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据说世界上的唱片品牌已有四百个之多,但知名有影响的品牌只是其中一部分。不同的唱片品牌在曲目、演奏家、侧重点、录音风格上的差异是很大。
EMI Classics:前身是唱片工业的鼻祖伯利纳创立的英国留声机公司和英国哥伦比亚唱片公司。1931年,为了在经济大萧条中求得生存,这两个本是竞争对手的公司合为一家,并吞并了一些小唱片公司,形成了当时最大的唱片出版集团EMI。EMI的前身英国留声机公司使用的品牌是“主人之声”(HMV),英国哥伦比亚公司的商标则是“哥伦比亚”,在合并成EMI后仍分别使用。在战后的日本和美国,EMI一直使用Angel(小天使)商标,直到90年代才统一为 EMI Classics。由于资格最老,EMI拥有最为庞大的历史录音资料库。在这里,各个时期最杰出的演奏家都留下了录音,小提琴家克莱斯勒、阿道夫·布希、雅克·蒂博、海飞兹、米尔斯坦、西盖蒂、梅纽因、吉奈特·内弗、奥伊斯特拉赫、帕尔曼、大提琴家卡萨尔斯、费尔曼、杜普雷、托特里埃;指挥大师富特文格勒、克伦佩勒、卡拉扬、切利比达凯、比彻姆、朱里尼、穆蒂、滕斯德特、扬松斯、钢琴家科尔托、鲁宾斯坦、施纳贝尔、里帕蒂、埃德文·费希尔、吉赛金、所罗门、科瓦赛维奇、歌唱家卡鲁索、吉利、夏里亚平、卡拉斯、比约林、施瓦兹柯普夫、卡娜娃等等。近年来推出的新人更是层出不穷,韩国女小提琴家张莎拉、女大提琴家张汉娜、指挥家西蒙·拉特尔、威尔舍—莫斯特……往日的无比辉煌在新一代演奏家的努力下得到了完美的延续。
在整理再版老唱片时,EMI使用的数码处理技术十分成熟,先进的CEDAR程序更能减少老录音中的杂声而对音质毫无损害。日本东芝的2088技术也是近年来开发的新技术,用20比特分析力、88.2千赫的采样频率处理母带,改善了老录音的音色和动态。在近期再版的老录音CD上,ART(意为“艾比路录音室技术”)是常见的标识,告诉我们这张CD上的录音经过了艾比路录音室工程师们的精心处理。目前EMI正陆续推出的“世纪伟大录音系列”是其世纪末的重头戏,曲目和版本均经过精挑细选,大师荟萃,很有收藏价值。
Sony/CBS:CBS的前身是成立于上世纪末叶的美国哥伦比亚留声机公司。在唱片业的早期,哥伦比亚留声机公司曾和RCA胜利公司的前身“维克多谈话机公司”一起,平分美国市场,并称为两大巨头。1924年,哥伦比亚留声机公司和美国录音公司合并,成立了哥伦比亚唱片公司。1927年,它又买下了联合独立广播公司的无线电网,形成了哥伦比亚广播公司,缩写为CBS。
由于历史悠久,它资料库中的经典录音也不少。钢琴大师霍罗维兹、塞尔金、卡萨德苏、昂特勒蒙、大提琴家卡萨尔斯、罗斯、小提琴家斯特思、弗朗西斯卡蒂、指挥大师瓦尔特、伯恩斯坦、赛尔、奥曼迪、阿巴多以及布达佩斯四重奏、朱利亚四重奏等举世知名的音乐家、音乐团体都为它灌录过大量经典唱片。作曲家斯特拉文斯基在60年代录制的指挥他自己作品的唱片也是CBS的看家宝贝。八十年代,索尼集团将CBS的唱片公司买下后,把品牌改为Sony Classical。前些年,由于低价倾销,Sony/CBS的唱片曾经是价廉物美的代名词,可惜近年来不断涨价,目前已无优势可言。它近来的精品层出不穷,华裔大提琴家马友友、钢琴家普拉希亚、布朗夫曼、小提琴家拉赫林等人的唱片便大获好评。它也是较早采用20比特录音的唱片公司,在音质上一直保持着较高而稳定的水准。
DG:德国留声机公司的品牌。1898年,该公司由唱片业的创始人伯利纳成立,由英国留声机公司控股。1917年它从英国留声机公司脱离出来,使用Polydor(宝丽多)商标。由于卡拉扬、伯姆等一批大师的加入,它从五十年代迅速崛起,在古典音乐界树立起权威地位。指挥大师富特文格勒、伯恩斯坦、姆拉文斯基、阿巴多、约胡姆、弗利乔伊、布列兹、西诺坡利、加德纳、小提琴家奥伊斯特拉赫、米尔斯坦、克雷莫、穆特、帕尔曼、吉尔·沙汉姆、钢琴家霍罗维兹(晚期录音)、肯普夫、戈尔达、安达、米凯朗杰利、阿格里希、波里尼、齐莫尔曼、皮雷丝、大提琴家富尼埃、罗斯特洛波维奇、麦斯基、歌唱家多明戈、冯·奥特、奥菲欧室内乐队等新老演奏精英都在它的大旗下制作了大量经典唱片。去年,为纪念公司成立100周年,DG推出了一套宏篇巨制“DG百年特别专辑”,7大盒63张CD,搜罗了DG自创建以来各个时期的重要录音。今年,60张CD的“切利比达克专辑”是DG重点推出的一套唱片。
