(English Translation – will be available later)
The vinyl record is being appeared in the world for quite a long time. From the technical point-of-view, it should be eliminated after CD and CD player being introduced. However, there are more and more young people are taking vinyl records for listening in Hong Kong recently.
Attraction of Vinyl Records
Many people take a lot of scientific evidences to show the sound recording of vinyl not able to compare the dynamics and range of digital recording. So, it should be replaced completely. Nevertheless, from our listening experience, the major difference of analog and digital sound – it is too “sharp” for the digital media with “cool” tune and the analog sound giving you the “warm” feeling in a more “human” manner.
On the other hand, the music production quality is always going declined. For instance, the golden age of classical music was between 1960s and 1970s with lots of great musicians and sound engineers. Because the webmaster is a classical music lovers, the examples will be focused in the classical music. For the time in 1960/70s, due to the technology limitation, the music production teams are being well trained. If one of the microphone is not setting well, a musical instrument is not in place, it is possible to force the recording to be done again. There are lots of top sound engineers – such as Ken Wilkinson working in DECCA.
Meanwhile, there are lots of greatest musicians such as Jacqueline Mary du Pré, José Plácido Domingo Embil, Jascha Heifetz, etc. Today, Domingo’s performance could not be compared to his performances at 70s with his age. There are many skillful musicians but with less charming than the previous generations. It is just my personal opinion but I do believe many people should agree.
Apart from these, the music industry is being seriously affected with the technology and the recordings growing significantly. Previously, one music producer may take 1 to 3 years to produce a record. However, for pop music, it is talking about 1-3 records per year. In the world of classic music, there is a trend for companies promoting classical musicians as “stars” to push the sales. For the defacts of performance, they will be fixed by computer to erase or to modify. Over commercialization is leading to the lost of value of the performing art.
On the other hand, it doesn’t mean all records are rubbish nowadays. The reality is only fewer top quality recordings. There are some great recordings with Vinyl release.
For the reason of increasing vinyl lovers, they are chasing the great performance and the warmth from the vinyl records. Personally, the writer is not a great musician or performer but living with good listening ability.
(Last Update: 20015/7/20)