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Re: [ARSCLIST] Pristine Audio and the Milllennials . . .
Tom et al.:
I think I will do more demonstrations comparing the audio of the same
source material, but I'm working under some limitations:
First and foremost, I'm trying to cover 80+ years of music.
Second, I worry that the 78s that I have in near mint condition will be
worn out on the Victrola. I demo them on the portable electric tube
player, which also lets them hear the difference between a radio-like
setup over an acoustic one. Maybe one play on the Victrola wouldn't
hurt? Otherwise, I play major label pop music on the hand-cranker.
A couple of year ago, they went to digital receivers without any analog
capability in the lecture hall and out went the turntable. I'd hate to
demo the LP on a smaller system and then compare it to the big system
with the overhead speakers. But maybe I can setup a stereo and play LP
> (8 track? cassette?) > CD all on it, with a more finely recorded (for
country music) example, like a Merle Haggard Capitol album.
Incidentally, I still use CDs for classroom demonstration, even though
most of the listening is available through streaming audio on the WebCT
page. Just sounds better to me and I don't trust the Internet connection.
Of course I also talk about and display the change from the old brown
sleeves for 78s to the colorful LP album (back to the tiny and
unimpressive CD case). Thanks everyone for the encouragement, I'll let
you know what the students think . . .
Gary
Tom Fine wrote:
I'm with Charles, 100%. Let's hope some of them even drag their friends
to your demos of "stone-age dead media."
One demo that might be very educational -- take one of your old 78's and
have the class listen to and write their impressions of the following:
1. the original sold-to-the-public 78rpm record, hopefully in decent
condition, played with a decent needle on a Victrola-type device used in
homes at the time of its release.
2. the CD reissue of that song, hopefully made from metal parts and
transferred tastefully by someone like Doug Pomeroy or Art Shifrin
(hopefully without a tin-eared "producer" ruining their work down the
line).
3. a cassette and/or 8-track recording of the song, either from the CD
or the original, but compare these back to their source.
4. an MP3 file of typical Internet quality (ie 128kbps or worse).
Play back the electronic sources through a decent but doesn't have to be
great system, but don't change the amplifier and speakers, and see if
you can keep the overall volume about equal. The differences should be
pretty clear and it would be interesting to see how the younger folks
describe them. This might diverge too far away from the history of
music, but one could argue that the technology used to record and
reproduce the music is integral to how it was perceived and absorbed by
listeners.
-- Tom Fine