Turning The Tables; Why Vinyl is Final

 The following is an article about analog vs digital formatting in the music world. It does have a more bias stand point towards the analog and vinyl record side, so fair warning for those readers who don't like to read with bias. This article was originally written when I was fifteen as a persuasive essay (hence the bias standpoint) and today I'd like for you all to read an updated version of it, unedited with a personal touch. Thoughts, opinions, and comments are always welcomed in the comment section or via email at LindseyCoye@gmail.com. Peace, chaos, and good vibes.

Via FBCoverLover.com

Keys, wallet, and a chicken scratched listed of things to pick up that we always seem to forget to bring in with us, as they pile up in our bags or under our car seat's. These are just a few items that we take with us during the rush of our day-to-day lives- among them, headphones and smartphones. Thanks to apps like Spotify, Pandora, and even the wide catalog provided by iTunes, we have an endless universe of digital files at the ready in the palm of our hands to listen to whenever and wherever we please. Whether it's blocking out the chatter on the commuter rail to the driving riff of a blues guitar god or  bopping your head to the latest diss-track from music's drama scene strutting down the streets, our phones help to create what is now seen (or heard) acceptable as a blissful experience. But is this the way music was meant to be listened to? 

 When it comes to music there are two types of formatting; analog and digital. Analog is the process of taking the master take of a product, for example a song, and imprinting it directly via grooves or magnetization onto a vinyl record or a cassette. It is the most natural way of creating a sound file, where almost none, if any, of the sound is lost. Digital formatting takes this analog format and converts it into digits that a computer software can understand and download, leaving some of the product lost after a series of compressing this once, organic sound-waves that the analog version provided. When comparing the two forms, analog has been described over and over again as a fuller and warmer way to produce music and sound, leaving vinyl records and even cassettes at the top for providing a higher satisfaction rate for any keen listener.  Not only are they good for our ears, but vinyls serves as a potential great way to bond with one another, become a generation connection to the past, not the mention it's cost-effective, and can be considered a collectible item. More on all of this, including analog and digital files, in the following paragraphs. 

 Vinyl records were introduced as a way to listen to music in the early twentieth- century. But the story of recorded sounds came decades before that, in fact in 1877, when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, technology that could record and playback sound. The phonograph replaced the phonautograph, a non-audible machine that could record sound by creating traces of sound-wave diagram as a visual representation of sound (patent by Leon Scott in 1857). Sound (at the time the main purpose for this machine was for note-taking) was emited by the engineering movement of a stylus vibrating against a cylinder covered in tinfoil that had etched and engraved created by it's recorded master take. This article however is not about the history of sound recording, so to skip forward a decade, we find Emile Berliner patenting the lateral- cut disc, the record shape we recognize today. Berliner's discs however were only big enough to hold four minutes of sound (160 rpm). By 1918, the doors opened for the recording businesses as Berliner's patents with the manufacture of lateral-cut discs records had expired, leading to the experiments of sound on this horizontal style disc. By 1925, 78 rpm became the standard size of records (for those technical people, the U.S used the precise number of 78.26 rpm while the rest of the world used 77.92 rpm).  Decades later came album sizes of 33 1/3 rpm LPs and 45 rpm singles.

 Records became an almost necessity in the everyday life. Spinning a record became a time where families and friends would enjoy listening to the fruity-voices, jazz tempos, swing rhythms, ballad singers, along with a variety of other, early music genres. It wasn't until the 1950s when musicians such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, and other rock and roll pioneers that the record business saw a spike in production. Record stores began to flourish with life as everyone tried to get their hands on the latest single or album, cramming bodies into booths to take in a track or two before making a purchase. What was it that was driving everyone mad and towards this now novelty item? Yes, it was the hip-shaking, gyrating music, at least it was during the height in the 1950s, but there was a much bigger, engineering art that helped cause the frenzy. 

Making a Vinyl via eBaum's World

           Let's start with that rich, beautiful full sound a listener receives after dropping the needle. The sound quality provided by the contact of the needle and vinyl grooves emits the closest most, organic, production one can experience when it comes to listening to a specific artist or band without actually being at a live concert or recording session. This is due to several factors. One is do to the full analog contained on the thin, black disc. When creating a vinyl record an engineer takes the analog, or the raw product of an artist(s)'s work and transports it into a magnetic tape that is dubbed onto a master disc for mass production. During this stage the master disc, a laquer topped with cellulose nitrate disc, is cut precisely and transcribe grooves so delicately and refined that even the simplest slip of the machines needle could be heard on the record, as each groove creates the vibration that the record player needle reads to create the sound and pitch we hear emitting through the speaker. This process allows that shinny LP to be produced without losing the full-fidelity of the sound by avoiding, at all cost, any digital conversions. 

Digital formats of music, found in both MP3 files and CDs took over the scene in the 1980s. The process of creating these are taking the analog and loose essential pieces of music through the transformation process. This can be seen through sound-waves and radio-waves in the below picture. These files are made of closely knitted waves created by speeding snippets of the analog signal at a certain rate. In this process the once untouched, analog becomes a digital file of smashed dynamics, textures, and other essentials, concluding in little space for the music to produce the full, vitality of an artist or band's creation. However, digital files do make it convenient to take music with us everywhere we go, something I am very thankful for, it's just not full. Digital formatting is almost like getting a dozen of eggs at the grocery store but getting home only to realize you have nine in the carton.  

