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... where has the music gone ... ?

 

The music Industry had certainly changed, and unfortunately, not all for the better.
I am all for progress, but if the progress is one sided, and the actual quality of the music is downgraded, than it's high time to re-visit the subject and make sure progress is on quality as well as functionality.

 

Digital music, computer based recording, software based automatic compositions and all kind of technical goodies, although fun and cheap to use, have certainly caused some dramatic fallouts. Combine all that with file sharing, music downloads and the internet as a whole, and we all too clearly can recognise that the Music Industry at present has nothing much in common with the industry 15 years ago.

 

For music consumers, it may sound all OK and promising, esp in regards to plenty of cheap or free music. However, for the music connoisseur, someone who actually likes to really listen to music,( not on an iPod) the loss of quality has been very apparent.

For the music Industry, the closing of the bulk of traditional recording studios, record stores and it's flow on effect on music industry employment, has many question on the validity of the new computer / internet music revolution.

 

The amount of recording studios having closed down the last 10 - 15 years has been staggering.

Obviously, recording your band at home is much cheaper, but the loss of talent, vintage recording gear and experience is a serious drain on the music industry.

 

Music producers give a number of reasons why so many recording studios are no longer viable.

• There are fewer new bands or artists who seek big rooms, great acoustics and qualified engineers.
  

• The new computer based technology meant bands no longer seek a fully-equipped studio to record in.
  

• Now, records can be made in a bedroom with a computer, a couple of microphones and a few other bits and pieces.
  

• Music CD sales have declined, recent years have not been kind to the music business. Records, of course, gave way to CDs. But then CDs gave way to downloads and downloads gave way to illegal downloads.The result is that sales across the board are down, and music stores as well as recording studios have disappeared from the landscape.

Those studios who have survived did well by being different, they kept their old gear while at the same time modernised everything else, that way, achieving the best of both worlds, combining vintage gear, keyboards, amplifiers, etc, with analogue tape recording and a great warm sound with the best of the digital and computer equipment technology combined.

 

Make no bones about it, the decline in studio recording rates and recording budgets has killed many beautiful and historic recording studios, but it has also fuelled a renewed enthusiasm within those studios, engineers and producers who see music as an art and who will always strive for new and innovative means of producing top quality music.

However, to find these types of studios may take some serious looking, in Brisbane, Australia, is one such studio, " Alchemix Recording Studios".

Planning your next recording project?

Here is what Alchemix Producer Marly L. said recently in an interview:

"Tape is now the holy grail for musicians, young emerging bands or veterans alike, who are looking for an edge as well as quality. Some young guys have hardly ever consciously listened to the vinyl - anologue format's sine-wave warmth, and love experiencing full bandwidth after a lifetime of listening to highly compressed MP3s."

 

Could there be a revival of the Recording Industry, driven by quality vinyl records and analogue recording?

 

Yes, one would think so, more and more music lovers ask for quality, those are people who buy vinyl records and who love the warmer richer sound of analog recorded music.

 

Vinyl records are suddenly cool again. Baby boomers are rediscovering their music and are nostalgic for their youth. But to the surprise and delight of music producers, increasing numbers of the mp3 and iPod generation are also purchasing record players and buying vinyl records.

Vinyl's resurgence has benefited from the retro-rock movement. Many young listeners discovered LPs in their parents' collections looking for oldies and found that they liked the warmer sound quality of records, and the experience of putting on a record and sharing it with friends, as opposed to plugging in some earbuds and listening alone.
Bad sounding iPod devices have helped the conversion back to vinyl for a lot of people.

The music industry, hoping to find another revenue source that doesn't easily lend itself to illegal downloads, has happily jumped on the bandwagon. Contemporary artists have begun issuing their new releases on vinyl in addition to the CD and MP3 formats.

As an extra lure, many labels are including coupons for free audio downloads with their vinyl albums so that Generation Y music fans can get the best of both worlds: high-quality sound at home and iPod portability for the road.

Here are some of the reasons for going back to a high-resolution format.

• Sound quality LPs generally exhibit a warmer, more real sound than CDs and digital downloads.

• MP3 files tend to produce tinnier notes, especially if compressed into a lower-resolution format.

• Vinyl listeners talk about; "Zen" and the art of listening to vinyl.
  
  Why is an analogue sound so special?

Analogue tape (recording) actually has the sound that digital recording forever tries to copy.

A lot of digital recording equipment, software,& plug-ins emulate analogue recording equipment (tape, solid state & valve/tube outboard units) because it is a sound that 'listeners' define as real ... warm... round... soft... friendly and sexy...... .
That's why the analogue sound of vinyl records grow in popularity, and the back-to-analog effect has been heading upstream. Most artists now choosing to record their LPs from the very first note using vintage tape machines refitted and revived by clever technicians.

And here is an interesting point, Analogue breeds better musicians as well . When you record in analog, the drummer has to play in time, the singer has to sing in tune, the guitar player has to nail the part, because you can't go back later and fix it with a black box.

 

While there is no debate about the technological advances of digital recording, sequencing and sampling, overdubs, etc. can be done flawlessly and with little effort, but digital recording simply cannot produce the "warm, natural" sound of an analog recording.

 

Is there a renaissance in the pipeline for analog and open reel recording again?

 

Digital is not going to go away by any means. But there is plenty of room for both formats to exist and to taken advantage of.

 

And that is the point the new generation of bands and artists are looking for, taking advantage of the whole spectrum of recording technology, old school and new technology.

 

And hope that he music industry will improve the way music is distributed. MP3 compression, was one of the worst inventions of the 20th Century. How can music makers ever convince listeners that music is worth something, if they allow their work to be distributed in "really low-quality formats?

 

With improved sound quality, consumers may be willing to pay for music. There's no reason, why vinyl and analog recording can't make a comeback. "Increases in bandwidth and innovations in reproduction" will make it possible for analog to be just as portable and easy to us as digital files.

... and a note for musicians ....

Find a recording studio with good analog equipment (preferably reel to reels) to mix down the digital sources and give that analog feel.

 

in Brisbane, Australia, contact Alchemix Recording Studios

If you think back, technology 15 years ago may not have been as hot as today, but more and more listeners come back to music recorded in a real Recording Studio. The older analogue recording systems certainly sounded much more live like, than some digital software generate music, or some bands who record themselves in their home by computer.

 

Article provided by the Editor - Dieter L.