury, Decca, etc. have been remastered on vinyl and CD too! Meanwhile vinyl is making a big resurgence and all my dealer friends can't keep the DJ Technics 1200 turntables in stock (more on turntables later). The industry still hasn't a set in stone a format for higher quality digital audio delivery for DVD yet at least the DVD player is now available in quality. What makes me the happiest is that this was the year i least saw lame 'n boring music recorded to 'audiophile' standards. It seems that as the music lovin' community gets into another generation classical and jazz music still thrives, yet so do the Doors, Jethro Tull, Elvis... and Prodigy! This has been a great year for the music lover in my humble opinion. Bad news was MoFi's droppin' vinyl pressing :-{(+ . Good news, more mainstream labels and indies are pressing vinyl like never before!

As for electronics we're seeing, or should i say hearing, tube and solid-state gear sound more alike. Some of the best tube gear no longer can be categorized as 'tube lush' or rolled off highs and flabby bass. Solid-state gear is getting smoother and more musical too. The performance of digital to analogue converters that woulda cost $10,000 three years ago can now be purchased for about $1,000 today (and sometimes less)! Manufacturers have been making more and more bang-for-the-buck integrated units not only for CD replay, but also preamp/amplifier combos too. Speakers are also getting better in the under $1,000 range. And let's not forget Ferrari's new joy toy! Top all this off with more and more new turntables and cartridges not only in the upper prices but also the lower priced goodies and we've had one great year my friends. Due to the internet new cyberzines are cropping up all around the world while more manufacturers are offering their own www site for your 24/7 shopping pleasures. The industry is getting better, cheaper, and more human all the time. What a wonderful world! The internet has sooo much to offer as never before... and it's free!

Computers are also getting cheaper and better. With new technologies we now can easily download our favorite music, albeit in the compressed format. Amazing new soundcards and drivers are closing the gap between our prized 'high-end' digital music gear and that of our computer sound reproduction gear. Before we know it the 'high-end' will take advantage of all the new technology and don't be surprised when USB and FireWire terminals are offered on new surround sound processors, transport, and DACs. With the integration of our computer and 'high-end' digital gear we will be able to use studio quality 32-bit floating point (or better) manipulation of the sound eventually produced in the analogue domain. Manufacturers will no longer need to rely on a crummy small LED/LCD display and instead allow us to have full graphical user interface (GUI) to control, monitor, and manipulate our music. Once faster modem speeds become widely available we will see the capability of uncompressed high quality music streaming off the internet (side note: forget the 300mhz processor, the 1GHz chip is already in the testing stages!). By the way, 64-bit chipsets are already seeing the light of day! Funny how all this 24-bit/96kHz is causing waves when so much more is capable of happening.

In the end this has been a wonderful year where even the garage band and someone living out of their car (Jewel) can make it to the big time. Equipment, especially digital, is getting better and cheaper by the month and lemme not forget the wonderful new Western Electric 300B tube is now in production again. Oooh, and what a great tube it is too! Darn, i forgot to mention the new Audio Note 300B, VIAC's new tubes, Richardsons reintroduction of the Bugle Boy tube... If 1998 is half as good as 1997 was then we have a lot to look forward to dettes/dudes. Party on dettes/dudes!!!

 

Healthy Anarchy
and the Internet

     Flippin' through the most recent edition of Wired magazine (January 1998) was an article about the changes in the past five years. One of the points made is that, besides the internet being the best mirror of the current status of man-kind, it also shows "What needs to be remembered is this: We are witnessing the most productive, intelligent, and optimistic example of youthful rebellion in the history of the world." The internet is a true equalizer. Big, fat, money grubbing entities are shown for what they are just as nonprofit, helpful folks are showing their worth too. Is 'worth' money based? Is 'worth' intellectually based? Is 'worth' the humble and helpful way one person may help another? Is 'worth' somewhere in-between all the previously mentioned stuff... and more? On the internet, sites like mine have a presents just as much as large financially/commercially driven sites do. As you read this there is (hopefully) content! Content, in my humble opinion, is King. A www site without content is like a Ferrari without gasoline. It may look nice but it won't be going anywhere. As we look at www sites it soon becomes apparent the priority of what that www site's owner feels is of paramount importance. Is it to sell whatever ideas/products they offer? How is the www site useful?

