Archive for July, 2007
I remember her only as the wife of Miles Davis and being responsible for “Bitches Brew.” Some way cooler than me acquaintances played her a bit in grad school, but I could never find anything other than a terrible disc called “Hangin’ Out in Hollywood.” I found out later, that that album was a collection of throwaway tracks from a couple of never released albums. Her “Smile,” I suppose.
Luckily, Light in the Attic Records has rereleased her first two albums. Go buy them now. Continue reading ‘Betty Davis’
fideliscopev posted a comment on the old soundworx site and since i don’t know how to move the comment directly, i’m posting it here:
I’ve heard those Magnepan mmg speakers. They are quite good for the money. What about your thoughts concerning the sound of your LPs versus the CDs? What are the strengths, and weaknesses of each in your experience?
the maggies are great for the money. in fact, for my experience, they’re great regardless of cost. i’d like a bigger or more solid bottom end, but i love the overall sound and find myself very satisfied and happy.
the lp vs. cd thing is always a sticky topic. kind of like mac vs. pc. i’m a biased mac guy, but i’m not quite as partisan when it comes to lp or cd. i lean toward lp’s, and when at home with my stereo, an lp is always my first choice. that said, i will listen to and enjoy a good cd. i only use a pc when there’s absolutely no other alternative and i dislike it the entire time. kind of naïve, but real.
over the past week or so, nuprin boy and i listened to a lot of music and during that time we were able to do a few a/b listening tests with the same source material on lp and cd. we listened to peter gabriel “so” and bettye lavette “i’ve got my own hell to raise”. what we noticed immediately was that the cd version of “so” sounded constricted; somewhat muffled compared to the open clarity of the lp. of course that’s not considering the “clicks”, “pops” and surface noise on the 21 year old vinyl. the instrumentation on the lp had a more unified sound, as if the music was recorded together as opposed to being recorded at different times and then cut and pasted together on a track. that last part may be in our collective heads, but that’s the sound we heard and i’m sticking to it. i’ll talk more about the bettye lavette at a later time, because it deserves it’s own post. Continue reading ‘comment on gear’
i heard a few new things this past holiday week(end) and they were great. i may go into detail about each complete work later on, but for now i just want to mention them. the first is “ping-pong” from the ugetsu album; art blakey, 1963 recorded live at birdland. the whole album is incredible, but ping-pong is blakey at his best and the rest of the band is right there with him. the sound is incredible.the second new thing is the discovery (for me) of bettye lavette. after hearing both her 1969-1970 album “do your duty” and 2005’s cover album “i’ve got my own hell to raise,” i absolutely cannot believe her’s is not a household name in the world of r&b, soul and rock & roll. what an amazing voice. i can’t wait to talk in depth about this amazing singer.the third work is the score to gladiator; hans zimmer, 2000. specifically tracks 1 thru 3. this is an amazing piece of music. like most symphonic scores composed for heroic action movies, it borrows heavily from holst’s mars, the bringer of war, but this thing gets downright exciting. and the sound… incredibly detailed, dynamic and mind blowing.well, those were three of the great musical experiences i had this past week. there’s more to talk about, but that will come in later posts. Oh yeah, a quick mention about something else i heard; betty davis! a funk-rock fusion queen from the 70’s. i didn’t remember her and that was a loss for me. i can’t wait to dive into this one.
just for fun, i want to list the last 5 songs (currently playing) from my itunes library which is shuffling away.
current song: how soon is now - snake river conspiracy (good cover)
previous cut: love - the cult (one of my favorites)
before that: sweet lucy - the propositions (where did all the funk bands go? this is music!)
earlier: creeping death - metallica (ahh, the glory days)
first song: bulls on parade - rage against the machine (always a good pick me up)
bonus cut after how soon is now; black sweat - prince. (he’s almost back!)
i can’t wait to sit down a listen to a full album on the stereo. but the computer and the hk soundsticks are working just fine right now.
let it play!
that brings us to the music of sound. in the previous post i went on and on about sound quality and the gear that produces it (well not on and on, but it was the focus of the post). admittedly, i come off as a bit of a gear-head; the type of person who listens to gear (i.e. equipment) and not the music. an easy assumption to make but you’d be making an ass out of you and umption.
i’ve heard a number of people say that they don’t care what the stereo sounds like as long as they can hear and understand the music. that’s fine, but i would say that that’s most likely a person that really doesn’t care what they’re listening to either. the music itself is unimportant, or at least less important than the genre, era or the recognized name of the artist.
that said, i’d like to lay out my own musical proclivities. but please note, i do care what it sounds like. the artist(s) and their support staff from producers and engineers to third-party writers and hired musicians, if any, put blood, sweat and tears into brining their art to the point of exhibition. what they have to offer should be respected and heard the best possible way under the best possible conditions. that doesn’t mean that if you can’t afford the best playback system and listening environment then you don’t appreciate the music; it just means one should appreciate the art as well as one can. music, like any other artform, is not disposable, even though i think there are a lot of people putting out product of all types that they see purely as a means to make money. it may sound naïve, but when commerce is the priority and art takes a back seat to the possible payday, then yeah, it is disposable. but as i said before, taste is subjective. there have even been purely commerce driven works that transcended their initial intent. a few anyway. well, on to the music… Continue reading ‘the music of sound - part two: personnel’
music doesn’t care what it sounds like. art, and i believe almost all art, is a conversation between the artist and his artform. even if the art is meant for exhibition, the artist and artform are about each other and can exist for their own sake. you may say, “well what about when the artist wants to say something particular to an audience?” here, the artist says what he wants to the artform and through the artform the message is translated to the audience. the artform itself doesn’t change. music is music, painting is painting and so on. but if the artist has done a bad job communicating through the artform, then the message is lost.
