Anyway, a big problem with digital is the incompetence of the engineer. Any idiot can get a protools rig and make it sound 'OK.' Plus, these Full Sail graduates also have a tendency to use horrid digital effects, and also to compress a mix to the point where there are no dynamics left.
It takes skill to properly use analog equipment, and it seems that the mindset and work ethic of an analog tape user is focused on doing things properly and having the results sound good.
With digital, you can also edit any poor performance into a great one, also removing any ambience and character that the material has.
I manage a small record label, and one of our artists, Donna Killington, has recorded several songs by submerging a speaker and microphone (in shrink wrap, or a garbage bag, of course) and recording some sounds being played through the water.
Artists need the channels that a label can offer, mainly distribution.
I know that my band is currently looking into things of this nature right now, and let me tell you, it's hard to get your stuff into stores right now. There is such a fierce competition for the dollars of the consumer, and a label seems like an amazing avenue to make things happen.
The RIAA does not have an inventory. They are not a record label. These CD's had to come from RCA, Warner or Sony. (And from the sounds of it, possibly all of the big seven labels put some releases in.)
"Hey, Bill, this is Kathy with the RIAA. We're settling that suit... can we get 10,000 copies of Willenium? How about a few hundred thousand one song cd's of Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl? Great, I'll send a truck."
1. cancel the shows that are still on 2. destroy any archives of them 3. force Trekkies to move out of their parent's house 4. get said Trekkies some v-to-the-gina. 5. ????? 6. Profit!
Did you ever notice how almost any "silver" or manufactured bootleg CD comes from Italy? Their law (unless it's changed lately) is that as long as you pay the artist/publishing company something, it's legal to make any recording for sale.
This results in a lot of these bootlegging companies paying less than a cent per unit manufactured to the record companies for "compensation." This new law seems sort of extreme if they still allow this other behavior.
As someone that works with tons of analog gear, I know that the second you have to dump your 24 tracks of 2" tape to that 16 or 20 bit DAT deck, that's when the tears come rolling down. (Ask Steve Albini!) THAT is when you start to hear "artifacts" the most. If you do some tests with these files against the original CD's, you would definitely hear a lot of the same artifacts... the compression just makes it a little more noticeable. Bring back the cassette!
You know if you run across some old tapes and they are falling apart, you can literally bake it back to health. This process recombines the chemicals in the tape, so they will be usable for another 10 years.
Always at 130 degrees, bake: 1/4" tape - 1 to 4 hours 1/2" tape - 2-5 hours 1" tape - 3-6 hours 2" tape - 4 to 8 hours
To check if it's done, use a white, clean cloth cloth and swab it on part of the actual tape. If a lot of magnetic oxide comes off, bake more. Tape is done once cloth is wiped and is mostly clean. (Some residue is normal.)
As a person with a high level of interest in the music business, I've noticed (and heard, and read) that the actual number of releases from major labels is fewer than in years past. I don't think that CD's are the only thing being "manufactured" in this case.
Also, does anyone know any statistics for how much indie cd sales are up? Of course not. The guy selling his CD-R out of his car doesn't report to SoundScan. I am almost certain they have to be on the rise.
But in the U.S. you can have a digital copy of something as long as you legally own the original. This has to do with the Home Taping Act. So if I buy the new Red House Painters Cd and it is copy protected, I can legally download it from someone else. I already own the album... right?
--Nick
P.S. You can always do an analog rip. If you are compressing the music, the little bit of additonal signal degredation isn't noticeable, and a lot of software supports this.
I was really asking more "rhetorical" questions... as a tape trader, I have been involved in this "type" of thing before, and the fact that a giant corporation wants to capitalize off fans even more kind of agitates me. In tape trader circles, no one sells music. It's always traded for other shows, or for blank media. By "legitimize" I guess I maybe should have been more clear... Umm.. Artists in the past that have not supported tape trading will be more likely than artists that support it to use this service. Usually there is some weak claim as to why they do not support trading... I do not see DMB or Phish starting to sell official CD's of the show after the show... They know it's an integral part of their community of fans to tape, and trade, shows.
Fans shouldn't appreciate this, either. If you want a show, tape it yourself.
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There sure are a lot of ignorant people on here.
Anyway, a big problem with digital is the incompetence of the engineer. Any idiot can get a protools rig and make it sound 'OK.' Plus, these Full Sail graduates also have a tendency to use horrid digital effects, and also to compress a mix to the point where there are no dynamics left.
It takes skill to properly use analog equipment, and it seems that the mindset and work ethic of an analog tape user is focused on doing things properly and having the results sound good.
With digital, you can also edit any poor performance into a great one, also removing any ambience and character that the material has.
My two cents.
I manage a small record label, and one of our artists, Donna Killington, has recorded several songs by submerging a speaker and microphone (in shrink wrap, or a garbage bag, of course) and recording some sounds being played through the water.
