The POG Blog

New MP3 Technology

2010-01-27T12:49:00.008+11:00

In my previous entry in September (Yes, it's been a while), I wrote about the issue of file sharing and its damaging impact on the music industry. I raised the need for legal music downloading providers to provide something with their product that file sharing sites can't, and then protect it.

A new form of MP3 called MusicDNA seems to have the potential to achieve this. Additional features beyond the audio, including lyrics, videos, tour dates and social networking sites in the file itself is the first step to achieving something positive for the industry. Whether or not it will be further explored with new features and most importantly protected so it can't be uploaded onto file sharing sites remains to be seen.

There is still a view among some music lovers that MP3 is a inferior format to WAVE files (CD format). In some respects, it is hard to argue because put simply a MP3 is only about 10% the size a WAVE file. In terms of a recent pop or rock releases, I cannot hear the difference between a high quality MP3 (say 160kbps) and a WAVE file. There are some that claim they can, but put them to the test with ABX testing and there may not be so many.

As internet technology gets faster and more affordable and media devices gain large capacity there may not be a need for MP3 or any sort of file size reducing technology in the future. HD audio may of course change all that though - if we ever see it.

Either way, with this new MusicDNA technology we can look forward to new and useful features in audio formats which will hopefully help the industry recover from its declining state and lead to a better listening experience.

New Studio Gear PART 1: Plugins

2009-07-05T20:12:00.003+10:00

A couple of months back I felt it was time to get some outboard gear and plugins for my Project Studio. My setup was a one-year-old Mac/Pro Tools/Reason platform with a Digidesign 003. I had enough outputs and inputs on the 003 to set up a few outboard configurations and enough computer grunt to handle high-end plugins. So I thought - why not?

Before I go on, I should mention I'm not a "tech head". I'm a singer/songwriter/producer with a passion for recording songs. I'm not loyal to any brands, so much so I often struggle to remember the model names of my gear, but I'm also very critical of audio gear and demand great results.

Firstly, for Part 1 I'll discuss the plugins.

In the past I had used Waves plugins for various projects and although I was never happy with the complete bundle, the Ultramaximizer limiter can prove to be quite valuable in any studio application - and used by most studios (even if they don't admit it, I'm told!). My main concerns with Waves were the compressors and equalizers. However, I was growing to prefer the sound of tubes, so perhaps I was a little biased.

At Macquarie University (where I'm doing a Master of Recording Arts) I had some experience with UAD DSP plugins. First reactions: The reverb was amazing!! There was so much control with so many parameters within the plugin; superb, accurate sounding reverberation. Bare in mind though, at this point I had been persevering with D-Verb in Pro Tools for about a year, and it was testing my patience well beyond its limits. You might think perhaps some of my reaction to UAD was clouded by the fact I had been working with this poor excuse for reverberation for over a year! Listening to the recording just the other day, I'm still just as impressed by the quality.

The equalizer and compression plugins in UAD were equally as good- although admittedly I didn't have much use for them in the project I was working on (soft acoustic vocal/piano song with a lot of dynamic range, but at the same time a lot of room to work with), so I didn't get a proper chance to try them out. I had them running though for subtle dynamic control and frequency manipulation (the singer I was working with had a lot of presence at 250Hz - something most male vocalists lack!)

At this point I was convinced to get UAD over Waves. This was until I found out the iMac doesn't support DSP plugins. My understanding was the advantage of DSP is it doesn't drain the CPU on the computer, rather has a separate external processor assigned for coping with the quite hungry plugins. One day (in a far away fantasy world) I hope to get a Mac Pro which I can slowly build into a super computer (with DSP), but for now I'm stuck with my iMac - which despite its fault is light years ahead of anything commercial Windows systems have to offer.I did my research and Waves was really the only other option. This would have to be my most reluctant $2000 purchase ever. However, I took the view even if I wasn't happy with the equalizer and compressors in Waves Gold the Ultramaximizer was very useful, and I had also heard the reverbs had improved in the past couple of years - I was never really critical with the reverberation to begin with though.

A couple of months has passed and I couldn't be happier with Waves Gold. The equalizers do the job and the compressors are also more useful than I thought they would be (although I mainly prefer my outboard compressor - which i'll discuss in my next blog). I've found the compressors struggled when pushed hard - i.e. you want a large dynamic range reduced to relatively small one. But maybe that is more of a personal issue than a limitation of the application.If you're not gonna have a recording professionally mastered the Ultramaximizer is a must. It stops the audio from clipping and lets you get the volume up to a sufficient level for hi-fi systems or mp3 players. Which is basically what mastering is!

The new reverbs in Waves Gold are amazing. A lot of reverbs struggle between 15kHz -20kHz, but the reverbation in Waves handles it great....so far.Next blog I'll discuss outboard gear.

