As MP3 becomes the standard...

[kurtkreimier]

About a year ago I had the chance to attend a seminar put on by Sennheiser at Full Sail here in Orlando. We use a lot of their stuff where I work at SeaWorld. The main speakers were multi grammy winning recording engineers Mike Pappas and Bruce Swedien. Interestingly there were no Full Sail students in attendance, although I think a couple of their instructors showed up. The seminar was mainly about mic selection and placement, etc.. Mike Pappas talked mainly live sound reinforcement and Bruce Swedien covered things more from a recording perspective. When Bruce was speaking we had the opportunity to listen to many of his recording projects and he announced he had a "suprise" to tell us at the end of the seminar. I have to say while listening I was blown away by his results. Everything seemed crystal clear and perfectly mixed. I was especially impressed by his treatment of the bass on some of the jazz combo recordings we heard. The most memorable piece to me was Michael Jackson singing "Smile" with a full string orchestra. He mentioned they did the whole thing, strings, vocals, everything all in one take. It produced a genuine "goosebump" moment for me, actually one of several that day. Anyway, what does all of this have to do with MP3. At the end of the seminar he announced that all of the samples of his work that we listened to were 128Kbps MP3 files. He then went on to talk about how much he loved the new technology and the portability if offers. He felt the technology was going to provide a way for a new generation of listeners to access music that they might otherwise never hear or think of getting. I think the technology is here to stay, although improvements will continue. Another lesson I learned that day is that even MP3's can sound great when converted from an excellent original production.

[Mark Kaufman]

Why, I remember when ProTools was Avid...(Not that it matters...I've only just begun to learn digital.)Seems to me that we have been watching continual improvements in digital sound technology. Processors get faster, more data can be stored in smaller formats, and we are routinely seeing affordable new options that were unheard of a few years prior.MP3s probably will fall under the wheels someday, to be replaced by higher fidelity formats like WAV files, or better...it's a matter of improving the storage capacity of portable players, computers, transfer speed, etc. Seems pretty near at hand to me.So the point of a super high quality recording? Well, if you're only concerned with the present moment, maybe it doesn't matter. But if you're recording something you feel is worth keeping for years to come...what's the point of a low-grade recording?...Side note: There have always been two camps concerning sound quality...the ones who are more focused on the music, and the ones who are more focused on the quality of the sound. I've always been the former...I still love my old Skip James records, crackles and all...and my old friends with their Bang & Olafsons who used to freak out if you sneezed too close to their precious vinyls...they are now watching golf on their new HDTVs....

[stick]

Golf in hi-def RULES!No B&Os here though. Heh heh.

[silvercord]

i wonder about when the sound link medium is completely minimized until there is a wireless signal streamed from the mother brain and directed into the jack that goes into our cerebrum and playz Miles Davis at 9,238,435,987,638,548,236k that would be fun.hehe~

[ernstinen]

Quote:i wonder about when the sound link medium is completely minimized until there is a wireless signal streamed from the mother brain and directed into the jack that goes into our cerebrum and playz Miles Davis at 9,238,435,987,638,548,236k that would be fun.hehe~LOL! Ya know, I read a story about John Lennon talking to George Martin about exactly that. The Beatles were starting to use Direct Boxes going straight into the board at Abbey Road, especially for the bass tracks. Lennon was really fired up about it, and wanted to know how they could put a wire directly into his brain and record what he was hearing in his head --- seriously!George Martin told him "John, that would mean we would have to insert a jack plug into the side of your head!"Wish I coulda got my hands on the drugs Lennon was taking at the time --- hehe! Ern

[edteja]

Great story Ern. But isn't that the way we all feel sometimes. I am working on a tune right now that I know is finished in my head, but doesn't come out through the hands and mouth right. If I could get hardwired like that I might be willing to forgo the drugs! (Well....maybe not)Then we could all talk about the way we mix in the head, instead of in the box, and the jazz term "head arrangements" would take on new meaning!

[silvercord]

(to Ern's last comment)yeah! he and 'Syd Barrethe was at a party and just was standing alone for hours with an apple and orange...supposedly he was tripping and imagined that each fruit was a planet(i think Jupiter and Saturn..i.e interstellar overdrive;)and along comes someone and takes the apple and eats it!Syd was said to just stand there in confusion and sorrow that his planet was eaten..lol (oops..sorry fellow floyd fans)...too soon?and um sorry for going off topic: )..i was just reading the joke section..so.it was that:) honest.^^

[silvercord]

You know what Ed...it reminds me....(yeah sorry for all the posts in a row..but its 1;30 am and im sleepless in Seoul..so i thought some of you may understandmy madness)...of when i had this...hmm ....un-earthly experience..(nope..honest..nothing to do with drugs at all!:)it was more peaceful beyond words...and that was the main reason i started making ambient/spacerock music...and ofcourse..no matter how hard i try...i may not reach the perfect description of how that experience would sound..(this..and the relativity of what we consider 'music')nor would it be impossible create music that you may 'hear'in your head/dreams/.....but i think the beauty of art is thePURSUIT of capturing that which cannot be (perfectly) capturedjust as technology progresses..so does our capacity to more accurately express ourselves..as well as the more we search what we feel and try to express it through forms of art..the more we grow into expression..any of you know what im blabbering about?: )sleepless geoff digresses back to his hutg'nite/day all~geoff in Korea