If you are interested, check out some free mp3's.
--Nick
Artists need the channels that a label can offer, mainly distribution.
I know that my band is currently looking into things of this nature right now, and let me tell you, it's hard to get your stuff into stores right now. There is such a fierce competition for the dollars of the consumer, and a label seems like an amazing avenue to make things happen.
But such fun off camera...
Anyone who sues the RIAA in 2005 better watch out, Paris Hilton has an album coming out then.
The RIAA does not have an inventory. They are not a record label. These CD's had to come from RCA, Warner or Sony. (And from the sounds of it, possibly all of the big seven labels put some releases in.)
"Hey, Bill, this is Kathy with the RIAA. We're settling that suit... can we get 10,000 copies of Willenium? How about a few hundred thousand one song cd's of Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl? Great, I'll send a truck."
Here's a good course of action:
1. cancel the shows that are still on
2. destroy any archives of them
3. force Trekkies to move out of their parent's house
4. get said Trekkies some v-to-the-gina.
5. ?????
6. Profit!
Lots of crack cocaine. Lots.
"Yeah, I know it was child pornography, but BT was supposed to keep me from accessing it."
This is not the answer.
... ever seen a movie by Harmony Korine? I don't think he's human.
What about the Britney Spears concert video?
Mitch Bainwol has to come to your house and listen to CD's with you.
Did you ever notice how almost any "silver" or manufactured bootleg CD comes from Italy? Their law (unless it's changed lately) is that as long as you pay the artist/publishing company something, it's legal to make any recording for sale.
This results in a lot of these bootlegging companies paying less than a cent per unit manufactured to the record companies for "compensation." This new law seems sort of extreme if they still allow this other behavior.
Ugh. I pity you. Some people like to record with digial... good for those people ... in Nashville.
As someone that works with tons of analog gear, I know that the second you have to dump your 24 tracks of 2" tape to that 16 or 20 bit DAT deck, that's when the tears come rolling down. (Ask Steve Albini!) THAT is when you start to hear "artifacts" the most. If you do some tests with these files against the original CD's, you would definitely hear a lot of the same artifacts... the compression just makes it a little more noticeable. Bring back the cassette!
--Nick
You know if you run across some old tapes and they are falling apart, you can literally bake it back to health. This process recombines the chemicals in the tape, so they will be usable for another 10 years.
Always at 130 degrees, bake:
1/4" tape - 1 to 4 hours
1/2" tape - 2-5 hours
1" tape - 3-6 hours
2" tape - 4 to 8 hours
To check if it's done, use a white, clean cloth cloth and swab it on part of the actual tape. If a lot of magnetic oxide comes off, bake more. Tape is done once cloth is wiped and is mostly clean. (Some residue is normal.)
As a person with a high level of interest in the music business, I've noticed (and heard, and read) that the actual number of releases from major labels is fewer than in years past. I don't think that CD's are the only thing being "manufactured" in this case.
Also, does anyone know any statistics for how much indie cd sales are up? Of course not. The guy selling his CD-R out of his car doesn't report to SoundScan. I am almost certain they have to be on the rise.
But in the U.S. you can have a digital copy of something as long as you legally own the original. This has to do with the Home Taping Act. So if I buy the new Red House Painters Cd and it is copy protected, I can legally download it from someone else. I already own the album... right? --Nick P.S. You can always do an analog rip. If you are compressing the music, the little bit of additonal signal degredation isn't noticeable, and a lot of software supports this.
I don't know who said it was cool to like any of that stuff... but trust me, they were wrong.
and Linux is also running on the slowest computer in the US: my old 486 with 4 megs of RAM.
ha ha
The same is said of Microsoft products... except for that parts that aren't about stinking.
umm.. I'm pretty sure quality will suffer:
a> churning out cd's at any rate higher than 1X makes errors! PLUS:
b> A live mix is not the ideal way to get any kind of decent mix! Often, the vocals are super-loud and the mixes are inconsistent!
And for the RIAA thing, there are a TON of issues with this! there are mechanical licenses, royalties to all the musicians.. blah blah...
K, pardner?
--Nick
I was really asking more "rhetorical" questions... as a tape trader, I have been involved in this "type" of thing before, and the fact that a giant corporation wants to capitalize off fans even more kind of agitates me. In tape trader circles, no one sells music. It's always traded for other shows, or for blank media. By "legitimize" I guess I maybe should have been more clear... Umm.. Artists in the past that have not supported tape trading will be more likely than artists that support it to use this service. Usually there is some weak claim as to why they do not support trading... I do not see DMB or Phish starting to sell official CD's of the show after the show... They know it's an integral part of their community of fans to tape, and trade, shows.
Fans shouldn't appreciate this, either. If you want a show, tape it yourself.
The radiation sensing watch? A new kind of magnet? What's next, a talking banana?
--Nick