idecksA recent Facebook discussion on the state of popular music making threw out an interesting benchmark – the ratio between ‘shit’ and ‘the shit’. Let’s call it S/TS. If that’s reminiscent of signal-to-noise (S/N), it’s no accident.

Much of the blame for the swing towards the ‘S’ end of the scale was assigned to major record labels. The rest came technology’s way.

Bubble ChamberWhen did you first meet Kevlar? Think carefully, your answer may betray a lot about your past.

If it was sometime around 1976, you were either enjoying the finer points of cutting-edge reference loudspeaker performance or reading spec sheets in the hope that you soon would be. If you were five years ahead of the audio boys, you were more likely risking your life for country or cash.

CloudsLook up! Clouds are gathering over the internet. Some may have silver linings. Others are most certainly storm clouds.

These clouds are computing clouds – cloud computing. If it’s a new term to you now, it won’t be for long. These clouds will change the way you use your computer and the way you use your music, video and photo libraries. Forever.

Killing MusicThe characteristic noises of death and destruction are contrived by nature to be unpleasant. If their cause is indifferent to their creation, then our ears ensure that we read them as alarming, even terrifying.

Certainly, this was the case with many of the records released in the wake of the introduction of CD. The sound of corporate exploitation, combined with artistic apathy, was as excruciating as it was depressing. 

 

Record

It is the early hours of Saturday morning. I'm somewhere in a cold, dark wood with a film crew. The Marantz has just died on me...

My hands are almost too cold to change the batteries in the recorder. The director, crew and cast are waiting to start the next take. I am beginning to doubt I will ever be warm again. Batteries changed. Camera rolling. Sound rolling. Slate!

Neyrinck V-ControlI read an iPhone app review on iTunes yesterday: ‘I’ve stopped using the Google Analytics website and just use the app…’ it claimed. It’s a big claim, given the extent of information Analytics provides. So I downloaded the app and gave it a try. And I had to agree…

I have a theory about smartphone apps. I think they are changing our whole approach to mobile devices and shaping future computer operation.

Steel MillA recent TED presentation saw Sarah Angliss examine the connection between Britain’s Industrial Revolution and Detroit’s motor industry, and the music they have produced. In the reflections of unforgiving industrial environments, she can see an ‘art out of noise’ model at work.

Curiously, I’ve drawn exactly the opposite conclusion over the way modern businesses have turned music back into industrial noise.

For a while, each visit I made to America was preceeded by a delivery of fine Cuban cigars. In a very Bond-like arrangement, I was to take these with me ‘for personal use’ and deliver them to an American whom we shall call Steve.

It was quite legal but it had an enjoyable air of opulence and sedition... and it was intimately tied in with cutting-edge digital audio.

Shark: 'Good morning sir. Can I interest you in advertising your company through our most excellent media broadcast service? It is the leader in its field and attracts more of your target audience than you can shake an industry demographic at... and it's a gift at our present rate.'

Mark: 'Wow, that sounds just perfect for my very specific marketing requirements! Where do I sign?'

Future ClickThe term ‘social networking’ is on a lot of lips at present – from university graduates through IT specialists to pro audio and A/V companies, and most acutely, broadcasters. A subject that, until only recently, was the preserve of anthropologists, sociologists and other academics, has now become mainstream, with direct relevance to our personal and professional lives.

URL hellYou don’t have to be afraid to have tit.com crop up in your browser history. Against all reasonable expectation, it’s not a pornography site – although judging by the ‘Sorry, there is no adult content here’ disclaimer it carries, it probably has a very high bounce rate…

Regardless of content, a short domain name is worth money. And it’s a sweet introduction to an overlooked aspect of the internet’s creation and operation.

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Fast-and-Wide.com An independent news site and blog for professional audio and related businesses, Fast-and-Wide.com provides a platform for discussion and information exchange in one of the world's fastest-moving technology-based industries.
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