One of the funnier/sadder stories of licensing and copyright folly involves the beloved song “Happy Birthday”. It’s origin is a 1890’s kids song with different lyrics, but somehow it was copyrighted in 1935 and that copyright was eventually acquired by … Read the rest
Music & Sound Tech
The study of sound, music, and the technology used to create and distribute it.
How You Hear Music
Listening 101
1. Directionality – Where is that sound coming from? Where exactly is that hi-hat sitting in the mix? Is the band in front of me or all around me?
2. Delay/Roomspace – Am I in a large room, … Read the rest
Dawg Gone Analog
It’s happening. I’ve considered and planned and anticipated this for 15+ years. But always compromised.
I’m going analog at the studio. Direct to tape. Outboard gear. No DAW. No computers needed at all.
The real deal. Why wait any longer?… Read the rest
Cliff Notes on the Loudness Wars
With master quality HD audio getting into people’s ears and getting more buzz every day, I think its important to look into one of the related issues in recorded music: The Loudness Wars.
It really does get to the core … Read the rest
Making Records In The Age of Pono
Great blog post covering Pono and the trends in music from a well known music producer. There is a lot of work to still be done in ending the era of bad sound quality but I like how he acknowledges … Read the rest
A Girl Like That
The obvious back story to “Jessie’s Girl”
… Read the restYoutube’s Audio Specs
Finally got my answer about Youtube’s audio specification — there isn’t one, really.
The only have a video policy. Audio stream quality is a part of the video spec.
So here’s the details:
- Audio streams as 128k or 320k MP3
The Danger of Perceptual Coding
Perceptual coding is responsible for data loss that is greatly misunderstood and perhaps even dangerous to society.
What is perceptual coding ? It’s a data compression concept used in audio, video, and streaming technologies.
Why does perceptual … Read the rest
The Resolution Wars
MP3’s are dying, thank god. MP3 is a transitionary technology that has overstayed it’s welcome.
If you believe lossy MP3 is all you need for music, goodbye. Come back when you want to listen. Yes 320k is better than 192k … Read the rest
Healing Senses By Depriving Them
Interesting theory here that a lazy eye can be cured or corrected with several days of absolute darkness. The lazy eye is a function of the brain not being able to control and process the eye properly, not a function … Read the rest
Really Can’t Miss It
Tom Petty talking about high resolution audio:
Prince Does 24bit
The genius of early Prince is finally available at full quality digital. Check out ponomusic’s Prince page for his first 8 albums at 24/192!
- For You – 24/192
- Prince – 24/192
- Dirty Mind – 24/192
- Controversy – 24/192
- 1999 –
You Are Not Alone
Quality of sound is not a joke. It leads to quality of life and quality of mental state.… Read the rest
Spotify Wants Your Profile For The Highest Bidder
While Pono makes news with their righteous promise to give you free content upgrades for life, Spotify is making news with an update to their privacy policy that informs the users of their service – particularly the free subscription tier … Read the rest
The Pono Promise Is Real
This crazy old rock star started another company. He named it the Hawaiian word for righteousness. He has long hair, wears jeans and a leather coat, it’s a for-profit small business, and he is hated by conservatives.
The … Read the rest
PonoPlayer Doing Well At Amazon
During my recent shopping experience I’ve found Amazon reviews to be pretty accurate once enough people use that product and report back.
The Pono Player has been for sale up there for a while and people of all types have … Read the rest
Appreciating HD Audio
Good article by Bob O’Donnell posted at Engadget. Engadget is usually anti-audio quality, pushing the standard line of lossy is fine, smartphones are fine, buy new headphones and shut up. But Bob pushes through with a nice summary of … Read the rest
Music Business vs. Youtube
The battle for pennies is heating up. The 3 major record labels are supposedly fed up with Youtube’s lame attempts to monetize their content, feeling that Google, who owns Youtube and the entire ad network and search engine that drives … Read the rest