Tribute to Michael Jackson

2009-06-27T23:14:00.007+10:00

There are five musicians that have fundamentally shaped me as a musician. One of them, Michael Jackson, died on Thursday 25 June at age 50. In his passing, he leaves an incredible body of work, a massive musical and cultural influence that will be felt for many years to come.

Firstly with the Jackson 5 and then as a solo artist Michael Jackson became one of the most well known people on the planet. Although his personal life never strayed too far from intense controversy and endless rumours, his music was innovative and trend setting. A brief listen to any of his records, and one can instantly recognise an incredible attention to detail and a polished sound which sets such high standards for all of us who follow in his footsteps to live up to.

Together with producer Quincy Jones, Jackson created some of the finest work in popular music. Albums like Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad are truly classic records, which in my opinion are masterpieces that set a framework for what popular music musicians still follow today. Thriller still remains the most successful album in history at just under 50 million copies sold. An incredible achievement, and one unlikely to be surpassed any time soon.

Hopefully his troubled private life will not overshadow his tremendous talent and unparalleled contribution to popular music in the later part of the 20th century.

Susan Boyle On Britain's Got Talent

2009-04-21T23:24:00.012+10:00

I was blown away by Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent (view clip). When she walked out on that stage, she was met by a hostile audience and sarcastic judges that made judgments on her based on her age and the way she looked. She bravely overcame that and gave them a truly amazing performance of 'I Dreamed a Dream' from Les Miserables'. She made fools of them. It's as simple as that.

As a performer, I know there is nothing worse than a hostile crowd that seem to judge you before you begin, but there is nothing better than proving them wrong. Good on her!

Phil Spector found guilty of murder.

2009-04-14T19:52:00.012+10:00

Music producer Phil Spector has been found guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson five years ago (View article), and will probably spend his remaining days behind bars. What a spectacular fall from grace for a man who pioneered audio production in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, audio technology was far from what it is today. Audio engineers were not given the almost endless number of tracks for recording we are given today. So, the idea of doubling instruments multiple times was not an option. Spector overcame the technological limitations of that time and created the famous Wall of Sound.

The image above is a photograph of Spector during the murder trial. In my humble opinion, his choice of hairstyle was probably not the best way to exhibit innocence and well.... sanity in a court of law.

The first time I became aware of Spector was during a television biography of John Lennon. Spector was working on a post-Beatles album that Lennon was recording. To me, he was an odd looking guy with sun glasses and blank look on his face sitting in a studio. Little did I know the impact he had on audio production.

Phil Spector's legacy will probably forever be overshadowed by his conviction, but nevertheless popular music still owes him a lot for his contributions to audio production over the years.

Joe Satriani's plagiarism claims over Coldplay song.

2009-04-11T22:46:00.009+10:00

Although this is somewhat old news, I've been quite interested in the Joe Satriani's plagiarism claims over Coldplays song Viva La Vida. I recently heard the song performed live at Sound Relief in Sydney in March and thought what a great topic to begin my blog.

Satriani claims Viva la Vida borrows "substantial, original portions" (see article from guardian.co.uk) from his instrumental track, If I Could Fly (2004). After listening to both (see YouTube video below) it's clear the fragments of the melody and chord progression in Viva are very similar to If I Could Fly. It is my understanding though, in order to build a case Satriani needs to prove that the writer (Chris Martin) had heard If I Could Fly.

Before the release of Viva La Vida I felt, like a lot of bands, Coldplay was constricted by their ensemble (i.e drums, bass, guitar and vocal). So, it was refreshing when I heard them branch outside their traditional ensemble with strings and other percussion on their new single.

The first thing that stuck me was the string section; a single repeated pulsating rhythmic chord progression (IV V I iv) continues throughout the whole song, and is kept interesting by counter string parts. Secondly, I found the lyrics to be quite intriguing; illustrating a tragic story of a king losing his throne. In my opinion the song was very cleverly put together. It can be argued the two elements I previously mentioned attributed to the success of the song. However, neither of these things are disputed as being plagiarized.

In regard to the plagiarism claims, I do not believe any writer would consciously go out to steal another writers work. I do, however, believe that although musical composition is almost infinite in terms of possibilities, writing something that is successful in popular culture is not. There is bound to be some material that sounds similar.

Ask most songwriters and they won't be able to tell you where ideas come from. They can wake you up in the middle of the night, or just come from singing randomly into a microphone. As a songwriter, I don't believe it is possible to tell if these ideas are coming from an organic place or if you are just unknowingly singing something derived from a melody you've previously heard.

It would be a shame to see Coldplay's artistic integrity be damaged by this case.