Photo from The Klipsch Joint

 Now to get into the heart of why vinyls provide a stronger experience than MP3 files. First, lets talk about interaction. When purchasing a CD there is little thrill factor to it in comparison to a record. Buying a CD, at least in my experience, has been a handful of shoppers and myself browsing the aisle or $5 bin at the local Wal-Mart with little to no interaction as most of us are living in an introverted world.Maybe one of us will accidently brush the other's hand while searching for the same CD, and immediately jump and walk away. Sometimes a conversation about music pops up, "Have you heard this one?" or "If you like that you might like this?" but that is a very, very rare situation. iTunes and other online music catalogs provide even less communication, as one sits on our phones and purchases a track or two with the only bonding or conversing comes from the thumb to the phone screen. If communication does permit through music downloading process it's through online, discussion, which looses the physicality of interaction. Backing up the digital world on this point, media is a great way to meet other's with similar interest whether it's analog or digital formatted. Record shopping however is a different experience. There are shops dedicated to records, not just a small section for CDs and not an online service that only holds a conversation between the phone and our fingertips hold. Buying a record allows us to go into the world and interact with those around us. For hermits and the anti-social reading this, I'll word it as so. Getting a record means going into the dreaded sunlight and amongst the world population only to grasp hold of your one safe haven, music. Go to a record store, by one, two or three records, or maybe buy a box-set, or a concert album that last an hour. Hide yourself inside your shell, inside your room, wherever you hide, but hide yourself in style.

via The Thrift Store Record Collection

These black, fragile Frisbee's don't just provide a great way to communicate with other music fanatics, but can solve various problems that is seen in today's society. It is no secret that with every decade the generation gap expands and more often than not the older generation and younger generation do not connect and share experiences as they use to. One huge factor of this is do to the spike and use of technology. Spending time at Grandma's house is not the old baking cookies and playing Scrabble, instead it is spent in front of these 4" by 3" screens. Communication is not the moving of a jaw but the typing of codes that literally have to travel out of the living room, through the roof and into outer space back to earth just to reach our other companion, not our present company. The older generations are suppose to teach the younger generation lessons of their lives and stories of their youth, during which artifacts and memories of their past are often shared. Artifacts such as pins, pictures, toys and yes, even music. Music is often one of the most common and useful ways to help teach us about one's personality and interest. Passing down music is passing down a piece of someone's heart which makes vinyls an important part of building the gap between generations. How will today's generation pass down this vital piece of life? By sharing a file through the next social media website to their children and children's children? Vinyls are structure, solid mass, they are here to stay, while MP3s and other similar files are part of the unstable digital world that involves a constant need of updating and hours of backing up just to insure it's safety for the following year or so. When was the last time you heard of a 33 1/3 needing a new update?

To pass down these scrapbook of music it is important to mention how records make a fantastic, and rather cool collection. So throw away your rock collection, you book filled with stamps or quarters from every state, and make room on your shelves for something the chicks are really gonna dig. It's true, owners grow a deep bond and connection with their records; maybe it's why vinyls are still around today and are finally regaining popularity in the passed decade. Vinyls do not just provide a way to escape the world, a way to communicate, they also provide a great hobby; the art of collecting and archiving. For any music lover, records probably provide the best way to collect and show off their music catalog, for these discs express a more unique look than CDs, look fantastic hung on walls, are neatly stacked on a shelf, can come with rare collectible add-ones, etc. Also, it's physically impossible to collect and boast your collection of MP3 files- unless you want to print off a bunch of digits or file folders from your desktop, slowing down your computer with an overload of data in the process.

        Records provide a timeless collection and with help from today's push in the revamp of vinyl records as well as updated technology, theses collections are now being released as remastered box-sets in CD forms or entire album collections. It was just in 2009 that The Beatles released The Beatles; Stereo Box, a collection of all their albums remastered onto CDs. A year later The Fab Four had signed a deal releasing their tracks to iTunes, skyrocketing iTunes and Apple business. However, even with the great increase in Apple sales, a decrease in sound quality could be heard by any audiophile purest. Four years later, long overdue may I add, The Beatles collection was remastered and released in the ultimate Beatles lover dream, a vinyl box-set for essentially the same cost as their catalog on iTunes. When it comes to music MP3s maybe cheap, and yes stores may sell CDs, as mentioned previously like Walmart, for $5, but one can also get a decent album in good condition at a record store for the same price give or take a couple dollars.Buying a single song on iTunes is typically $1.29, whereas a CD can cost the average of about $12.  A full album, brand new, at your local record shop can cost at least $20. Doesn't sound like much of a win there right? Wrong. With a record comes the art of holding the object with two hands and gazing at that wonderful photography or artwork that some genius or mad man captured, where as downloading a file one only receives the compressed waves of a track or album on the device - don't worry, one can still get the album cover with the download, but warning- binoculars will be needed due to the small, sized, now pixelated image.  A CD provides a case and cover, a cover that is slightly larger than one received with a file, which is cool too. CD's do have in folds and some provide a layout of lyrics on the inside, but there's something about what artist use to do with the vinyl that made it elevate into the art and entertainment world. When purchasing a record, fans got memorabilia pressed within the sleeves. From posters of Pink Floyd, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, to cut-outs of the Sgt. Pepper himself as well as his Lonely Hearts Club Band. For god sake, Alice Cooper's School's Out was wrapped in a pair of paper panties!  For the little bit extra you pay for a record the much more you get not only in the listening experience but in the harmonious joy of gluttony with all of your new add-ons. 