what makes music special, like movies and plays, is that it’s usually meant for exhibition. otherwise, what would be the point? music by itself is the most versatile of the performance artforms because it is meant to be experienced live in person as well as heard second hand via some playback medium. movies can only be experienced through playback. music is also like a play; a live performance artform. each time the artist(s) perform live the work can be tweeked, changed and perfected, just like a play. the experience for both the artist and audience is more active and even interactive.
where music really separates itself from other artforms is in it’s personal nature. whether live or playback in whatever medium, music is always a personal experience for the listener. if a listener likes the sound of a finely polished and well produced studio record or loves the gritty unprofessional sound of a four track recorded live in the garage, the way that person experiences the music is dictated by what they like. some say a good three piece indie rock band working for free is more relevant artistically than a fifteen piece r&b act behind a singer who’s recording a multi-million dollar record for the biggest record company in town. some listeners feel the exact opposite. singer songwriter eighth-notey simplicity versus the complex rhythmic structure of a funk-jazz fusion band is a no-brainer. electronic sequenced synth versus organic impressionistic and deconstructed? it all boils down to subjective personal taste.
since i’m on the topic of gear; here’s what i’m working with and here’s what i like about it.
yamaha rx-596 receiver • rega p1 turntable w/ortofon om5e moving magnet cartridge • harman kardon hd7500 cd player • magnepan magneplaner mmg loudspeakers • monster cable z-series speaker cables• old, old, old monster cable interconnects for cd player • optional: nad 314 integrated amp (hope to get a nice dual-mono power amp to run the maggies with this.)
my little system is really nice audiophile starter kit. the yamaha, a nice 2-channel receiver from around the late 90s, packs about 80watts into 8 ohms, tone bypass and includes a phono stage. very quiet; likes to stay out of the way of the music but can pound your ear holes if you want it to.
the hk hd7500 was the king of the mid-level audiophile jr set when i got it back in the mid 90s. at the time it retailed for about $700. i picked mine up from friend who managed a stereo shop in jackson, ms. he sold it to me as floor model and added his employee discount which put it under cost even! still a great sounding piece.
ahh, the sound of the magneplaner mmg speakers… quasi-ribbon tweeter, planer magnetic midrange/woofer… what great sound, especially if you like to hear the source material and not the speakers. true entry level audiophile sound for about $500 when they debuted. music sounds freed of the traditional box most people associate with loudspeakers and freedom is a wonderful thing. the downside is that these little puppies are just that, little. and little puppies have little barks, or in this case, little bass. what bass there is is solid and real, but way down deep around 45-50htz it rolls off and has little punch. that’s not the worse thing for me because i don’t care for overpowering rumbling forced bass sound, unless it’s supposed to be there and in some rare occasions it is. a sub would help, if i liked subs, but a better plan would be to move up to a bigger pair of maggies. if only i could afford such a treat. Continue reading ‘the sound of music - part two: gear’
as i’ve stated earlier, i love music. all kinds of music. some of my favorite genres and /or styles of music are: pretty much everything. it depends on my mood when i’m listening or whether or not i have a craving for a particular thing. i get different feelings from hearing music in different ways. for example, hearing the radio (satellite or FM) in my car (or someone else’s) evokes a different emotional state than say having a seat on my couch with glass of 14 year old single malt scotch and and a good record.
live music, in a club or theater yields a whole other experience. my favorite is at home, then it would be live, followed by in the car. listening in the car is kind of like watching movies on dvd; it can be satisfying, but only to a point. it’s too easy to check out and change the station or just turn it off.
there’s another option for listening that’s very important and that’s the source media. i’m an lp guy. give me vinyl. the sound of a record can’t be beat. i think it has something to do with the needle riding inside the groove; that physical contact that produces the sound. next would be reel-to-reel tape (wish i had one), then cd and other formats beyond that. i know, i know… the digital clarity of the compact disc and it’s black background, perfect sound reproduction, yadda yadda yadda… only, it’s not perfect in my ears. to me it’s clinical and a little cold. i don’t even know what that means, except to say i can listen for a while and then i get tired. i’m speaking of standard compact discs and their somewhat harsh sound; not sacd or any of the higher definition formats, which i don’t have and can’t afford. listening to music live and in person can be an almost metaphysical experience but it almost never is because the sound of live music is so hard to get just right. it depends on the room, the engineers working the board(s), the house monitors and speaker system, the audience in attendance and the performance of the artist(s) at that particular time. when it’s great, it can change your life. when it’s not, you feel kind of ripped off. i don’t think live music can be defind as source media, but you get the idea.
i’m sure, at this point, some may be thinking that i must be a gear guy. i listen more to the sound of the gear than the music itself. not true. i love music. all kinds, all styles (almost), all kinds of different ways, but if i had my druthers… it would always sound good.
coming: the sound of music pt. two: gear
i’m not sure what it is at this point. i think this blog is going to be about me and music. i’m sure there will be some other errata; there always is; but, it’ll mostly be about music and experiencing the music. i’m not a superfan of any paricular artist, group, genre or style, but i really dig good music with great sound. i love it live, on my home stereo or in my car and i just want to talk about it a bit. i’ll probably say a lot of stuff that others have said already, but that doesn’t matter because it’ll be my experience.
if i get a new record (ooo, vinyl), perhaps even a cd, maybe i’ll write about it. if i get to try out some new equipment or something, i’ll write about that too. i don’t know. we’ll see.
front end.