Archiv也是DG的品牌,1947年创立,重点在于中世纪、巴罗克时期的古乐。1974年至1975年间,它曾推出规模浩大的巴赫专辑,共99张密纹唱片。现在,它旗下的著名艺术家有加德纳的英国巴罗克音乐独奏独唱团、革命与浪漫管弦乐团等。 过去,不少人批评DG的录音质量参差不齐,音色较为严峻刚硬,不讨中国人的喜欢。近年来,DG坚持在新唱片的录制中使用它的4D专有技术,取得了良好效果。现在,它的CD音质已稳定在很高的标准上。
飞利普(Philips):1950年在荷兰成立。1962年和DG合资,迅速成长为世界一流的唱片公司。1972 年,飞利普和DG合并在宝丽金集团里,规模更加庞大,成为唱片业的巨头。它旗下的艺术家大都为欧洲的精英,如小提琴家格鲁米欧、谢林、阿卡多、慕洛娃、钢琴家哈斯基尔、阿劳、李赫特、布伦德尔、科奇什、内田光子、大提琴家让德隆、希夫、朱利安·韦伯、歌唱家卡雷拉斯、杰西·诺曼、指挥家赛尔、海丁克、马舒尔、小泽征尔、布鲁根、阿林·戴维斯、著名的美艺三重奏、意大利四重奏、意大利音乐家合奏团(I Musici)等等。中国交响乐团在陈佐湟的指挥下也已为它灌录了4张CD。飞利普的总体录音质量极高,品味超卓,不论模拟还是数码,都很少败笔。尤其是它的室内乐唱片,音质之优、平衡之佳很少有谁能够媲美。近年来,日本飞利普公司运用24比特尖端技术制作了一批CD,音效特别出色,大受发烧友欢迎,不知这一技术是否会被飞利普普遍使用。
飞利普也有两套历史录音系列,一套名为“传奇经典”(Legendary Classics),采用电脑降噪技术处理,可惜该技术对音质略有损害,会使声音发干,不如EMI的CEDAR技术。另一套为The Early Years,均为演奏名家五六十年代的录音。
水星(Mercury):1945年成立于芝加哥,两年后打入古典音乐市场。在制作人柯扎特、录音师法恩的努力下,这一品牌发展迅速。法恩大胆采用的三话筒立体声录音(使用特制的Ampex三轨录音机,35毫米电影胶片)取得了惊人的效果,动态范围庞大,被誉为当时的天碟。芝加哥交响乐团、伊斯特曼管弦乐团、明尼阿波利斯交响乐团、底特律交响乐团等都为水星灌制了唱片。大提琴家斯塔克也在水星的目录上留下了许多经典录音。1961年,水星被飞利普收购。九十年代以来,飞利普一直在将水星当年的录音以“LivingPrsence”系列再版成CD,广受乐迷、发烧友欢迎。
Deeca: 1929年在英国成立的Decca唱片公司的品牌。1940年,它开发出了当时最先进的全频带录音,简称FFRR。这一技术本来是应海军部的要求开发的,目的是辨别英国潜水艇和德国潜水艇间的区别。1944年,Decca公司将此技术运用到唱片上,使音质有了长足的进步。从那以后,Decca公司的录音质量始终居于领先地位。它尤其精于大场面(如歌剧)的录音,音场宽广,空间感强烈,音色流畅,令他人望尘莫及。它旗下的艺术家阵容虽不如DG和菲利普强大,但也毫不示弱:指挥家索尔蒂、卡拉扬、安塞梅、蒙特、克尔泰兹、梅塔、杜图瓦、小提琴家郑京和、里奇、阿莫亚尔、钢琴家巴克豪斯、柯曾、阿什肯纳奇、博莱特、鲁普、希夫、歌唱家德莫纳柯、帕瓦洛蒂、萨瑟兰、苔芭尔迪,均为公认的世界级名家。London(伦敦)和L'oiseau—Lyre(琴鸟)也是该公司的商标。后者专用于“原本主义”的演奏录音,也就是在古乐器上用复古的演奏手法表现作品原貌。霍格伍德是“琴鸟”旗下最为活跃的指挥家。随着宝丽金集团被“环球集团”收购,Decca、DG、Philips三大欧洲古典音乐品牌现在都已归入“环球唱片集团”。
RCA Victor:唱片业元老之一,前身是唱片的发明者伯利纳创建的留声机公司。无数演奏大师曾为它制作过录音,包括演唱家卡鲁索、比约林、弗拉格斯塔德、小提琴家海菲茨、克莱斯勒、埃尔曼、朱克曼、钢琴家拉赫玛尼诺夫、帕德列夫斯基、鲁宾斯坦、霍洛维兹、卡佩尔(wiLliam Kapell)、指挥家托斯卡尼尼、库赛维茨基、斯托科夫斯基、明希、莱纳、旺德(Gunter Wand)、长笛演奏家高尔维、单簧管演奏家斯托兹曼、瓜纳利四重奏等。近年来,它除了仍不断将资料库的众多老录音以“金印鉴”、“银印鉴”系列再版CD 外,还把一批批新星以“红印鉴”推向乐坛,引起乐迷的关注,如美国指挥家斯拉特金、加拿大女大提琴家哈诺伊、青年钢琴家基辛等。
