[78-L] The reluctant downloader

[Jeff Austin]

There's an important distinction to be made when it comes to the nature of 78s as opposed to later sound media:  with pre-magnetic recording 78s, there is always the possibility of finding more unprocessed "information."  There's always more there there.  Once a 78 is transferred to a different medium, no matter how skillfully (or not), that new entity is, in its way, finite.

I can think of numerous examples where recordings of music that have become integral to my life were either originally discovered on 78, and to which I have been exposed to various transfers of wildly varying quality, none of which rings quite true, or the reverse -- recordings that I have learned from later incarnations, only to find a world of difference on the original object.  God, think of all those Columbia transfers from the '60s that sounded like they were being played through a box of Kleenex.

There's also the great wild card that we don't just "hear" with our ear-bones, but in fact, process audio with our brain-bones, in ways that (last I heard) are not even remotely well-understood.  My not-particularly-comprehensive grasp of the subject as at least given me the firm impression that much of what "we" (what mean we?) interpret as warmth, presence, or what-have-you, is technically distortion.

This all takes on giddier dimensions:  in the Zemanta side-bar on my computer screen, I am being informed (from crunchgear.com) about "Audio researchers 'Fidelity Potential Index' pits mp3 against vinyl; science or pseudoscience," and from telegraph.co.uk, the disturbing news, "Audio cassettes make comeback."  

J.






________________________________
From: Steven C. Barr <stevenc at interlinks.net>
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Wed, December 16, 2009 3:02:14 AM
Subject: Re: [78-L] The reluctant downloader

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cary Ginell" <soundthink at live.com>
> This is an article by Jeremy Eichler, a columnist with the New York Times. 
> I found it very insightful, wistful, and more than just a bit sad. Every 
> collector on this list will understand and value his/her collection even 
> more after reading it. Also - please forgive his misstatement that the 78 
> era ended with World War II. Probably a third of my 78 collection comes 
> from after this period. Anyway, read and enjoy.
>
My personal attitude is...and has always been...that I don't really OWN a 
piece of
music until I can acquire it in its original 78rpm-record form! Digital 
copies hardly
count...likewise cassette recordings made for me by someone who owns the 
disc.
In fact, even 78rpm reissues aren't quite the same as actually owning an 
original
78rpm record! I can use any or all of the other entities to listen to the 
performance...
but it is NOT the same thing as owning the actual original 78 of the 
performance!

Steven C. Barr 

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