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Comment on The information density on a vinyl can be higher earlier in the record than later...

BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

As I said on another post, I’ve never heard of that sort of programming in over 30 years in the record industry.

During the vinyl days, albums were the art form, and artists and producers made great effort to program their tracks listings for the best listener experience. So it would usually start with a big banger to kick off the album, followed by a few fun songs, and ending the side with another banger, just maybe not as big as the opening track, but not always. The idea that it would have less bass, have less fidelity, or was a throwaway song that didn’t require decent sound quality is dumb.

Often the first side ending song was a big number, that would have required the best sound available. Perhaps the best example is Stairway to Heaven, which closes the first side of Led Zeppelin IV, and I defy anyone to call that a second rate track with poor fidelity, and that’s why it was relegated to the inner ring.

The second side is a restart, and often has an interesting opening track, like Within You Without You on Sgt Pepper. ELP’s Karn Evil #9, Part 2. (Part 1 closes the first side) Is probably the all-time best second side opener, with its Carnival Barker call: “Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends…”

But the biggest clue that the idea of the worst songs being relegated to the inner rings is nonsense is the fact that most albums try to have big finish. Again, Led Zeppelin IV perfectly illustrates the issue. It closes with When The Levee Breaks, featuring John Bonham’s thunderous drums, which have since become iconic. It certainly wasn’t a low fidelity track with Plant’s wailing keen, the screaming harmonica, and those monster drums giving it one of the widest dynamic ranges of any rock classic.

Without the side break, the side 1 closer, and the side 2 opener end up side-by-side. The fact that there is a big blast of “busy music” in the middle of the CD, contradicts the assertion that the side closers are lower quality tracks.

In the vinyl days, the programming of album tracks was a major artistic decision, and the fidelity of the track was never a factor. If a song wasn’t good enough that it required being put in a “second-rate” position on the album, why would they be putting it on the album at all?

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SlurpingPus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
The examples of good closing tracks are indeed a better argument than “I’ve been in the industry since 1995, the golden age of vinyl”.

If a song wasn’t good enough that it required being put in a “second-rate” position on the album, why would they be putting it on the album at all?

You claim to have been in the industry, and you never heard of selling albums full of crappy songs on the strength of the singles? Boy you have plenty of stuff to learn yet.

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- BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I never said I’ve been on the record business since 1995, I said I spent 30 years in the record business, starting in 1977, the peak of the age of vinyl, cassette, and 8-tracks, and I saw the introduction of the CD, and the end of all those other formats. Recalculating, I actually spent another 7 years or so beyond that, on a consulting basis.
  
  I know vinyl, I’ve got a huge vinyl collection, and I know the business from the inside. The fact that there were far more terrible albums than great albums has nothing to do with the silly idea that they programmed the shitty tracks on the inside because the sound quality was worse. That’s just stupid.
  
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  - SlurpingPus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    ‘Vinyl Mastering 101: What You Need to Know Before Cutting a Record - Mix & Master My Song’
    
    Place tracks with more complex or high-frequency content towards the beginning of each side, where the sound quality is inherently better.
    
    The last tracks on each side are more susceptible to inner-groove distortion, which can degrade sound quality. Reserve these positions for tracks that are less sonically demanding or have less high-frequency content.
    
    ‘Inner Groove Distortion: The Problem No One Wants to Talk About’
    
    Bright, aggressive EQ that sounds fine on the outer grooves becomes an exercise in sibilant torture by track four.
    
    Putting your most complex, frequency-dense track at the end of a side is engineering malpractice. When an album sequence allows for it, loading the outer grooves with demanding material and saving simpler arrangements for the inner tracks is smart mastering. The original Blue Note engineers understood this instinctively in the 1960s.
    
    Pink Floyd “The Dark Side of the Moon” (original UK Harvest): say what you will about vintage pressings, but the mastering engineers understood sequencing. The album’s most demanding moments land on outer and mid-grooves; simpler material occupies inner real estate.
    
    Any Bernie Grundman cut for a major artist: Grundman’s reputation exists for a reason. His cuts consistently demonstrate that proper EQ adjustment for inner grooves, pulling back excessive brightness, managing phase issues, makes a profound difference.
    
    Many modern rock reissues with “hot” mastering: excessively bright, compressed mastering that sounds aggressive even on outer grooves becomes actively unpleasant by the inner tracks.
    
    ‘What Causes Inner Groove Distortion, and How Can It Be Minimized During Mastering? - All For Turntables’
    
    Placing tracks with high-energy, bass-heavy content towards the outer grooves and tracks with softer, acoustic elements towards the inner grooves can mitigate distortion.
    
    ‘Vinyl Record Inner-Groove Distortion (A Simple Explanation) - Sound Matters’
    
    Mastering engineers will attempt to mitigate end-of-side distortion by pressing quieter songs, with moderate bass and lower HF energy towards the center of each side.
    
    These and other articles highlight that higher frequencies in particular suffer from the inner-groove distortion.
    
    Keep learning, grandpa.
    
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    BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    
    Putting your most complex, frequency-dense track at the end of a side is engineering malpractice
    
    Sure, that’s why you don’t find complex and/or dynamic songs like Stairway to Heaven, When The Levee Breaks, A Day In the Life, Jungleland, Won’t Get Fooled Again, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Purple Rain, etc. as the last song on the album, or side. Oh, wait…
    
    I’m not saying there aren’t engineers/producers who never put the ease of their jobs ahead of musical decisions, but musical artists whose artistic vision is more important than simple commerce aren’t concerned about “engineering malpractice.” The engineer serves the musical vision of the artist, and whining about “inner ring distortion” isn’t going to go far.
    
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