Hyperion:希腊神话中一位巨人的名字。成立于1980年的英国唱片品牌Hyperion堪称英国唱片界的骄傲。它的规模很小,目前仅12人,但经过多年的发展,在古典音乐界的影响己丝毫不下于那些唱片巨头,有“英国最闪亮的唱片品牌”之称。Hyperion的录音曲目范围极广,虽然重点在于英国音乐和早期音乐,但并不局限于此。上至12世纪的早期音乐、下至本世纪的先锋派、从合唱到独唱、从室内到大乐队的演奏,无所不包。在开发新曲目方面, Hyperion的成绩更是有目共睹,走在许多大公司前面。
1996年1月,HyPerion取得了一项世人瞩目的成绩:在法国嘎纳国际音像博览会(MIDEM)上击败众多竞争对手,荣获“年度最佳品牌”大奖。这标志着整个唱片界对Hyperion的肯定。现在,Hyperion的目录上共有超过一千种唱片,每年推出将近80张新片,显示了旺盛的生命力。1994年,Hyperion的销量为90万张,占英国古典唱片,市场3.9%的份额。
在Hyperion的上千种唱片中,最具历史意义的要数钢琴家莱斯利·哈沃德的“李斯特钢琴作品全集”(49张CD)以及钢琴伴琴家格拉姆·约翰逊制作的“舒伯特艺术歌曲集”(共31张CD)。这两套唱片都被公认为录音史上的里程碑。从1991年开始录制的一套“浪漫派钢琴协奏曲集”(包括帕德列夫斯基、莫斯科夫斯基、索尔、沙文卡、梅特纳等人的作品)也广受佳评。HyPerion最热销的CD则是“哥特之声合唱团”表演的“上帝呼吸中的羽毛”,屡获大奖,售出25万张之多。
和大多数独立唱片品牌一样,为了维护质量,Hyperion唱片的价格不低。面对“拿索斯”等廉价品牌的竞争,1996年,它效仿Philins、DG、Decca的做法,推出了一套廉价双片系列,名为dyad,只卖一张正版CD的价格,包装精美,尤其引人注目。
Chandos:1979年成立的小型英国唱片公司,致力于推广出版英国作曲家的作品。八十年代,这个品牌发展迅速,以优异的数码录音、新鲜的曲目、高水准的演绎赢得广泛好评。罗杰斯特文斯基、希考克斯、尼姆·雅尔维、鲍罗丁三重奏等许多优秀音乐家为它灌过唱片。该品牌近来在国内市场上开始出现,虽然价格不菲,但总体录音质量十分优良,音色清丽透明,独具一格,是对英国音乐有偏好的乐迷的首选。
Nimbus:英国影响很大的古典音乐唱片公司,人数很少,但成就非凡,以“自动钢琴系列”、“声乐大师系列”、“世界音乐系列”等享誉唱片界,同时也是英国最早推出CD的唱片公司。“自动钢琴系列”收入了大量本世纪早期钢琴大师们制作的自动钢琴纸带。通过唱片我们能欣赏到霍夫曼、帕德雷夫斯基、布索尼、沙尔文卡、格兰杰、拉蒙德等传奇大师在近百年前的演奏。“声乐大师系列”更是Nimbus的绝活儿,至今已出版了l00张,几乎囊括了本世纪初美声艺术黄金时代前辈歌唱大师们的经典录音,而且经过Nimbus的独家处理后音质大为改善,胜过其它公司的同类CD。在“世界音乐系列”中,世界各国的民族音乐应有尽有,从中国、巴西、阿根廷、爱尔兰到东南亚、古巴、伊朗、中东……是研究世界民族音乐的最丰富宝藏。
除了这三大系列外,老一辈钢琴家切卡尔斯基(Shura Cherkassky)、佩勒姆特(Vlado Perlemuter)、小提琴家舒姆斯基(Oscar Shumsky)、维也纳三重奏、青年钢琴家马丁·琼斯、我国留学英国的青年小提琴家胡昆等都为它留下了精彩的录音。英国作曲家蒂佩特亲自指挥自己作品的唱片也是Nimbus的看家宝贝之一。
Teldec:1929年由德律风根公司和Decca合资创建,现已并入华纳集团。它的资料库中有部分前辈演奏大师的录音,如指挥家门格尔柏格、老克莱伯、小提琴家库伦坎普夫等。马泽尔、马舒尔、梅塔、克莱莫、巴伦伯伊姆、丰特奈三重奏、鲍罗丁四重奏等当今名手都为它制作过唱片。现在,它旗下最出风头的演奏家无疑是小提琴新秀文格罗夫。这位青年演奏家在1994年被《留声机》杂志评为“年度新人”,备受乐坛瞩目。此后他推出的几张CD都大受好评,奠定他当今最优秀青年小提琴家之一的地位。此外,钢琴新秀贝列佐夫斯基、黄海伦(华裔)等也正备受乐坛关注。
Telarc:这家以出版“发烧片”著称的唱片公司成立于1980年。一开始主要出版美国交响乐团,如克利夫兰交响乐团、波士顿交响乐团、辛辛纳提交响乐团等的录音。八十年代中期起,Telarc进入欧洲音乐圈,成就卓著,被公认为美国最成功的唱片品牌。早在发烧热刚兴起时,它的一张真炮录音的“1812序曲”就震撼了众多发烧友,“电子琴贝多芬”、“电子琴巴赫”、“西部牛仔”、“大峡谷”、“间谍音乐”等更是引来阵阵喝彩,使Telarc成为“发烧片”的代名词。虽然它的不少唱片有重音效、轻艺术之嫌,但它在商业上取得的巨大成功是无人能及的,同时,它的一些真正的艺术精品(如罗伯特·肖指挥的合唱作品、麦克拉斯指挥的勃拉姆斯交响曲集等)也正被越来越多的严肃乐迷认同。
