Recorded music began on 78 rpms which sounded a little tinny or thin and the record grooves were probably split apart after several plays due to the fact that the stylus being used was similar to the appearance of a nail ! The disc itself was thick yet very durable....almost to the consistency of rock or stone.
Then came the 331/3 rpm(album) and 45s(singles). The 45s took off like gangbusters because the consumer was buying the Hit and cost considerably less than the album. With a respectable stereo system it produced a very good sound both on albums and singles. With a good sound system it was better sounding or just as good as the Compact Disc. I can't tell the difference but I am no audiophile !
Of course 8 track tapes and cassette tapes also came into vogue around the late sixties and for the most part offerd a good sound reproduction. The poor old 8 track was doomed from the beginning because of poor construction - too large and problems with tape unravelling...etc.
Today along with the CD we have the Age of the Download....an invisible code of digitized music bytes.
I have talked to a few local musicians, in fact one about an hour ago, and their response is that Yes the CD will go away and if the music fan downloads ... who cares...they'll hear our music and come see us play!!! You see the bucks are in the live shows these days ! There are so many artists out there that the average Joe cannot possibly buy a lot of CDs ! Some musicians have told me that they have boxes upon boxes of unsold dust collecting CDs. Hence another problem arises....the lack of venues to play live in !!!! I thought it was an interesting, frank and depressive perspective from a musician's standpoint. When will this happen ?...who knows...perhaps the CD is here forever but I am sure some form of music media will replace it at some point in time.
I ,like Jerome, miss the spread out album covers ! I wish the CDs would come packaged that way today with the beautiful album cover layouts !
Then came the 331/3 rpm(album) and 45s(singles). The 45s took off like gangbusters because the consumer was buying the Hit and cost considerably less than the album. With a respectable stereo system it produced a very good sound both on albums and singles. With a good sound system it was better sounding or just as good as the Compact Disc. I can't tell the difference but I am no audiophile !
Of course 8 track tapes and cassette tapes also came into vogue around the late sixties and for the most part offerd a good sound reproduction. The poor old 8 track was doomed from the beginning because of poor construction - too large and problems with tape unravelling...etc.
Today along with the CD we have the Age of the Download....an invisible code of digitized music bytes.
I have talked to a few local musicians, in fact one about an hour ago, and their response is that Yes the CD will go away and if the music fan downloads ... who cares...they'll hear our music and come see us play!!! You see the bucks are in the live shows these days ! There are so many artists out there that the average Joe cannot possibly buy a lot of CDs ! Some musicians have told me that they have boxes upon boxes of unsold dust collecting CDs. Hence another problem arises....the lack of venues to play live in !!!! I thought it was an interesting, frank and depressive perspective from a musician's standpoint. When will this happen ?...who knows...perhaps the CD is here forever but I am sure some form of music media will replace it at some point in time.
I ,like Jerome, miss the spread out album covers ! I wish the CDs would come packaged that way today with the beautiful album cover layouts !
The ultimate connection is between a performer and its' audience!