I NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD

This title has dual applications. Most meaningful and direct is to proclaim my present opportunity to listen to a voluminous vault of recorded music at any time. The utilization of this exposure led me to find and relish the song of the same name (arranged and recorded by Quincy Jones), which is one of my top songs of 2009. I feel the need to tell my tale of my relationship with music in my life; the thoughts I have relative to one’s selection of musical genre; the magnificent improvements in the reproduction of sound; and the ease to search (listen) thru libraries of millions of recordings.

My first phonograph was the top half of a Victrola (a trademark used for a phonograph) with a wind-up arm and a needle (made of steel), placed and held in a playing arm and head weighing at least a ton. And the record, made from shellac, cotton compound, powdered slate and wax lubricant, rotated at 78 RPM. There were various recording formats of 7 and 10 inches in diameter with about three minutes of music. Because of the recording format limitations almost all recordings were limited to about three minutes in length.

During the early 1950’s, the recording industry created a 45 RPM with a large center hole to accommodate an automatic play mechanism on the record player. Generally these records, 7 inches in diameter and made of vinyl, had a playing time of eight minutes. It wasn’t much later (mid 1950’s) that the microgroove LP 33 1/3 RPM record made from vinyl plastic that was flexible and unbreakable during normal use appeared. Using this type of recording materials and improved stylus, microgrooves, better player speed control, and lightweight needle mounts all contributed to better sound reproduction and longer disc playing life.

The LP became the standard method for music listeners for many years and as electronic techniques improved so did the accurate reproduction of the original sound recording. Many of us listeners thought this was it. But then along came the CD. The CD, a Compact Disc, is an optical disc used to store digital audio. The improvements in processing digital data had improved to the extent it was very difficult to hear the difference in the audio output of both methods. It was thought that the CD would be the main source for recorded music forever. Not so, for soon the MP3 was developed and in 2008 CD sales dropped 20%.

MP3 stands for MPEG Audio Layer III and is the standard for audio compression that makes any audio file smaller with little or no loss of sound quality. Most of the original development and patent for the MP3 devices was accomplished in Germany during the early nineties and by 1999 portable MP3 players were available. A number of internet companies (Apple and Amazon being the largest) entered the business of selling audio MP3 files from a large inventory (millions) of songs available as MP3 file or albums of MP3 songs.

This is the present status of the hardware developed over the past 60 years to provide music to consumers. There also has been many changes in the manner the music is listened to. The electrical signal of music whether it be analog (LP’s & 78s & 45’s) or digital (CD’s & MP3’s) is directed to speakers where it is converted back to musical sounds hopefully with little degradation from the original audio sounds. So I have listed the types of hardware devices to store the musical data, and now we need to outline the changes in the listening devices available to hear our music.

Sound is a traveling wave composed of frequencies within the range of our hearing, and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard. It also is the sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such vibrations. The scientific study of the propagation, absorption, and reflection of sound waves is called acoustics. In science and engineering, noise is an undesirable component that obscures a wanted signal.

One of the first mechanisms to convert an electrical signal (audio) to the sound producing speaker was the mechanical movement of an electrical coil from electrical currents transmitted through it. The original application for this speaker was the telephone. The next major impetus for the improvements of the speaker was in the motion picture industry. These incentives resulted in the application of various principles such as horntype loudspeakers, cone diaphragms, and bass-reflex enclosures. Eventually speakers designed for audio playback were available in various configurations and sized for consumers home usage. The next step in speaker development was portability. The Sony Walkman was one of the first devices enabling the music listeners to take their music on the road. Of course this required small speakers and this need was fulfilled with the development of the headphones. So now music listeners could listen to their music with very little consideration to their environment since the wave movement was directly to the organs of hearing; direct to the ear. Of course MP3 digital devices were natural for portability since they were small and were able to handle a comparatively large library of music when compared to a portable CD or cassette.

Now we get down to the situation of availability of music to choose to create a library of the listener’s special choices. The opportunities to listen to recorded music available that influences our listening pleasures was limited for many years. The radio was the primary source providing a myriad of types including: classical, big band, small groups, jazz, vocals, etc. The music listeners would then have the opportunity to listen to their radio and tune in to the type of music giving their greatest pleasures, and then purchasing some at their local record store whether it be a 78, a LP, a cassette, or a CD. Another means of listening to music with the intention of making a purchase decision was to again visit your local music store and utilize their sample listening devices to hear samples that you believe could lead you to make a purchase decision. Needless to say, the average music listener and consumer was somewhat of a captive consumer forced to consider purchase of that music presented over the airwaves of radio or those samples in your local music store.

Because of the availability of thousands, or even millions of free samples (30 seconds of a song) from the libraries of firms such as Apple or Amazon the consumer now has unlimited access to all types of music. No longer does a music consumer have to purchase a CD or LP that contains songs that they like very much but also songs not to their liking. Consumers can purchase and download only those songs especially pleasing to them. To demonstrate the techniques that the consumers can utilize to find music that fits their “gateway filter” which has been established over years of listening. This filter assesses the main elements of musical sound (rhythm, melody, and harmony). Those songs which contain the sound elements best fitting our established “gateway filter” can easily be separated from songs that do not. This tremendous choice of songs from which we have to choose from seems to further restrict our filter, and only purchase songs which are a perfect match for our “gateway filter”. My own particular gateway prefers only instrumentals (except in special presentations and arrangements). My favorites are big band music or jazz trios (piano, bass and drums).

The sounds of the “NEW TESTAMANT” big band of Count Basie best fit my listening criteria, especially since many of this band’s recorded songs were very successful numbers familiar to many listeners. The melody of a song is the first key to getting by the “gateway filter”, enabling an evaluation of the associated rhythm. If both of these musical characteristics fit our filter there is a very good chance that we will want to purchase this song to enjoy over and over. It was a pleasurable and gratifying experience to listen to all of the Count Basie songs available, and purchase those that excited my listening experiences. I eventually purchased 250 songs from the roughly 200 Count Basie albums.

My other listening pleasure is the music of jazz trios primarily with piano, bass and drums. Utilizing the search capabilities of the Amazon library I was able to list 43,000 songs recorded by jazz trios. My task was to listen to those songs (approximately 30 free seconds) which were PBD (piano, bass, drums) and select for purchase those that excited me and initiated pleasurable endorphin activity in my brain. As a result of this musical safari, I downloaded 13 trio albums and 32 Five-Star rated songs, plus numerous Four-Star rated songs. Since the free listening entails only thirty seconds of a song there were choices which didn’t turn out as I hoped. I feel I achieved about an 85% to 90% ratio of good results. One evaluation technique I used was that upon finding a good arrangement of a family song, I would then search the library for all of the renditions of that particular song. If I found a better arrangement of the searched song by a PBD trio, I would purchase it. If I didn’t find a better version I would purchase the song from the initial trio.

When it comes to assess my present capabilities to listen and choose and purchase music that fits my “gateway filter” and will give me great pleasure on many listenings in the future I must avow: I NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD!!