Delos:已有25年历史的美国Delos唱片公司也是小型唱片公司中出类拔萃的一员,以音质优异的录音享誉发烧界。由录音总工程师约翰。厄戈尔(Johnzargle)开发的独特的VR2录音技术是它的王牌,吸引着大量音响发烧友。汇集在它旗下的许多演奏精英也令它实力大增。比如由丹尼斯·基恩(Dennis Keene)领导的“基督耶酥升天之声”合唱团就是一例。在音乐界,人们对这位引人注目的年轻合唱指挥寄予厚望。女钢琴家洛尔·罗森伯格(Carol Rosenberger)、达维多维奇(Davidovich)、洛杉矶吉它四重奏、指挥家利顿、舒瓦茨等也都是当今古典乐坛风头正劲的明星。水准不俗的西雅图交响乐团、洛杉矶交响乐团、达拉斯交响乐团等也常为Delos制作唱片。
在室内乐方面,由中国小提琴家胡乃元领衔的上海四重奏也是Delos的艺术家。林肯中心室内乐团更是出手不凡,他们灌制的巴赫“布兰登堡协奏曲”赢得了极高评价。 除了天碟级的唱片制作外,Delos最近还致力于整理过去的声乐历史录音,并已形成了一套Stanford档案系列。这些历史录音来自Stanford大学的档案馆,包括女中音大师舒曼-海因克、女高音法拉尔等人的珍稀录音。
harmoania mundi:法国最大的独立古典音乐唱片公司,成立于1958年,目前雇员多达250余人。曲目覆盖了古典音乐的各个历史时期,从中世纪、文艺复兴时期的歌曲直到现代音乐,包括很多冷门作曲家的作品和占相当地位的宗教音乐。没有历史录音,所有唱片均为新制作。梅洛斯四重奏、男歌唱家肖尔等是其名下较出名的音乐家。它还有一套名为“新演奏家”的系列,收有很多乐坛新秀的录音,其中不乏引人注目的精品,如获得“留声机”大奖的青年女小提琴家伊莎贝尔·弗斯特 (Isabelle Faust)的CD“巴托克小提琴奏鸣曲”。
拿索斯(NAXOS):HNH国际有限公司的唱片品牌,成立于 1987年。这个成立仅十年的唱片品牌被公认为近十年来发展最快的后起之秀。1997年,NAXOS在法国嘎纳举行的国际音像博览会(MIDEM)上击败众多著名的大牌唱片公司,被授予嘎纳古典音乐唱片大奖(Cannes Classical Awards)的“年度最佳品牌”(Best Label)称号。它出品的唱片已达两千余种,曲目覆盖了古典音乐的所有标准曲目,演奏家大多为新秀中的佼佼者,也有少数业已成名的著名演奏家和音乐团体,更有不少本来鲜为人知的演奏家在NAXOS的宣传下渐渐成名,如钢琴家扬多、大提琴家克利盖尔、小提琴家卡勒尔、指挥家德拉霍斯等。NAxOS坚持以低廉的价格(40元)提供高质量的音乐享受,对大公司构成了严重的威胁。大牌公司不得不竞相推出廉价系列CD以和它抗衡。最终的得益者当然是消费者! 许多乐迷对拿索斯的音质抱有怀疑。其实,从八十年代末至今,它的录音质量逐年提高,精品不断,己稳定在较高的水准上,有近二百张“三星”级CD可证。 1997年,原Decca的著名制作人保尔·迈尔斯跳槽到拿索斯,使拿索斯的录音水准更上一层楼。
BIS:1973年成立于瑞典,是北欧最重要的唱片品牌,以出版北欧国家的音乐为主,演奏家也均为北欧人。在它的唱片中,有很多作品是世界首次录音的珍品。
GZ:这是捷克唱片厂的品牌缩写,是自捷克唱片名牌Supraphon之后又一个有影响的品牌。它以捷克作曲家德沃夏克、斯美塔纳、亚纳切克、马蒂奴、苏克等人的作品为主,演奏家多为捷克的新秀。虽然这些捷克演奏家由于消息闭塞不大为世人所知,但其中不乏水准高超的才子。论音质,它当然不及许多名牌,但要听正宗的捷克音乐,这是价廉物美的选择。
捷克第一大唱片品牌Supraphon近来由一家台湾公司代理,也出现在中国市场。小提琴家苏克、已故指挥家纽曼、库贝利克等的录音是它的王牌。要听捷克曲目,Supraphon仍是首选品牌。
Testament、Pearl、Music&Arts、Biddulph Lab、Marston、Tahra、Preiser、Symposium:这些公司都专业从事老录音的翻版加工。它们搜集早已绝版的老唱片,以先进的数码技术加工制作后推出CD,吸引那些怀旧的乐迷,在历史录音爱好者中具有很高知名度.
