I’ve always been naturally skeptical. Being very suspicious of the motives that kindle the forces of change makes me slow to embrace change. For years I shunned the concept of audio CD technology, not because I thought it was of a lesser quality than my beloved vinyl, but because I saw it as a conspiracy of the music industry. What better way to get me to replace my entire vinyl collection than with this new devil? I resisted in the face of countless demonstrations of the sound quality and indestructible nature of the medium.
In 1990 an ad was running for a product that I have long forgotten. The ad however was forever burned into my memory. It went something like this:
It’s late in the evening outside of a plush Manhattan condo. A sleek black car pulls up and a chic couple slink out. They enter a dimly lit apartment with ultra modern appointments and an incredible view. As she removes her wrap with a seductive move that would rival the best that burlesque had to offer, he goes over to the stereo and with the push of a button a little drawer opens. He slips in a CD and it fades to black while the jazz suggests that the night was just getting started.
For the life of me I can’t remember the product they were selling, but they sure sold me on that CD player! I mean it was just too cool! Shades of Heff and all, I bought into the fantasy. I got a player and started buying CDs with a vengeance.A few years later, I found myself in a Linn Hi-Fi boutique. Peter, the stereo guru at the shop was trying to prove to me that vinyl sounded better than CD. Come on! Was he kidding me? I had just drunk the CD Kool Aid and now he’s telling me that I may have had the best playback medium collecting dust. His demo was compelling. With more questions than answers I went home to do a little testing of my own. My test was not as compelling. Of course the fact that I didn’t have an LP12 but, instead, a Pioneer PL something or other, had everything to do with it. But I always remembered that demo and unlike so many of my associates I never ridded myself of the vinyl scourge. I never sold off my records.
Eventually I did upgrade the old Pioneer rig along with the rest of my mediocre gear. In doing so, my vinyl records never sounded better. My CDs never sounded better either, but I had renewed my love for the organic sound of analog playback. Mind you, even though a good ninety percent of my current music purchases are on vinyl, I’m not on some “Gray Panther” crusade to save it. Though there seems to be a vinyl boom happening, it’s younger audiophiles that are sparking the boom. It seems there are a lot of vinyl curious twenty and thirty year olds out there running the price of used records up. Additionally, as a friend of mine proposed, manufacturers are further fueling the boom by producing so called audiophile quality re-release copies of recordings we may already own but are compelled to re-buy with the often unfulfilled promise of better fidelity. At the risk of being labeled a nut case, I can’t argue with that theory.
Is this vinyl boom real? I do hope that analog will continue it’s comeback and if recycling old material is the steam that drives the engine, so be it. However, one sure sign of a true resurgence would be the embrace of contemporary artists. I would love nothing more than to hear today’s musicians presented on vinyl. Sure, we have a hand full of artists doing it now, but they are few and far between. Economics aside, the problem is that the current recording industry "State of the Art" is digital based. Many have argued that a digital recording, albeit on vinyl or disk, is still a digital recording. Am I now suggesting that the engineers go back to mastering on analog tape? And while we’re at it, why not go back to having entire groups of musicians in the studio…. playing together….at the same time. Obviously that would be impractical but it would be interesting to hear the result. Feel the give and take of the spontaneous collaboration that is at the very heart of a performance of any genre. Call it an art project. Where’s the petition and give me a pen! If I were to lead a crusade, that would be the one well worth the campaign.
About the Author:
John Wheeler is a Professional Freelance Photographer jaywchi@sbcglobal.net and an avid music lover.