The 'high-end' community is now seeing more and more commercial entities popping up out of the woodworks. A recent www site by a printed magazine has brought many e-mails filling my computer basically sayin' "Steve, we should have listened to you earlier. They are just in it to pat themselves on the back and seem to be money driven." With a simple computer and some free software virtually anyone can have a www site. Yes, some look better then others, though without quality content the best looking site is just as bad as the worst www site in my humble opinion. Beauty is, after all, only skin deep. Another drawback is that corporate entities don't have true direction per se. Is the person(s) running the www site also part of the actual creation and vision of the content (if there actually is any) on the www site. As the saying goes: Too many cooks spoil the broth. With too many 'cooks' the true vision can be lost in the mix.

Of course maybe the purpose of a www site is to appeal to the lowest common denominator: money. When printed magazines offer a www site are they also willing to give content away for free? In other words, do they truly want to help out folks with possibly a taste of the action which may, in turn, make someone want to buy their product. Can you actually e-mail or interact via chat rooms or whatnot? Many software companies found this out long ago and offer free trials of their software via their www site. Still others have chatrooms which, at times, are barren wastelands. The best bet seems to be posting questions on their www site which actually reviewers and other helpful and humble readers help out. Again, it's offering quality content that matters most in my humble opinion. There are many magazines and companies who have 'lived' the www and know what this great equalizer has to offer. In the end content seems to be King. It's great to have so much information at one's fingertips for free. i say anarchy rules! We're all on level grounds here on the internet. The strong will survive, the weak will fall, and the worthless will have fewer and fewer readers as time goes by. Sometimes not having a www site is a corporations best www site.

 

Keeping It Real

     Well, as most of you regulars know i haven't added much to the Tweaks or the Senseless Ramblings pages in a while. The reason you ask. Well, writing for quite a few magazines has now made my available time for this www site less and less :-{(+ . It seems my Tube Lust page was a big fave so i kept that page going as well as the News and Letters pages.

But Fear Not!!!

Taking a breath of air has made me realize a few things. First off, it is you, yes you who have made these pages what they are. If you feel there needs to be more attention paid to certain pages here on this www site please send me e-mail and lemme know. Also, since i write for one magazine that has me reviewing the top-o'-the-heap stuff it's easy to get spoiled... fast! Deep inside there longs a system under $2,000 or so that will be a killer! As this is being typed a few of the components that make up this system have been found and more are being researched! This includes items from many different countries and even some not yet available in the USA (but will be available soon so fear not my friends). Only with your help will this super killer yet relatively inexpensive system be realized. Send me your tired, your poor, your unbelievably good yet dirt cheap recommendations please. Sure, it's easy to sit here with megga-megga five figure tube yummies, but finding that diamond in the rough... That's where the beauty is! Almost anyone can drive fast in a Ferrari F50/Porsche 911C4 Turbo, but to drive fast in a Honda Del Sol and possibly modding it for more speed...

What i'm trying to say here is that i humbly offer my apologies for ignoring some of my www pages, that work is being done to find great stuff at rock bottom prices even if that means buying every darn receiver Circuit City sells and audition each and every one of them! Odds are the system will also include (as i laugh my sinister laugh) a ditty on how to make your own Godzilla beating interconnects at Adam Ant prices. All this will not, repeat will not be in an article that i receive money for. It will appear in a printed magazine (odds are Positive Feedback) and also possibly on SoundStage magazine. Only with your input can i gauge how these pages here are doing. Please send me your feelings by clicking here. A most humble thanks for your time. It is appreciated. After all, what really matters to me is that you...

     Enjoy the Music!

 

Remember Your First Time...

     While unpacking some boxes from moving i came across my high school yearbooks. Sure, that night was spent lookin' through them remembering good friends, forgotten memories were rekindled, school band photos... Then in my Senior term yearbook was the award you see below. Suddenly tears filled my eyes. For what you see is from the very first year i was formally trained as a musician during elementary school. This happened back in 1975-76. The memories of the first time being taught to read music including my first chance to play the bells, concert cymbals, triangle, etc. Has it really been over twenty years? Why did i choose to be a musician instead of, say, a nice doctor or lawyer like mom wanted?

Music was fun. Listening to it made me laugh and have fun while i built Lego thingies and just had stupid kid fun with my Rudy the Robot at age ten. Let's face it, drums are loud and very physical. Well, it's now been many years since then and music plays a very large roll in my life. Surely at the ripe ol' age of ten the thoughts of stardom or the feelings one gets from being in front of thousands of admiring fans wasn't even a issue. Let alone being a writer and having an internet www site! The center sticker on the bottom of the award is for a solo i did during one of those obligatory school band concerts (we've all endured them all in one form or another). To this day memories of playing that solo remind me of feeling pure fear of making a mistake with what was then my whole world watching. Ya know, still remember the song too (the happy birthday song on concert bells). So what's going during those twenty years later?

