The Bob Dylan Discussion Thread

[Jessica Drew]

The second listen is even better!

Workingman's Blues #2 is really good, as is Spirit on the Water!

-Brian

You're right; the second listen IS even better--MUCH better (I liked it during my initial listen, anyway).

All the tracks are quite choice, but the last one is particularly haunting. And--as has been the case with his past two albums--his band is tight. Who produced this? I bought this via iTunes, so I don't know. Sounds a bit like Daniel Lanois' work: the chiming guitars, the brushes on the snare, the accentuating steel-guitar, the spare string arrangement, and just a pinch of Johnny Mercer/New Orleans laid-back, high-water classiness.

[Brian Cronin]

Dylan produced it himself.

The last track, Ain't Talkin', IS quite haunting - but it seemed a bit too much like the last track off his last two albums, both of which were, I think, superior tracks. So, while Ain't Talkin' was definitely good, I think Dylan invited comparisons with Highlands and Sugar Baby, and it doesn't compare well with that.

Still a good song, though!

But man, I'm already got Workingman's Blues #2 caught in my head. :D

-Brian

[Royal]

Mark




.

[Punchy]

No.

Actually he is not.

The difference in quality and depth of sound between digital and analog is extreme.

Digital is a numeric reproduction of sound, analog is an actual recording of sound vibrations.

Digital is clear, bright and fairly empty of resonnance.

Analog has warmth, clarity and depth.

The only advantage digital has over analog is that digital is eaiser to package and transport. But the sound is straight out inferior.

I don't agree at all.

Digital is a numeric representation of sound, sure. But analog is merely a physical representation of sound manifested in magnetic tape.

Before you can press a vinyl the music has to go through quite a few different mediums. First it is put on to tape. Then all of those tracks are mixed down to another tape. Then that tape is burned on to a master vinyl. After that is checked for discrepencies you can finally press the product. Anytime information gets translated so many times there is going to be a reproduction loss. This doesn't even take into account the noise that gets in between the vinyl and the record needle (dust, uneven vinyl, etc.) which probably distracts from the original information the most.

But if I record digitally that information is going to be practically the same from when I record it to when the CD is pressed. And when played in a CD player the sound is produced nearly flawlessly.

And I don't understand why you would say a CD is empty of resonance. The only resonating factors in the music should be in either the original performance or the speakers that output the final product. As I just got finished saying a CD can more accurately capture the original performance and any other resonance shouldn't come from the product but the actual speakers themselves.

Like I said in my previous post, if you like the character that vinyl brings, that's totally cool. But to say the sound of a CD is "straight out inferior" is a little naive.

[Deathstroke]

Good point, Punch!

I corrected it to go with Rick's take, which is the most accurate.

-Brian

Jeepers, if this thread title gets changed anymore from the ACTUAL words he used, people are going to think I posted some sort of vulgarity in the original title. :D

[Brian Cronin]

Ha! No worries, DS - just don't want to mislead folks! :)

-Brian

[rick]

I don't agree at all.

Digital is a numeric representation of sound, sure. But analog is merely a physical representation of sound manifested in magnetic tape.

Before you can press a vinyl the music has to go through quite a few different mediums. First it is put on to tape. Then all of those tracks are mixed down to another tape. Then that tape is burned on to a master vinyl. After that is checked for discrepencies you can finally press the product. Anytime information gets translated so many times there is going to be a reproduction loss. This doesn't even take into account the noise that gets in between the vinyl and the record needle (dust, uneven vinyl, etc.) which probably distracts from the original information the most.

But if I record digitally that information is going to be practically the same from when I record it to when the CD is pressed. And when played in a CD player the sound is produced nearly flawlessly.

And I don't understand why you would say a CD is empty of resonance. The only resonating factors in the music should be in either the original performance or the speakers that output the final product. As I just got finished saying a CD can more accurately capture the original performance and any other resonance shouldn't come from the product but the actual speakers themselves.

Like I said in my previous post, if you like the character that vinyl brings, that's totally cool. But to say the sound of a CD is "straight out inferior" is a little naive.

Okay, straight out inferior is something of an overstatment, I admit it.

It is certainly not like I don't have a few hundred CD's let alone thousands of mp3's, so it's not like the sound actually sucks.

But when I listen to music, I do hear the difference between analog and digital recordings. And as with all sound, you can only judge by what you hear. And what I hear on analog, just sounds better then digital.

A good reel to reel tape or a decent piece of vinyl, just sounds "better" then anything I have ever heard on disc.

Granted that's just my ears, but it's all I have to go by.

[Punchy]

You know a lot of records are still recorded on tape then pressed to CD. I wonder if your ears like analog recording or the analog medium of vinyl.

[Joe Rice]

I can deal with CDs and digital, but I do prefer a nice analog sound. It's not a dealbreaker, though, by any means.

And, yeah, a lot of stuff is way overproduced these days. You can overproduce well, even, if you're great, but not many folks doing it are.

[rick]

You know a lot of records are still recorded on tape then pressed to CD. I wonder if your ears like analog recording or the analog medium of vinyl.

I don't think that's just it, I still have a couple of dozen reel to reel tapes and their sound, for me anyway, is even better then albums.

So I do really think that it is the actual analog recording itself.

[Jessica Drew]

I don't think that's just it, I still have a couple of dozen reel to reel tapes and their sound, for me anyway, is even better then albums.

So I do really think that it is the actual analog recording itself.

Wow, man; I forgot all about the old reel-to-reel tapes. I used to DJ at a radio station many moons ago, and--bar none--the best sound of any playback equipment out there (DAT, CD, 33 1/3, 45, 78, 8-Track, cassette tape) was the music recorded on reel-to-reel. This radio station never threw away ANYTHING, and they had tons of reels. I--most of the time--worked the late-night shift, and often I would have plenty of free time to spend, so I'd either listen to old 45s or try to catalog all those unlabeled reels. Oh my, at the marvelous sound.

When Christmas break rolls 'round, I'm going to visit my former employers, have a chat, and see if I can talk one of 'em into letting me in one night to listen to those old reels.

[Patient Boy]

I haven't really gotten into Dylan as of yet, but this was pretty good reading. It's a review (of sorts) of a new book called Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews and attempts a little dive into the man's head as well, apparently.

http://www.newyorker.com/critics/boo...0904crbo_books

[Jonathan Bogart]

That's a pretty good article. Louis Menand's one of my favorite cultural observers.

Alex Ross, the New Yorker's classical music critic, wrote a terrific essay about Dylan in 1999. It could stand to be updated, but it's still about the best thing I've ever read on the man, including Greil Marcus's books.

[leonaozaki]

Alex Ross, the New Yorker's classical music critic, wrote a terrific essay about Dylan in 1999. It could stand to be updated, but it's still about the best thing I've ever read on the man, including Greil Marcus's books.

Do you remember what issue that essay was in?

rob

[Jonathan Bogart]

Actually, I read it in an anthology of writings-on-Dylan. To make matters worse, I read it in the bookstore, so I don't even have the book.