Sep 1, 2001 12:00 PM

HEART OF THE MATTER

This is regarding the Selected Credits in your May 2001 “Mix Masters” interview with Armin Steiner. The album Dog and Butterfly by Heart was engineered by Mike Flicker and Rick Keefer, and recorded and mixed at Sea-West Recording Studios in Seattle. Mike and I certainly recorded 98% of this album.

I remember when Mike took one of the 2-inch reels to Los Angeles and recorded a live string section on one of the songs at Capitol Studios with Armin Steiner as string engineer.

I've been a fan of Armin's work for many decades, but I want to make sure the record is straight on the credits. Mike and I are both very proud of Dog and Butterfly.
Rick Asher Keefer
Sea-West Studios Hawaii
rick@seaweststudios.com

INTERNET AUDIO?

Paul Lehrman is right on about the problems we face with Internet music delivery. I would add that we should forget about music delivery on the Internet completely and use it for the kind of low-bandwidth stuff for which it's appropriate, like advertising or maybe music teasers.

I'm appalled at the horrible excuse the audio industry has given us for music on the Internet, particularly when artists must depend on it to introduce their work to listeners who have no basis for comparison, and who may end up thinking that the artist is bad because the art is heard through the lens of all that distortion and degradation.

A computer guru (and home recordist) I know was recently asked by Sony Development about Internet music distribution, and in his frank, inimitable way, he told the executives that “[the most widely used streaming audio format] is unacceptable for any purpose at any time.” I agree. It's okay for pull-string toys, but not for my art.

The first 100 years of the audio industry was distinguished by the pursuit of better audio — an attempt to re-create live musical performances accurately. The past dozen years or so have sadly been dominated by financial interests, and have seen a steady degradation of a once-proud engineering march toward improvement.

Audio engineers now work for the bean counters and have been stripped of their freedom to pursue audio quality. Never in the history of the world has an industry capitulated so completely to a financial model. It seems to me, at least, like some surreal nightmare that the more fancy digital magic hits the market, the more unmitigated audio excrement hits the consumer.

Of course, the obvious answer could be for people to go out and hear live music, except for the sad fact that so much of it sucks even worse than mono MP3. In short, music in general is suffering from bad products, bad product literature, deceitful advertising and the complete abandonment of consumer education by audio manufacturers.

Education is expensive and returns little or no direct income. Music clubs across America are filled with groups who carry abominations they call “P.A. systems.” Musical instrument amplifiers are still medieval torture devices that do more harm than good. Clubs that hire $10 soundmen get what they pay for. And while we're at it, let's lay a massive helping of blame on the lack of music education in our schools, thanks to the short-sighted politicians who think standardized tests define preparation for the job market. You want fries with that?
Drew Daniels
Via e-mail

BRING BACK JINGLES

It was only a very short time ago that any hot band or artist who allowed their music to be used in a commercial was considered to be an artistic sellout. Today, commercials with recognizable popular songs (some of whose lyrics have no relevance to the commercial!) populate TV and films at a rate that is alarming to jingle companies and composers looking to score the next BMW TV spot.

The major music companies, distracted by the likes of Napster, continue to protect and fortify their musical gold with better barbed wire. Faced with the fact that the big pot of money is now lots of little pots, the Big Guys have opened their vast catalogs to ad agencies and film houses for licensing into ads and movies.

Licensing has historically been a painful, expensive and time-consuming headache, with lawyers mucking up the process in their wonderfully time-consuming way. Now, with the use of the Internet, the process is faster, simpler and cheaper for licensees.

Let's add to the licensing pot every minor label and publisher with their hopeful artists and obscure tunes. Throw in online music distribution dot-coms and music brokers, stock music (needle-drop) companies, and stir vigorously. What we get is a lot more product than demand. More music than there are commercials or productions.

What I see happening is a race for distribution at the expense of musical content, both creatively and in terms of audio quality, and in the sheer weight of tons of tracks.

With commercials so much a part of today's culture, why are they so easily forgettable? I believe it's because music and song lyrics are now just an afterthought in the creation of spots. Back in the '60s and '70s, hot lyricists and composers created music for memorable, award-winning national commercials, and then became stars and major music talent in their own right. Some examples are Paul Williams, Barry Manilow and The Carpenters.

We've got to rejuvenate original commercial music. It is a comment on our creativity and our profession that so many spots are using tired old standards. Have we lost the magic of solid lyrics and melody, and been covered up by a Wall of Sound Design? Have time, money and fear of taking risk in our industry driven the great jingle singers to boring but steady gigs in Vegas and Branson?

It's time to re-introduce the most powerful form of commercial music — the Jingle — with multitracked vocals with tight harmonies backing up a really hot solo singer. Seven singers, a choir, the Peruvian High School Marching Band…I don't care! Bring back the spontaneity of live, human voices and don't throw them into the Pro Tools blender when they've left the studio.
T.J. Knowles
Like Dat Music Inc.
www.likedat.com

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