Lessee, during that time we had/have new music like disco, early punk, break dancing, hip hop, techno, house... Ya know what, the joy of music is still with me. Even now Beck "Devils Haircut" is playing on the music reproduction system. Let's face it, as the world evolves so does music. It's great to remember why i got involved in music and the joy it still brings me many years later. So why did you first become a musician or want to enjoy reproduced music to a high level? How are you doing so far?

Why Enjoy The Music?

     How is it that music has endured over these many long years? Why does music seem to be such a big part of the human race? What does music give us that can't seem to be received in other ways? Lastly, why do we try to reproduce music to the best we can? Well, i've received quite a few opinions about this from others and it's time we take a lookey-see at this occurrence.

First we must see why a musical inventor would write new music? It seems that we all have our ways of expression. Sharing our feelings is one reason why new music is written and performed. Music has a way that can transcend even cultural and language barriers in sendin' it's message to others. Classical music is interpreted the same the by the Japanese as it is with those in Britain. For instance, early Japanese music may be simple in it's context, though the sadness it communicates is felt by even modern day man. Obviously we seem to use music as a way of therapy. That easily explains why music can endure time. After all, don't we feel the need to express and share our feelings and by sharing out feelings we feel better afterwards.

Music also allows us to relive parts of our life. How many times have you heard couples in love say "This is our song"? Music has a way of bringing about our memories of happiness, as well as sad times in our life too. For me, Tchaikovsky's 1812 fills my soul with memories of childhood joy. When i was five my dad took me to see it performed live. From that day on my deep love for music began. The extent of this love even includes becoming a musician! When i hear Steely Dan my soul is filled with memories of beautiful days i've had on the Florida beaches. One thing music defiantly can do is bring about past experiences in our lives.

As we humans have evolved, music has evolved with us. The roaring 1920's had it's flavor of music just as the 1950's here in America brought about it's music too. Now in the 1990's we humans have new challenges to bear in life. These new challenges are also mirrored in the new music that's invented too! For example, the band 'Rage Against The Machine' sings about freedom and undoing modern oppression. We also have 'gangster rap' which expresses the way gangs have been formed (possibly due to lack of home nurturing) to police brutality and societies prejudism which abound. Music is a type of mirror of society itself! Even the retro crowd now seeks out music which was popular years ago wishing for a different, better world.

We all use music in various ways. Some of us use it for therapy. Hence 'new age' and to some extent 'space' music. Music can calm our souls during our busy, stress filled lives. It seems the more stress we experience, the more the desire to share them by either performing or listening to music. If you're having a great day, you might play party-styled music. If you've had a day which gets ya down, you may play blues music to feed your soul. For relaxment some of us enjoy laid back jazz or classical music which may bring us serenity for the moment. Music as escapism? Maybe so. Ya see, when life deals a fatal blow we might desire a way to escape it's grasp on our life. Like some enjoy movies, music may allow us to leave our present life and live another, better life. Music supersedes the movies in my humble opinion because our imagination fills us with visions whereas in a movie the things we se have been chosen for us. To enjoy music for only a few minutes or a few hours, it still feeds our souls with something we desire. To bring higher enjoyment we may seek out better ways to reproduce music too.

Let's face it, some music reproduction systems lack humanness. They can even sound downright cold and uninvolving. Therefore some people seek out a better way to reproduce music to fill this coldness. Finding a way to bring ourselves more joy is sane (though some people see us 'audiophiles' as insane). Some of us turn to playing sports as an emotional release whereas others turn to music (or maybe both). There are many ways for us to have an outlet of expression. For me, music is just one of the ways to find clam in the chaos of life. Sure, we all seek out enjoyment, but at what costs? Financially, 'high-end' gear can cost quite a large sum of fundage, yet if i take into account the stress music relieves, the happiness it brings me, and the jot it has brought to others, my music reproduction system is worth its weight in gold! So go and seek out your musical nirvana. Have fun! After all, we only go through this lifetime once so make it a good one!

The Politics Of Dancing.
The Politics Of Oooh Feeling Good.

