Going...Going...Not Gone: An Analog Anomaly? (The Resurgence of Vinyl)

As most digital music providers today seem to have their heads in the cloud...(literally) A tiny beacon of light...(figuratively) has emerged for the "old school" music enthusiasts i.e. Audiophiles. Over the past few years Vinyl has made somewhat of a comeback. As most Audiophiles will attest, the peak of sound quality was achieved once Compact Discs had made their way to market.

Though the vinyl record had historically provided the most accurate reproduction of music performed and fixed to a tangible medium in the recording studio, the fact remained that the simple act of dragging a needle through an analog groove alone degraded the quality of the sound after each repeated performance, therefore, regardless of the quality of the record player or the gentleness of the velvet gloved handler, the first play ultimately would be the best one.

CD's were able to provide the closest reproduction of sound by sampling the analog signal so many times (44,100 times per second) that the digitization process was indistinguishable even to the most critical listener's ear, and furthermore the "low-end" of recordings i.e. "Bass" could be more substantial and resonant on a CD than on a vinyl record since the depth of the grooves were limited in this regard. The sound quality of the CD was an important innovation but the more saleable innovation was the ability to play and re-play the recording to infinity without sound degradation (unless of course you scratched it).

At birth, a healthy child's ear can distinguish frequencies as low as 20Hz and as high as 20KHz, as we age the sharpest drop-off is in the high end of frequencies, which is why sometimes older folks instead of recognizing the signs of hearing loss choose to complain to you that you are "mumbling" due to the "high-end" nature of consonants like "T's" and "S's" but as for the average ear, a 44.1 sample rate recreates these frequencies quite well. The steep drop-off of Vinyl sales was evidence enough of the CD's superiority in all ways but one...album art.

Audiophiles have since pushed the digital sampling rates as high as 2,822,400 Hz known as SACD or Direct Stream Digital and even 5,644,800 Hz known as Double Rate DSD. Depending on your Blu ray player, you may have at your disposal a sampling rate as high as 192,000 Hz. (This of course is meaningless without the utilization of Loss-less HDMI connections and a sound system receiver, cabling and speakers expensive enough to deliver the goods). When comparing an MP3 to a CD the compression needed usually means the digital information is 11 times smaller on an MP3 and therefore the sound quality is generally described as "adequate" to the non-discerning listener. Streaming audio uses variable rates so you may have experienced near CD quality at times and telephone quality at other times.

Back to Vinyl. If you are too young to have ever had the pleasure of experiencing the "culture" of vinyl...let grampa SSF tell you a story...gather 'round kiddies...and take a knee. Back in the day, teenagers would perform chores around the house (which generally meant more than simply making your bed) in return for an allowance, some even worked in batting cages or delivered newspapers for a wage. These teenagers would then save this money until a large enough stack was achieved which then afforded them the opportunity to visit a "record store." These establishments were everywhere and typically the coolest ones were not inside a mall, they were owned and operated by independent entrepreneurs known as "Mom & Pops". Once inside, the strange yet alluring aroma of incense would waft through the air signalling to your brain that you had indeed arrived at a very cool place.

It wasn't uncommon to see other teens browsing and chatting (face to face) with each other and even bopping their heads to whatever the shop-keeper deemed cool enough to broadcast through the store's killer sound-system. Record albums were large, thin vinyl circles with a 12" diameter. These records were housed in a rigid paper cover which was protected by a thin, clear plastic wrapper and an inner sleeve. The covers were decorated with artwork ranging from the surreal to the sublime in either renaisance detail or minimalist sparsity, some were profound and some perverted.

They were organized by genre and displayed alphabetically. You would either proceed directly to the bin that housed your favorite artist or you would start with the closest and thumb your way to "Z" which in my day would mean ZZ Top or Zebra. Sometimes there would be another person standing in front of the bin you wanted to peruse, and therefore you would have to wait (for what we used to call) your turn.

Once the album was selected you would approach the front counter that had a "cash register" (they did not accept credit) and hand the album to the person behind the counter who would then read the sticker price and enter the amount in the register manually (none of them required a wrist brace to perform this repetitive task) you would then pay the person for the album and he would hand it back to you in a bag, which generally would be discarded at the first opportunity to maximize the exposure of your purchase to impress and intrigue the ladies or to horrify the older folks outside.

You would then drive, bike, walk or be driven home with a feeling of excited anxiousness, which manifested itself as a feeling of anticipation or "giddiness" which can only be achieved through delayed gratification. (i.e You had to waitfor it). Once home you would tear the thin, clear plastic from the album (there were no theft prevention devices to be negotiated or surgical implements needed to gain access). Sometimes the album cover would open like a book and display what were known as liner notes and pictures. You would carefully slide the record out of the sleeve and hold the edges of the record with the palms of your hands (a gesture similar to illustrating "a fish this big" or the more common cross-eyed clap pose one makes when locating a hovering mosquito in preparation of the dreaded death clap).

You would then place the record on the record player, and depending on your system you would either lift the arm and place the needle as close to the outer edge as possible or the arm would automatically place itself, the record would spin at 33 1/3 rotations per minute and the music would start to play. When the song was good, you would turn up the volume, louder and louder until either the thump of the bass or the stomping of your feet would cause it to skip. Once the needle reached the end of the last song near the middle of the album the needle would either automatically return to a resting position or repeatedly scrub the final groove, a sound which would alert you to the end of the side. I say "side" because a record had 2 sides "A" and "B" you would have to physically flip the record over and begin again to hear the rest of the album. The cooler songs were always on the "B" side because that's where the record executives placed the longer, less commercial material.

Once you were done with the album you would brush off the dust with a special record brush designed with a similar technology you might find in a swifter or you could simply blow the dust off. The record would be returned to its sleeve and placed vertically in a rack so that the thin edge with the album title could barely be seen, and if you were a smart person you would organize them for easy location for the next listening session, but most of us soon abandoned the rigidity of organization for the short-sighted ease of laziness.

A highly organized album collector could quickly scan the displayed edges and determine if the albums were tampered with or borrowed in an instant, these people are known as "A-holes" or more reverentially... Audiophiles, of which I am both.

So there you have it kiddies, it was a very time consuming exercise to experience music back then, but ultimately it made the music and the ownership of music more valuable. Interestingly, Eminem's people were able to win a court case recently that ensured he would be paid more royalties for the digital purchases of his music, the case hinged on the distinction of a sale vs. a license. His team successfully argued that the downloading of songs was more of a "licence" than a "sale" of the music. The distinction being, artists get paid more for licencing than physical sales of music.

This case has every major label rushing to re-write any new contract to rectify and reduce these payments to artists, the loop-hole remains the inability to re-write contracts for older artists who may soon begin being paid royalties for music they haven't been paid for in decades. Score one for the "Old-School". I have included many graphs provided by the RIAA to illustrate the sales of different formats of music over time and the recent "Blip" of a vinyl uptick which may very well ensure you might one day be able to visit a record store once more. Too cool!

Comments

[Jimbo]

Nice article Mick. I really enjoyed it.