            In the previous paragraph I mention album art. I'd like to take a quick detour and talk about the thoughtfulness that goes into an LPs design. Sometimes the true beauty of an album is found on the cover. It's that certain design that gravitates the listener towards the music source at first glance. Covers are created in various ways, whether it's an iconic picture, for example Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA, of the artist(s) themselves; a scenery or place, for instance The Eagles Hotel California; or artwork itself, use Velvet Underground and Nico's use of Andy Warhol for reference. However we not only loose this beauty when downloading a small, pixelated image on our phones, or a slightly larger image on a CD but we loose the creators and story. If you've ever held a vinyl you may find song lyrics,and more often than not, little notes found on the records sleeve or cover - these are called liner notes. One should also find a list of names, names of people - from producers, other musicians who played on the album, engineers, cover photographer or artist, etc. - who made the album possible. Vinyls contain pictures of the bands journey and sessions throughout the albums which can make great posters and a great way for the listener to see what goes into the creation.Cover art work provides much more than just pictures, lyrics, credits, etc. they also provide a story. Once again take The Beatles as example with the Paul Is Dead Rumor where cover's such as Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road provide a plethora of clues and details that aid towards the rumor. Then there are album covers that are simple or are created through colors and zany patterns that allow the viewer to create their own story or imagery giving a more creative experience, in the sense that the album art doesn't just belong to the artist, but the interpretation belongs to the fan.

On the topic of art, words like free, creation, expression, and like-minded words are usually associated with the word "music". One can say the same about vinyl. It's words like dexterity and the previous listed that cannot be used in the same fashion when comparing vinyl records to other sources of music for a few reasons. One being the cleverness and effort put into creating the track-list of an album; granted buying an album online or on a CD will of the same tracks in the same order as they appear on a record, vinyl records require some effort in flipping the record to listen to each side and moving the needle to change the track- no shuffle button. What? Actually having to get up (or sit down) to flip a record just to finish listening to the album? Vinyls and the switching of sides weren't created as an exercise routine for listeners, though. Due to the technology of a record it is impossible to have all tracks on one side without expanding the diameter of the vinyl itself, but these sides are not a bad thing. In fact this is where words like creative come into play. Sides provide an artistic way for artist to space out their songs and create a track-list that flows constantly throughout the album. I'll use The Beatles again because it is a great example and to not throw another artist/band's name into the mix. Let's take Abbey Road for example of how vinyls are more creatively put together than CDs or MP3s with what is known as The Abbey Road Medley. A Medley, as described by Merriam Websters Dictionary are, "A musical composition made up of a series of songs or short pieces." 

Side 1 of Abbey Road is composed of what is heard as a normal track- listening of songs, one to another, without much similarity in between them. It's side 2 that's interesting. The eight track Abbey Road Medley played flawlessly the second the needle is dropped, as The Beatles take you on a musical suite for the rest of the album. Having a shuffle button set up is great to use when listening to a playlist, but when it comes to listening to an album in full, don't go on an adventure of jumping for song to song, don't swing from one track to the next without a care of the order. Sit back and take a break from all that track hopping while the album plays without any pauses or artistic, if you will, breaks or interruptions. Just listen to the album as it was created, especially if the album was created and conceived with the concept of rolling tracks into one another or like-minded theories- hint, hint with the word concept. When it comes to music, sides are on your side. 

Below is the full Abbey Road album via Youtube (Only seen on desktop computers);

I could drive myself made talking about music all day. I could drive myself mad trying to debate analog over digital, when I myself bat for analog but find myself listening to digital day after day as it is more convenient than lugging around my record player and finding a place to set it up, and that my friends sounds more easier than finding cassette tapes and a decent machine to play them in today's world. I could drive you mad by continuing reading this silly little article, so go on and get! Get going to your local record store, or go up in your childhood attic to dads old box covered in dust and take out a few vinyl's and test  out the sound quality of analog versus digital for yourself. Create a bond with Old Man Jenkins next-door with a waltzy ballad, tell the guy in the CD selection "Hey man, that albums real nice but have you seen what the record shop has for a collection?", and buy yourself some record frames to proudly display and preserve the album art on your wall. Start a collection you can share with your friends and family now, start a collection that can only grow as you, yourself grow older.  Now, 

Shut up and spin! 

Phillips Ad.