     So there we were at dinner. Me, a reviewer, some friends... Ya know, that fun time when friends gather together for a good time. Then things got ugly (and we're not referring to my choice of general appearance :-{)+ ). It's that word that seems to bring out the natural debater in most of us. Yep, we're talkin' politics here. As we discussed various magazines and various reviews the politics debate raged even higher. My usual comments are that politics have absolutely nothing to do with reproducing music. Maybe not one person retorted, though he knew of 'bought reviews' in context of a certain well known magazine offering a good review in exchange for money. Then there are the reviews where a reviewer is a good friend of the owner of the company. The reviews where the reviewer get to keep the product for free if it gets a good review...

"What the h*ll!!" i exclaimed. Ya mean what i sometimes read is utter rubbish, nonsense, bought 'n' sold goods? Well, in actuality i knew these things to be an unspoken fact in the audio industry, though to hear it so bluntly said to me made my blood boil. Let's face it, you have a magazine editor who claims his editorial is not connected with the advertising yet who's wife works for the advertising department of the magazine they're head editor of! Maybe he doesn't sleep or talk to his wife? Well what do politics have to do with wanting to reproduce music to a higher level and bringing such information to others? A simple question, right? Couldn't be further from the truth sometimes.

This is not to say that all magazines/reviewers are like this. It is to say that some magazines use very questionable ethics.

Recent example: In this months issue of a certain magazine a reviewer speaks badly of a magazine who is independent and quite good in my humble opinion. i'll cut to the chase and tell ya the magazine i enjoy is called Primyl Vinyl. They do their readership a service in offering advice, cheap tweaks, and serve their readership honestly. It just so happens the reviewer of another magazine who spoke badly of Primyl Vinyl has his own competing magazine (though said reviewer used a different magazine other then his own to trash Primyl Vinyl). Well, let's talk about trying to self promote ourselves and trash the competition by using a 'third party' magazine to seem more independent about it. No big deal really. This is just a very small example of the politics that's been going on for years.

So who can you trust? There are times when it's like the TV show the X Files.... Trust no one. Sad, though maybe it's very good advice. So who can you trust? That's easy. Trust in yourself. Become a leader. Find out what you like and forget what anyone else says. If you truly want to enjoy life then who are your trying to get the approval of? Be your own 'guiding light'. So to Thy own self self be true. I've said it before and i'll say it again:

On the road of life there are passengers and there are drivers. Drivers wanted.

 

It oughtta be second nature. At least that's how i feel. Now i may be down in dreamland. i know perfect's not for real.

     A memo to a higher office. An opened letter to that powers that be. To a G-D, a King, a Head of State... a Captain of industry. To the "movers and the shakers", can't everybody see? (Rush "Second Nature")

Ok, we humans hear in analogue. Fair enough. i feel as analogue was hitting it's zenith, we get digital. It's perfect so they say. After all, we humans can't hear above 21,000 Hz, so we'll just take ALL that information above 21,000 Hz and do away with it... ZIP, NADA, FINI. After all, analogue has all this noise floor stuff and so it's gotta be bad, ya' know. Look at this digital editor for your studio Mr. Studio Owner. It's perfect!!! Look musician dude, this sequencer is perfect!!! It will play back exactly what you played on it. It's perfect!!! Look drummer dude, this drum machine has samples that are perfect!!! It'll play exactly like you did. It's PERFECT!!! Yea, right... And then monkeys will fly outta my...

So what we have here is kind of a digital vs. analogue, a human vs. computer thingy. Micro-dynamics vs. digital dynamic "perfection". "CD quality" sound vs. vinyl. Man, do i have time tonight to just spit out this "article"??? Sure i do!!! Who needs sleep??? i got a whole eight hours for the first time in two weeks last night :-{(+ . "That's why they call me. Call me the working man." (Rush "Working Man")


"Yes we know it's nothing new. It's just a waste of time. We have no need for ancient ways our world is doing fine. (Rush "2112")

Time was that we progresses to analogue tape and analogue mixing boards. Musicians played acoustic instruments and were recorded on said tape. No, i'm not saying that all recordings were great or that everything analogue is better than everything digital. Just as we all have attended good and not so good live performances. My feelings are that analogue has a certain musical quality 'bout it that just sounds better than digital if each is taken to it's ??ultimate?? (CD vs. Vinyl for the moment please).