Chesky、RR、Shefield Lab、Dorian、dmP、Proprius、Klavier:这些唱片品牌都由规模很小的公司创立,虽然出版唱片的数量很少,但都以优异逼真的音质在发烧圈内享有盛名,是音响发烧友收藏的目标。Chesky、RR、Sheffield Lab(喇叭花)既生产古典音乐唱片,也出版爵士乐唱片。dmp专录现代爵士乐,Dorian则专录早期古典音乐。品味超卓的Dorian还赢得了欧洲评论界极高赞誉,高速光纤传送、24比特录音等先进技术使它的CD音质超群。瑞典的Proprius创立于1969年,以“黑教堂”、“当铺爵士乐”等名碟享誉发烧界,也生产特制胶片唱片。Klavier这一品牌原本无人知晓、前几年,忽然以一批优质CD打入中国市场,引起发烧友争购。如马泽尔演奏的“莫扎特小提琴协奏曲”、马斯奈的歌剧“熙德”、“竖琴名曲”等。此外,英国Linn出版Carol Kidd的CD和美国Gecko出版的Amanda McBroom等的CD都因其出类拔萃的音质被发烧友视为珍品。当然, 这和音乐本身己没有多大关系了。
- Re: zt: 古典音乐唱片品牌posted on 03/07/2008
Very informative. The important omissions include "Melodya" of the former USSR and the French lable "Erato".:)
I have a few CDs of "Chesky" lable with Pianist Earl Wild--they are collector's items, too. - Re: zt: 古典音乐唱片品牌posted on 03/08/2008
能讲究到这个录音层次的,都属于发烧友行列了。我对音响本身的要求不高,翻录磁带都过了那么多年,哪家的CD唱片不能听?:))
再说回来,目前iPod导致了压缩文件mp3, wma等格式的盛行,强迫录音行业一改以往的求精精神,只求把音量做大,不惜层次变薄的代价,以迎合耳机而不是音箱的播放效果,也是很可惜的商业误导。 - Re: zt: 古典音乐唱片品牌posted on 03/08/2008
老瓦 wrote:我倒希望CD还是出精品好。刚翻了一下,我现在带在路上的10张CD,6张是EMI的,两张DECCA的,一张PHILIPS的,还有一张不知名的。由此可以看出这几家公司的市场占有率。
能讲究到这个录音层次的,都属于发烧友行列了。我对音响本身的要求不高,翻录磁带都过了那么多年,哪家的CD唱片不能听?:))
- Re: zt: 古典音乐唱片品牌posted on 03/08/2008
这是莫扎特的两部四重奏K387、K421。很不错的作品,跟莫扎特多数同类作品风格好象有较大差异,倒跟勃拉姆斯的几部室内乐有点象(或者说勃拉姆斯的跟这几部有些接近)。但一直没有搞清楚这是那个公司的唱片,它是我一次淘碟淘来的。有哪位大侠指点一下迷津? - Re: zt: 古典音乐唱片品牌posted on 03/08/2008
啊,古典,你这个是virgin公司的千禧年系列唱片之一。
我认为俄罗斯的melodia公司应该也算进去,它出版的俄系唱片是很受欢迎的。
另外,不同的公司在不同的时期还出版系列唱片,而且也有公司内部评价的标签。所以在收集唱片的时候我往往会认标签,比如说rca有红签、金签的,还有archiv公司的大小莲花、大小琴鸟系列。
如果已经知道那个版本是值得一收藏的,最好记住版本号,因为同一个录音版本可能有好几次再版,包装、评价、标签什么的都不一样,按照版本号收集就不会重复花钱了。 - Re: zt: 古典音乐唱片品牌posted on 03/08/2008
多谢剑客。 - posted on 03/08/2008
古典,是我故意跑题了。专业品牌应该是时间的正相关,但是流行音乐的快餐化,在ipod的推波助澜下已经危及到整个录音工业,这是一篇《滚石》的报道,说的就是高保真的“去保真”趋势,很衰败,很无奈。
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity/print
Back to The Death of High Fidelity
The Death of High Fidelity
In the age of MP3s, sound quality is worse than ever
ROBERT LEVINE
Posted Dec 27, 2007 1:27 PM
David Bendeth, a producer who works with rock bands like Hawthorne Heights and Paramore, knows that the albums he makes are often played through tiny computer speakers by fans who are busy surfing the Internet. So he's not surprised when record labels ask the mastering engineers who work on his CDs to crank up the sound levels so high that even the soft parts sound loud.
Over the past decade and a half, a revolution in recording technology has changed the way albums are produced, mixed and mastered — almost always for the worse. "They make it loud to get [listeners'] attention," Bendeth says. Engineers do that by applying dynamic range compression, which reduces the difference between the loudest and softest sounds in a song. Like many of his peers, Bendeth believes that relying too much on this effect can obscure sonic detail, rob music of its emotional power and leave listeners with what engineers call ear fatigue. "I think most everything is mastered a little too loud," Bendeth says. "The industry decided that it's a volume contest."
Producers and engineers call this "the loudness war," and it has changed the way almost every new pop and rock album sounds. But volume isn't the only issue. Computer programs like Pro Tools, which let audio engineers manipulate sound the way a word processor edits text, make musicians sound unnaturally perfect. And today's listeners consume an increasing amount of music on MP3, which eliminates much of the data from the original CD file and can leave music sounding tinny or hollow. "With all the technical innovation, music sounds worse," says Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, who has made what are considered some of the best-sounding records of all time. "God is in the details. But there are no details anymore."
