First things first – no recording you hear from a music store sounds just as it came out of the studio – with the exception perhaps of some classical music – why? because most of the music has been messed about with at the mixing stage so much in terms of EQ, compression, effects, reverbs etc – you are in no way hearing what the band sounded like in the studio.
That said – there is an odd phenomenon whereby music can often be more pleasing to listen to on vinyl than a CD – why? Here’s my take.
I’ve been playing music and recording instruments for years and no one seems to have got this to my knowledge. Here’s why vinyl sounds ‘nicer’ on human ears; because it offers a LESS perfect recording and is thus sweeter sound and more natural – just like HD TV looks unreal whilst at the same time offering amazing definition – when I see the world with my eyes – it’s pretty blurred compared to my HD TV which shows every hair. In other words – when you hear something digitally recorded – it’s too clear – and so does not feel nice on the ears.
Digital recording is more accurate to the original sound – but that does not make it more pleasing to listen to – because our ears don’t hear as clearly as an HD microphone!
Yes its a more perfect – but will sound better – more realistic to bats – not humans on playback. Why does 1960’s music sound so much more fun? – because its imperfect and ‘boxy’ – it’s ‘badly’ recorded and sounds just like when you hear it live in a club. My ears do not hear as clearly as a modern microphone recording sound perfectly.
Yes digital is ‘better’ in terms of accuracy – but vinyl is more accurate in terms of reproducing what the ears are actually capable of hearing in a hall or venue at distance – ie imperfect sound – not the HD sound you get when a microphone is placed next to a voice or instrument and so when played back sounds ‘unreal’ even though its actually a more accurate recording.
Summary; record in digital to get the perfect reproduction of the orchestra as if they are in the room – press and play the music on vinyl for good dynamic range and to reproduce the damping /imperfection you get from room and the fact our ears don’t hear in super-high definition. This will reproduce what actually happens when you go to see a concert. If on the other hand you like everything to sound perfect – and unreal – do the whole process in digital start to finish and you end up with what we have today – clinical sounding super-HD but dull music CDs.
I love God, Christ, The Bible. art, painting, playing music, improvising music, guitar (first instrument), drumming (not very good at it:), and anything musical or art related. Quick note – my articles are usually spun off in minutes so forgive any errors – hopefully you get the essence of the article and I’ll pick up mistakes later. If you want to write of 101ChristianMagazine and inspire and edify Christians with articles on faith, general news, hobbies or anything that interests you email me at: epgb101@gmail.com:)