Analogue, to my ears, seems to sound more like what's heard at live acoustic concerts. The music just flows and boogies and just sounds like, well, analogue. Instruments come and go, the harmonic structures of not only each instrument, but of groupings of instruments seem to sound more realistic on vinyl than it does on CD. Why you ask. It's got a lot to do with the crucial midrange, the natural even order harmonics, and the rhythmic abilities that we hear during live, acoustic music. Today i wondered if we had a filter that was configured so that it canceled out the odd order harmonics and added some even order harmonics, would it sound more "tube like", more realistic and less, well, digital. Ya' know, less accurate and more realistic (accuracy vs. realism lecture is in room 222 at 3:00pm :-{)+ ).


Though his mind is not for rent. Don't put him down as arrogant. His reserve, a quite defense. Riding out the days events - The river. (Rush "Tom Sawyer")

So Steve, why do you feel vinyl sounds better than CD? After discussing this with quite a few folks, our experiences seem to be that analogue just comes and a-goes. No "hanging on". Some hypothesize that silicon "hangs on" to the signal. Others feel it's the filters or other parts necessary for digital that is not needed for analogue. Analogue has this flowingness (is that really a word?) 'bout it. It just is. Ya' know? Just like live music is!!! i can hear into the music. What is the drummer trying to say? How 'bout the guitarist? Is his guitar screaming out in pain or just singing along its merry ol' way? With analogue, my ears seem to hear more music!!! Then we have dynamics...


Listen to my music and hear what it can do. There's something here that's strong as life. i know that it will reach you. (Rush "2112")

When i first played the drums, i had two volume levels... i either played LOUD, or REALLY LOUD!!! As i matured as a musician (which i'll do 'till the day i die G-D willing), the discovery in the feelings that music was made up of various dynamics in order for it to unleash the primal instincts of human emotion. To express love, to laugh, to cry, to feel as one with the music, emotionally. Emotions play a large part in music. Why do people get the same feelings about music in Japan as we do here in America? We speak different languages after all... right? How can we interpret the music the same way, yet have a different way of communication per se. It's these very feelings that music is capable of bringing out in we humans that is beyond color, race, creed, religious beliefs, etc.

Humans are just that, human. We also have this intrinsic ability to boogie. Just as us drummers say, we are playing "in the pocket". Exact as time is, music flows. Just as one feels rigid, the other just glides. Analogue can soar like an Eagle, yet it can caress you like a mother caresses her newborn baby. Fragile is one way to describe music. It must be, in my opinion, played and reproduced in a way that hold sacred the senses we have been blessed with. How can we dance without a beat and what causes our body to naturally tap our feet without our conscience even knowing we are doing just that? These are mysteries that are still there for me to discover.


What would touch me deeper than tears that fall from eye's that echo why. (Rush "Lessons")

Our senses of hearing and the way our minds process said information still has a few mysteries even the scientific and medical community can't answer. If we take measurements of our hearing, some folks feel that we just can't hear above, say, 20,000 Hz. Ahhhhhhh but they're wrong. We can. How? The heck if i know. i just feel that there is something about the harmonic structure of music that wants, no, demands that we hear it in it's full, natural spectrum. Let's take a Zildjian 16 inch thin crash cymbal for instance. i have never analyzed the harmonic structure of one, but i'd guess that the upper frequency harmonic structure may be well beyond what some feel is above the limits of our hearing (read above 21,000 Hz).

So now we have a cymbal with harmonics that, i feel, can produce frequencies that some feel are above our hearing abilities. OK. Cool. But how many samples will we get of what we supposedly can hear? Hmmmmm CD's top out at about 21,000 Hz and use a sampling rate of about 44,100 samples per second. Need i say more here? So digital is "perfect sound forever" huh? Just think about it.


Atmospheric disturbances - The feverish flux, of human interface and interchange. (Rush "Vital Signs")

Well, maybe i should have used the lyrics to "Computerlove" by Kraftwerk. Then again, when it comes to music, there's no love of computers per se (sorry and all but that's just how i feel about it). Yes, we can "talk" on the net, send electronic mail faster than the speed of light it seems. Yet where's the music??? Sequencers and the likes can perfectly time the beats so every instrument is always virtually exactly in sync. Then why is free flow jazz and especially ballads by Miles Davis loved virtually all 'round the world??? Why is the clarinet solo in the beginnin' of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" so loved by virtually all who enjoy classical music??? After all, in free form jazz, the musicians aren't in perfect sync with each other per se. They just flow.


