This week contributing member Howard S. shares his thoughts on sound.
What happened to sound…
I have always been a music fan. I like listening to it when I work; it paces me. I’ve been doing much more listening lately because I’m in the process of writing a book. And I’ve been expanding my music library like crazy lately because I live around the corner from the Mercer County Library and have been checking out CDs to burn into my iTunes library.My preferred method for listening is through my iPod headphones plugged in to the back of my Mac. This morning I was listening to the CD “Centerfield” by John Fogerty, taken from my iTunes library. And the sound of the record really hit me; it annoyed me how it just doesn’t match up to how I’ve heard this album in the past.No matter how I adjusted the iTunes equalizer, I could not get things to sound right. The sound is completely flat – no dimension. I haven’t reached the point of being a complete audiophile in that I can tell the difference between the “warm” sound of vinyl vs. the “flat” sound of digital music, but I’m starting to get there.It is pretty amazing. We’ve traded sound quality for pure convenience. Maybe there are digital formats for music that place more emphasis on sound quality, but the file sizes seem huge and the sources don’t seem that accessible.I can remember buying stereo equipment, speakers, tape players, turntables, and a decent receiver/amp combo and being thrilled at how I could turn things up and make the walls of my room shake. Then one day, you wake up, you listen to something you’ve heard a million times through these tiny “ear buds” and you say to yourself…What the fuck happened to THE SOUND?I’m a fan of author Michael Chabon, who wrote The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh among other books. On his Web site, Chabon has a short essay which really captures what all this talk about sound means. http://www.michaelchabon.com/Michael_Chabon/Bonus_Track_2.html
Thanks Howard for writing in…. Let us know what you think, in the comment section.
