Art vs. Technology

Copyright Jack F. Lansing/2002

An interesting misunderstanding has been very common what comes to the domestic reproduction of music.  This has been called hifi about 40 years now.

Do you see only the tech?

So many people have attitude to the hifi as to technology.  Hifi have been categorized for being technology.  Not so many women are interested in hifi.  It's mostly boy's business.  Like technology over all.  I think this attitude and tech like existense of hifi is the reason for that.

The way hifi is manufactured and sold is heavily technological.  Talking about specifications.  Designing the devices very heavy, shining and metallic.  Looking like machines.  

They have offered us stacks of quantitative specifications on their prints.  Like frequency range,  distortion, noise, hiss, hum, wow, flutter, brum, tacking ability figures, transient curves, etc. etc. you name them!

The editors compare the hifi equipment and describe them by words like more bass, less bass, more space, three-dimensional, brightness, silver like, crystal clear, boomy, tight, smeared, dizzy, soft, deep, transparent, more or less timber, etc. etc.

Please note that none of these quantitative things are parts of music.  None of them, nor the manufacturers' specs nor the editors' descriptions.

Go to qualitative - go to art

Which music is - is it art or is it science?  What do you think?

I think music is art.  So why is that musical reproduction is totally described by qualitative, technological terms?  Do this give us really anything?  What can we know more about some hifi amplifier (meant for nothing but listening music), when we read that this amplifier sounds transparent but boomy?

How if we had some musical, qualitative descriptions?  

Like this amplifier gave more concert like feelings to me.  It kept the rhythm strictly and the melody was so easily detectable even in the small variations of notes.  Somehow the pauses were very real like and the istruments sounded like very concrete and material.  I really felt I was sitting in a concert and I had those nice feelings after just I tend to have after good concerts.

Now think about this.  What would you like about the amplifier after you read this kind of description by an editor?  Ehh!  Isn't it much easier to go to shop after this and ask a test listen session for this amp?

Something is wrong in hifi 

My opinion is that there is something wrong in hifi.  Has been a very long time.  I am not telling that all of the manufacturers and dealers are doing bad job.  No, there are some with better, more musical attitudes but the mainstream AND some of the so called high-end hifi business seem to be quite much forgotten the purpose.  Music.

With more musical attitudes they could make better things for us to buy and their talks would have much more sense.  I am sure much more women, too, would have more interest in hifi if the talks were more sensible and purposeful.  Honest and plain talk about the music and how could we have it better at our homes.  How music could do what it is meant to do: have more emotional impact to the listeners.  Transmit the original message the compositor and the writer of the lyrics originally meant.

This means changing quantitative, technological attitudes for qualitative.  Moving from science to art.  This would make hifi to be what it can be: something which improves the musicality of families and opens even the oldest musical arts for todays people.  Making life nicer with all the emotional joy and relief only music can offer.

What else hifi is made for if not ONLY for reproducing us some decent quality music?  This answer is the same whatever music is your favorite.  Good hifi is giving you more music.  More emotions.  More joy.  You really do not need to know any figure of specifications.  Just listen and feel and you know.  Nothing else should matter.

In this quantitative world of hifi the people in hifi sector do not have much to give to you.  They miss the qualitative things.  Not many people know which things really limit your possibilities to have the best out from your records.  There are many cheap or free setting up tips which can totally unleash the music for you.  Most of them you can conduct yourself at home.  And you can change your performance much more involving on stage too if you are an artist.  You can make your public go crazy.  There are certain things in the environment and in setting up the music system that make your music dull and dead.  And reversed: you can make your music much more live.

Make your world changed by the "grande storia della musica"

If you are really interested in how to make your music emotionally most involving and best sounding at home or on stage, you can have much better music by conducting some quite small and easy setting up steps and understanding.  You can really unleash your music.  Read more about it  -  visit my new web-site at www.music.in-your-mind.com

Yours,

Jack Lansing

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