The idea that engineers make albums louder might seem strange: Isn't volume controlled by that knob on the stereo? Yes, but every setting on that dial delivers a range of loudness, from a hushed vocal to a kick drum — and pushing sounds toward the top of that range makes music seem louder. It's the same technique used to make television commercials stand out from shows. And it does grab listeners' attention — but at a price. Last year, Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone that modern albums "have sound all over them. There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — static."
In 2004, Jeff Buckley's mom, Mary Guibert, listened to the original three-quarter-inch tape of her son's recordings as she was preparing the tenth-anniversary reissue of Grace. "We were hearing instruments you've never heard on that album, like finger cymbals and the sound of viola strings being plucked," she remembers. "It blew me away because it was exactly what he heard in the studio."
To Guibert's disappointment, the remastered 2004 version failed to capture these details. So last year, when Guibert assembled the best-of collection So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley, she insisted on an independent A&R consultant to oversee the reissue process and a mastering engineer who would reproduce the sound Buckley made in the studio. "You can hear the distinct instruments and the sound of the room," she says of the new release. "Compression smudges things together."
Too much compression can be heard as musical clutter; on the Arctic Monkeys' debut, the band never seems to pause to catch its breath. By maintaining constant intensity, the album flattens out the emotional peaks that usually stand out in a song. "You lose the power of the chorus, because it's not louder than the verses," Bendeth says. "You lose emotion."
The inner ear automatically compresses blasts of high volume to protect itself, so we associate compression with loudness, says Daniel Levitin, a professor of music and neuroscience at McGill University and author of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Human brains have evolved to pay particular attention to loud noises, so compressed sounds initially seem more exciting. But the effect doesn't last. "The excitement in music comes from variation in rhythm, timbre, pitch and loudness," Levitin says. "If you hold one of those constant, it can seem monotonous." After a few minutes, research shows, constant loudness grows fatiguing to the brain. Though few listeners realize this consciously, many feel an urge to skip to another song.
"If you limit range, it's just an assault on the body," says Tom Coyne, a mastering engineer who has worked with Mary J. Blige and Nas. "When you're fifteen, it's the greatest thing — you're being hammered. But do you want that on a whole album?"
To an average listener, a wide dynamic range creates a sense of spaciousness and makes it easier to pick out individual instruments — as you can hear on recent albums such as Dylan's Modern Times and Norah Jones' Not Too Late. "When people have the courage and the vision to do a record that way, it sets them apart," says Joe Boyd, who produced albums by Richard Thompson and R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction. "It sounds warm, it sounds three-dimensional, it sounds different. Analog sound to me is more emotionally affecting."
Want to continue the sound quality conversation? Click here to discuss this story in the comments section of our Rock & Roll Daily Blog.
Rock and pop producers have always used compression to balance the sounds of different instruments and to make music sound more exciting, and radio stations apply compression for technical reasons. In the days of vinyl rec- ords, there was a physical limit to how high the bass levels could go before the needle skipped a groove. CDs can handle higher levels of loudness, although they, too, have a limit that engineers call "digital zero dB," above which sounds begin to distort. Pop albums rarely got close to the zero-dB mark until the mid-1990s, when digital compressors and limiters, which cut off the peaks of sound waves, made it easier to manipulate loudness levels. Intensely compressed albums like Oasis' 1995 (What's the Story) Morning Glory? set a new bar for loudness; the songs were well-suited for bars, cars and other noisy environments. "In the Seventies and Eighties, you were expected to pay attention," says Matt Serletic, the former chief executive of Virgin Records USA, who also produced albums by Matchbox Twenty and Collective Soul. "Modern music should be able to get your attention." Adds Rob Cavallo, who produced Green Day's American Idiot and My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade, "It's a style that started post-grunge, to get that intensity. The idea was to slam someone's face against the wall. You can set your CD to stun."
It's not just new music that's too loud. Many remastered recordings suffer the same problem as engineers apply compression to bring them into line with modern tastes. The new Led Zeppelin collection, Mothership, is louder than the band's original albums, and Bendeth, who mixed Elvis Presley's 30 #1 Hits, says that the album was mastered too loud for his taste. "A lot of audiophiles hate that record," he says, "but people can play it in the car and it's competitive with the new Foo Fighters record."
Just as cds supplanted vinyl and cassettes, MP3 and other digital-music formats are quickly replacing CDs as the most popular way to listen to music. That means more conven- ience but worse sound. To create an MP3, a computer samples the music on a CD and compresses it into a smaller file by excluding the musical information that the human ear is less likely to notice. Much of the information left out is at the very high and low ends, which is why some MP3s sound flat. Cavallo says that MP3s don't reproduce reverb well, and the lack of high-end detail makes them sound brittle. Without enough low end, he says, "you don't get the punch anymore. It decreases the punch of the kick drum and how the speaker gets pushed when the guitarist plays a power chord."
But not all digital-music files are created equal. Levitin says that most people find MP3s ripped at a rate above 224 kbps virtually indistinguishable from CDs. (iTunes sells music as either 128 or 256 kbps AAC files — AAC is slightly superior to MP3 at an equivalent bit rate. Amazon sells MP3s at 256 kbps.) Still, "it's like going to the Louvre and instead of the Mona Lisa there's a 10-megapixel image of it," he says. "I always want to listen to music the way the artists wanted me to hear it. I wouldn't look at a Kandinsky painting with sunglasses on."
