May 07, 2008 New jazz piano CD demonstrates advanced virtual music technology
By
Rich Pell
I was delighted to receive in the mail recently a promotional CD copy of the soon-to-be-released "Piano Starts Here: Live at the Shrine/Zenph Re-Performance" - a live "re-performance" of jazz pianist Art Tatum's classic live 1949 recording "Piano Starts Here". The new recording, from Sony BMG Masterworks and Zenph Studios was achieved using Zenph's music software technology, which aims to capture all the musical nuances of an original performance and then "re-perform" it using modern technology.
The technology - which is based on high-resolution MIDI files and the technical and musical expertise of its creators - offers the promise of new high-quality recordings of historical performances, without the limitations of the original recording. Of course to pull this off successfully is easier said than done, but Zenph's well-received first album - a re-performance of pianist Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations - certainly lends some credence to the approach.
I don't own a copy of the original "Piano Starts Here" so I wasn't able to compare the new "re-performance" with the original recording and performance. However, there are in fact some very deliberate differences between the two, including a corrected playback speed (faster) on the newer version, a fixed 80-ms tape glitch, and about two minutes of additional material that was missing from the original album.
I did compare the new recording to some other Art Tatum recordings in my collection, and the performances indeed sounded like Art Tatum (although perhaps a bit more "polite sounding" than some others in my collection, which could simply be due to them being entirely different performances and/or differences in the recording or even the piano used). Certainly the quality of the new recording itself is excellent - and there's even a binaural version of the "re-performance" included on the CD as well.
Hear an example for yourself. Here's a short video (3:21) of a "re-performance" of Art Tatum playing "Tea for Two" (filmed at the 2008 International Association for Jazz Education conference):
Currently Zenph is focusing its technology on solo piano recordings, but it can be applied to other instruments. And the possibilities are endless.
Eventually this sort of technology could lead to "virtual" performers, and even new "performances" of previously unperformed material by historical artists. If nothing else, it will continue to be fascinating to watch (and listen to)!
April 30, 2008 Vinyl LP comeback = wishful thinking
By
Rich Pell
The latest recording industry data (for 2007) is out from the RIAA and shows a decline in CD sales, an increase in digital download sales and - surprise? - an increase in vinyl sales. Claims of a comeback in the vinyl LP have been much ballyhooed of late by some in the media, and the latest statistics have already prompted an "I told you so" from at least one vinyl advocate.
Wired columnist Eliot Van Buskirk writes in his latest post ("RIAA Admits Vinyl Sales Are Climbing (Updated)") that with the latest report, "the vinyl resurgence has been officially acknowledged by the RIAA." This follows an earlier article of his from late last year ("Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin") in which he breathlessly reported on vinyl's "sonic superiority" over digital formats and how it was "poised to re-enter the mainstream."
Woah, not so fast. Do the numbers actually support this claim? I decided to graph the data for a better perspective. Here's an overview of vinyl album shipments in the U.S. from 1982 through last year (click to enlarge):
Okay, so maybe some vinyl advocates have gotten a little carried away with their hyperbole. Perhaps a closer look at the more recent data will show some signs of a nascent vinyl resurgence. Here's a look at vinyl album shipments in the U.S. since 1990 (click to enlarge):
So vinyl shipments upticked a bit last year, from 900,000 albums shipped to 1.3 million - hardly significant, even when just compared with the past few years. And of course one up year doesn't constitute a trend, nor warrant predictions of a vinyl "resurgence."
How does this fit in with the big picture? To put things in an overall perspective, I added CD shipments and digital album downloads to the graph (click to enlarge):
This graph speaks for itself. Looking at it, it's interesting to speculate when digital album downloads will exceed CD shipments (single downloads were already almost 810 million in 2007). It looks like it could happen by the end of the decade.
And as for vinyl? Well, the best case that vinyl advocates can make, based on the current RIAA data, is that maybe vinyl sales are bottoming. After all, how much lower can they go?
April 23, 2008 Vinyl: How it's made
By
Rich Pell
While browsing for interesting upcoming programs on my TiVo recently I noticed a 2006 episode of the Discovery Channel's "How It's Made" program that featured a segment on vinyl records. Not having seen it originally and not being all that familiar with how records are made, I recorded it, only to be disappointed to find out that a different episode of the program aired instead.
Now I was curious. Not being easily deterred, I decided to see if I could find it online, where I indeed was able to find the video (actually two short segments). Part 1 (4:38 min), below, describes the cutting of the master disc, starting with an aluminum disc core, through the lacquering process and then the actual cutting of the master disc:
Part 2 (4:38 min), below, shows the rest of the process, from the creation of the metal stamper from the lacquer disc (it gets silvered and then electroplated with nickel) to the creation of PVC "biscuits" and the actual pressing and trimming of the final record product:
Pretty interesting stuff - I listened to vinyl for over 20 years and never really appreciated all that it took to create a record. My takeaway from all this is a reminder of just how complex and unwieldy the traditional analog vinyl reproduction process is/was, and why digital technology - not just CD - offers so much greater technical potential.
April 16, 2008 Electronics designer needed for small high-end wireless audio project
By
Rich Pell
A visitor to the Audio DesignLine website has posted an inquiry in the Audio DesignLine forum looking for help in the design of a small high-end digital wireless audio project. I thought I'd mention it here, in case any qualified/interested readers here didn't see the original post (click for full details).
Basically, the poster needs a pc-board design for a digital wireless audio transmitter plus two receivers based on a SyncommIA10 wireless audio module and WolfsonWM8785/WM8786 ADC and WM8740 DAC. The transmitter must be some sort of pre/control amplifier, while the receiver must automatically (if possible) or manually select the input signal (S/PDIF or I2S) to maintain the best possible signal quality.
Anyone interested? If so, feel free to post a response on the forum, or email me and I'll forward your response or suggestions along.