The universe divided as the Heart and Mind collided.... Their spirits were divided into blinded hemispheres (Rush "Hemispheres")

Now that i have established some of my feeling of CD vs. vinyl. Why is there such an upheaval in the music lovin' community over analogue vs. digital? Could it be that some folks listen to music with their soul, and others with their mind? Kind of a Dionysus vs. Apollo (the bringer of love vs. the bringer of wisdom). Maybe what we need is Cygnus (the bringer of balance). How can we find a way to balance what we feel or what we know to be "right". i wish i had the answer, sorry and all. Human nature tends to be passionate about what must be "right" and what must be "wrong". And why must either be right or wrong anyway? Where facts do not make up the entire equation, all we have left is our instincts... our human senses.


When we lift the covers from our feelings we expose our insecure spots. Trust is just as rare as devotion. Forgive us our cynical thoughts. If we need too much approval, then the cuts can seem too cruel. (Rush "Emotion Detector")

So to conclude here, it took all this for me to say simply say that technology in itself is not necessarily good nor bad. It just is. How we choose to use it is our decision.


i find no absolution in my rational point of view. Maybe some things are instinctive, but there's one thing you can do. You can try to understand me. i can try to understand you. (Rush "Open Secrets")

Thank you for your time. It is appreciated. What really matters to me is that you...

Enjoy the music,

Steven

A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission. (Rush "Mission")

 

Which 'Canvass' Would You Use?

     Went to an art museum with three female friends the other day. Ya know, a nice relaxin' day out enjoying various paintings, watercolors, oils, photographs, etc with friends. We all felt it would be fun and enjoyable, ya know? How was i to know that be the end of the day we'd all be in a heated argument? And why would we disagree over something so simple as art and the way it's presented?

Entering the museum was a piano. "COOLNESS, that's a good start" i said. As we started looking at the various art work we could see the beauty in the work. How each artist chose to express their feeling in clay, oils, on canvas... or by digital photography. How the artist was able to share their feelings in their work and in turn allow us to feel their feelings. One of the girls saw this new medium called "digital photography" where an artist chose to use digital pictures from her computer, then manipulated the image(s) to bring to reality their artwork, and said "BLASPHEMY!". Oh, what an uproar as she went on and on about how an artist MUST use their hands to shape or create artwork.

Being a person who works almost daily with my computer i defended the artists choice of such a medium. i claimed how the artist still needed to carefully chose the images, manipulate said images if need be, then to carefully place them within the computer screens 'canvass'. She still wasn't satisfied. She continued to say how direct hands-on experience must be necessary. Then with a retort by me claiming how a mouse is used, judgment calls must be made about the degree of image manipulation and positioning said image on the screen are all artistic judgment calls. She STILL wasn't satisfied. There she was going on and on about how digital photography will never transcend time like the works of establish great artists. How it's dated, how it's only a form of art of today and that it will never be considered a great work and transcend time.

Now i must admit, the artwork in question wasn't that great in my humble opinion either. The images were all fragmented, there was no flowingness nor organization of the digital photograph in question. BUT to condemn an entire style of expression because of just one artists chosen usage of it was not appropriate. Shall we all judge, and furthermore blankly condemn solid-state amplification is by auditioning a $100 receiver? Not one to lose a good argument, my defending of this new medium raged higher... And then it all hit me like a ton of bricks!!!

Is digital THAT bad? What if the CD was used as a type of canvass for a musical inventors artwork (the term musical artist it too overused and not taken as i feel it is meant to, so at times the term "musical inventor" will be used). Though CD is definitely not the medium of choice by me for classical music, it DOES have it's advantaged for techno-pop and other purely digital forms of musical inventing. Just as an artist uses paper, canvass, or clay as the medium for the base of their artwork, why can't a musical inventor use digital as the base for their artwork? Who am i to judge CD as a wholly bad 'canvass'? Maybe the musical inventor feels their artwork is better expresses in the digital realm? For it's only time that will tell if the artwork in question will transcend time like great painting and sculptures do.

Yes, some of the music i enjoy is better served by the analog medium, but then that's a personal judgment call of which type of 'canvass' better serves the artwork. The artist her/himself is the creator and therefore not only makes judgment calls of what to put on the canvass, but possibly which type of 'canvass' better express their artwork. When it comes to artwork, we all have our feelings. Some like it, others hate it, still others have no preferences at all. The only way is to possibly holly know your personal preference is to experience the musical inventors artwork, if possible, is on all 'canvases' and then choose your preferences. The 'canvass' you choose, after all, may be different from that of the original artist's. It's your interpretation of the image (or music) and your preferences thereof. Both of you are right even if your choices are different then that of the artists. For when it comes to art, no one is truly right or wrong.

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