Producers also now alter the way they mix albums to compensate for the limitations of MP3 sound. "You have to be aware of how people will hear music, and pretty much everyone is listening to MP3," says producer Butch Vig, a member of Garbage and the producer of Nirvana's Never- mind. "Some of the effects get lost. So you sometimes have to over-exaggerate things." Other producers believe that intensely compressed CDs make for better MP3s, since the loudness of the music will compensate for the flatness of the digital format.
As technological shifts have changed the way sounds are recorded, they have encouraged an artificial perfection in music itself. Analog tape has been replaced in most studios by Pro Tools, making edits that once required splicing tape together easily done with the click of a mouse. Programs like Auto-Tune can make weak singers sound pitch-perfect, and Beat Detective does the same thing for wobbly drummers.
"You can make anyone sound professional," says Mitchell Froom, a producer who's worked with Elvis Costello and Los Lobos, among others. "But the problem is that you have something that's professional, but it's not distinctive. I was talking to a session drummer, and I said, 'When's the last time you could tell who the drummer is?' You can tell Keith Moon or John Bonham, but now they all sound the same."
So is music doomed to keep sounding worse? Awareness of the problem is growing. The South by Southwest music festival recently featured a panel titled "Why Does Today's Music Sound Like Shit?" In August, a group of producers and engineers founded an organization called Turn Me Up!, which proposes to put stickers on CDs that meet high sonic standards.
But even most CD listeners have lost interest in high-end stereos as surround-sound home theater systems have become more popular, and superior-quality disc formats like DVD-Audio and SACD flopped. Bendeth and other producers worry that young listeners have grown so used to dynamically compressed music and the thin sound of MP3s that the battle has already been lost. "CDs sound better, but no one's buying them," he says. "The age of the audiophile is over."
(On the next page: Top artists and producers sound off on the sound wars. Plus: Check out waveforms to see what dynamic compression looks like, and more.)
Want to continue the sound quality conversation? Click here to discuss this story in the comments section of our Rock & Roll Daily Blog.
Sounding Off on the Sound Wars: Top Producers and Artists Speak Out
This is what I think is happening: Everybody has iPods, so you can't get them that loud. So they have a algorithm called a "finalizer" — it's not that new, but the way people are using it is new — and it makes your music sound louder. People will ruin their records and CDs. I was really stunned by the CD the guy gave me when I listened to it at home — it sounded crazy! It was like, abort mission! Supposedly it sounds fine on your iPod, but if you take the CD and put it on your hi-fi CD player you can hear the digital clipping. It's a big news story over in England."
— Kim Deal, on mastering the new Breeders album, Mountain Battles
"Compression is a necessary evil. The artists I know want to sound competitive. You don't want your track to sound quieter or wimpier by comparison. We've raised the bar and you can't really step back."
— Butch Vig, producer and Garbage mastermind
"We're conforming to the way machines pay music. It's robots' choice. It used to be ladies' choice — now it's robots' choice."
— Donald Fagen, producer and Steely Dan frontman
"I believe that if a vocalist is hyper-tuned, it's less personal. I have no aversion to using Auto-Tune when I have to. But I think listeners can hear it."
— Brendan O'Brien, producer of Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Bruce Springtseen's The Rising and Magic
"I think there's been a huge shift in how people listen to music. They used to get as good a stereo as they could. Now they want an iPod. And the audiophiles have moved on to multimedia. But to get the content to people, you have to play by their rules."
— Matt Serletic, Matchbox Twenty and Collective Soul producer and former chief executive, Virgin Records
"A&R people like the compressed aesthetic because they can take it to the radio. They think if they want to have a hit record they have to spend a lot of money so they want to cover themselves. But if you think about the classic records, none of them are squashed."
— Mitchell Froom, producer of albums by Los Lobos, Elvis Costello and others
"I find it quite interesting, and I think its instructive, that if you focus on one area of the music business — you could generally call it music for people over twenty-four — and you look at the last ten years and look at records that have come out of nowhere, that no one's putting any money behind and have takes off, the two things that come to mind are the Buena Vista Social Club and Norah Jones. And those records were made in the most old-fashioned ways you can imagine." — Joe Boyd, producer of several Richard Thompson albums and R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction
"I cant tell you how many times someone comes in and plays me something he wants mastered and I'll say, 'Do you want to make it slamming loud or retain some of this great sound?' They'll say, 'We want to keep it really pristine.' Then the next day they'll call me and say, 'How come mine isn't as loud as so and so's?' "
— Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer
"With the Beatles or Rolling Stones, they'd be a little sharp or flat, but no one would care — that was rock. Now if someone's out of tune or out of time, they treat it as a mistake and correct it."
— Ted Jensen, mastering engineer
(On the next page: A look at what compressed waveforms look like. Plus: Links to loudness resources on the Web and a list of tracks where you can hear the difference for yourself.)
Want to continue the sound quality conversation? Click here to discuss this story in the comments section of our Rock & Roll Daily Blog.
Loudness War
Since the mid-1990s, engineers have used dynamic compression to make CDs louder and louder. These waveforms show how loud contemporary recordings have become:
Nirvana
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Back in 1991, even the loudest rock wasn't always loud: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has plenty of fluctuations in its volume — so when Kurt Cobain screams, you feel it.
Arctic Monkeys
"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"
This 2006 track is a prime offender: The sound wave is cranked to the limit, and it stays there for nearly every second of the song. Have a headache yet?
U2
"With or Without You" (Original)
U2
"With or Without You" (Remastered)
How does MP3 work?
MP3 reduces a CD audio file's size by as much as ninety percent, with an algorithm that eliminates sounds listeners are least likely to perceive — including extremes of high and low frequencies.
What is dynamic range compression?
This studio effect reduces the difference between the loud and soft parts of a piece of music — recently, mastering engineers have used it to make sure every moment on a CD is as loud as possible.
Want to see more? Make your own waveform comparisons and send the images to us here. We'll make a gallery and post in on RollingStone.com.
(On the next page: Links to loudness resources on the Net. Plus: A list of tracks that'll let you hear how dynamic range has changed.)
Want to continue the sound quality conversation? Click here to discuss this story in the comments section of our Rock & Roll Daily Blog.
Planet of Sound: Loudness Resources on the Web
Turn Me Up!
This organization of producers and audio engineers wants to encourage artists to bring dynamic range back to music by certifying albums that comply with certain standards.
"The Loudness War," a YouTube video
This video explains why dynamic range matters in terms anyone can understand.
Loudness War entry, Wikipedia
The Wikipedia entry on the "Loudness War" has solid, if slightly technical information about the conditions that have led artists and labels to limit the dynamic range of their music.
"Everything Louder Than Everything Else," Austin 360
This informative and well-written article was one of the first to address the lack of dynamic range in the mainstream media.
"Imperfect Sound Forever," Stylus
This magazine article about the "Loudness War" is full of interesting examples.
"Over the Limit," Prorec.com
This informative article uses graphics of waveforms from five Rush albums to illustrate the decline of dynamic range.
(On the next page: From Dylan to Fall Out Boy, a list of tracks that'll let you hear how dynamic range has changed.)
Want to continue the sound quality conversation? Click here to discuss this story in the comments section of our Rock & Roll Daily Blog.
Hear It For Yourself
Here are three recent albums noted for their depth and dynamic range — and three that are way too loud
GOOD
Modern Times, Bob Dylan [Listen]
Not Too Late, Norah Jones [Listen]
Raising Sand, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss [Listen]
On these albums, the music breathes: Check out the true-to-life sound of Dylan's "Thunder on the Mountain."
BAD
Alright, Still Lily Allen [Listen]
Californication, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy [Listen]
These are so unrelentingly loud that the sound is nearly distorted. The choruses on the Peppers' "Scar Tissue" are no louder than the verses.
Want to continue the sound quality conversation? Click here to discuss this story in the comments section of our Rock & Roll Daily Blog.
- posted on 03/09/2008
电子合成音乐的发展使很多人不再重视乐器的泛音,而泛音是评价乐器质量、演奏质量和录音质量的一个途径,既然泛音都可以用电子合成的方法来模拟和改造了,那么泛音在音乐评价中的地位也就降低了,以至出现了泛音的艺术,就是看作者怎么操作音乐的泛音让他与众不同。高保真录音里杂音很少,在泛音上能够做到与众不同的机会很少,于是人们开始诉求于低保真录音,杂音多了,可以发挥制作泛音的空间就会很大。后来又出现了小成本制作的纯粹低保真作品,要的就是让你听不出他在干啥呢,比如说一些欧洲黑金属乐队,行话叫“原始黑”,这首曲子和另一首曲子没什么区别,这张专辑和另一张专辑没什么区别,这个乐队和另一个乐队没什么区别,而听众们则是要挖空了心思削尖了脑袋从这些曲子之间去寻找不同之处,这就给欣赏音乐提供了另一种乐趣——做智力问答题。嗯,我总结这是吃饱了撑得的一种表现,当现实生活太不刺激的时候,人们就追求噪音这种感官刺激了。听摇滚的孩子,尤其是听从“朋克”音乐进化出来的一系列音乐,死亡金属、速度金属、黑金属、哥特等等,他们评价音乐不像听古典的朋友们用“调性”“曲式”等等来说话,他们用的是多猛、多快、多狠、多煽、多砸、多烂等等标准,如此呢,细腻的泛音反而成为了妨碍劲爆的因素了,自然不受青年人的欢迎,觉得那泛音太“肉”太“嫩”,甚或是矫揉造作的kitsch。不过呢,论天下大事,合久必分,分久必合,等过了青春期,荷尔蒙分泌稳定了,慢慢的他们也就开始欣赏那种下了真功夫的音乐了。到时候他们又苦于找不到,所以现在在北京的切口走私音像市场里,古典CD的价格已经超过原来卖100卖80的那种摇滚CD了,一是物以稀为贵,二是当年第一批听摇滚的愤青们现在已经人到中年,多少是有钱人了,三是真金不怕火炼。
现在北京这边儿,谁如果还牛逼轰轰的喊“爷我是搞摇滚的!”或者“把朋克进行到底!”,定会被“傻逼傻逼”之声淹个半死。
不过查查各国音乐史料,好像哪个时期都不乏摇滚青年愣头青。说竹林七贤呼啸于山林,上高中的时候我们语文老师说,这里的“呼啸”不是大吵大闹,而是史书上写的“撮口吹”,那什么叫“撮口吹”呢?就是吹口哨,放在八十年代初期就是典型资产阶级自由化的流氓行为,放在当时说白了就是“搞摇滚”的。如此看唐初的李白、颠张醉怀都有些离经叛道的意思,不同的历史时期不同的国家民族其表现形式不同罢了。
嗯,大可不必为“低保真”流行而担忧,咱们得允许年轻人们去年轻。
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