Who thinks the melodica is the most annoying instrument ever in reggae and Dub Has made its move into the hotel, be taught better: It's a few floors lower, dear friends of the well-groomed Dubs.
Which I ask the theremin in front of the curtain. A curiosity as a musical instrument, it has been up to mischief for 100 years. It is the only instrument that is played completely contact-free; the upper extremities control pitch and volume solely through airy movements in the field of tension between two electrodes. The resulting changes in the electric field are amplified and reproduced as sound. So it says in Wikipedia that for those interested, far more relevant Information about the Theremin ready.
This presumably first electronic instrument was primarily characterized by its playback capabilities - glissando and vibrato were not possible in this form before the invention of the theremin. Today the modulation wheel on the keys does this job with the left (in the truest sense of the word); So there is no need to lift the part into the studio or onto the stage. Or is it? Well, seeing a theremin player in action is a cool retro experience; the sounds are spontaneously reminiscent of the sound effects of science fiction trash movies of the 1960s and 70s ... and among us: who does not know the most famous piece of music with a weighty Theremin reference?
In any case, the Centennial is reason enough for exiled Italian Gaudi to bring out an entire album that is dedicated to this instrument and - no na - the title "100 Years of Theremin - The Dub Chapters“ (Dubmission records). The strange combination of reggae /Dub and theremin has existed before - who still remembers with horror "Theremin in Dub"-Album on which Gary Himmelfarb aka Dr. Dread fine Dubs from the RAS Records catalog with howling sound effects. Why, why ... only the doctor himself knows.
It is different with Gaudi production. The renowned musician, whose output moves along the interface between electronica and world music, has an audible mastery of the Theremin instrument and creates melodies that go well with the album's backing tracks. And they don't come from just anyone, but from Dub-Cracks like Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell, the Mad Professor, Scientist and Prince Fatty. No new productions, mind you; rather jewels from the back catalog of these producers.
I have to admit that I wasn't interested in this recycling of old tracks at first - no matter what fun, no matter what. As a music lover and reviewer, I am always looking for new sounds and effects, for fresh musical and technical possibilities, for the next ear and stomach orgasm. I see old and reboiled items as a reminiscence and expression of its time, which unfortunately can no longer be experienced in its original form today - but also as a benchmark against which current productions can be measured.
And yet it is a great pleasure to hear Style Scott (again) on classic On-U tracks. The rest of the backing tracks on the album are also of consistently good quality, that Dub-Mixing is flawless. And how is Gaudi and his theremin doing on the recordings? Well ... on the one hand excellent, after all he has been playing the instrument for 18 years. On the other hand, it all depends on what role the theremin was given in the mixing. When it is in balance with the rest of the instrumentation, it merges completely with the Dub - see Scientist's "Smokin Dub". With the other tracks it seems obtrusively loud and extremely annoying with its not very versatile timbre - Adrian Sherwood's "Dub out of theremin“Is mentioned here as an example. That is exactly the crux of “100 Years of Theremin - The Dub Chapter “: The instrument is almost always“ on top ”and pushes itself into the foreground like a diva. And as it is with divas, you quickly get tired of them and their mannerisms.
So how many tracks on the album can you listen to in a row without throwing in the towel? If you count on the excellent Dub-Work concentrated, you can possibly make it through the whole album at once. Otherwise the RDA is a maximum of three doses; But some people will be much more sensitive, I'm afraid.
32 responses to “Gaudi: 100 Years of Theremin - The Dub Chapter "
Theremin! ??????????
And something in the early morning! No, no chance!
But thanks for the little update on education gtkriz. I've seen and, unfortunately, heard the part but I didn't know what it was called. I forget that.
For me, that's part of the classic era - and also a waste of electricity.
But to hear the riddims again is always an uplift for my often stressed soul. But maybe I also complain too much about my soul
Level, because it is in the nature of things that the hard blows of fate are still ahead of me.
"Dub Of Theremin “is a real special case for me.
"Come On Dog And Get Your Bone" by Little Ax. The riddim is world class for me !!! Countless champions league winner, 20 times in a row "Footballer" of the year and just plain
DUB SYNDICATE at its best. Even if the tune is on a Little Ax disc. And on “Come On Dog….” You are not allowed to either DubBe a purist, because an autotune (?) Was used here, which breaks any listening habits. I have only profound contempt for the Autotune used in Duncehall, but Adrian Sherwood is my undisputed "Harry Potter" for such reasons. When he uses autotune (?) It sounds galactic, spacey and magical at the same time. For my taste, I have to write about it as a precaution.
Since the dear people here rightly give me work again, I have to make it short now.
All the riddims here are top notch and often a soup that you cooked the day before becomes really tasty the next day when you reheat it. You shouldn't season it with fennel (here the theremin) afterwards, because then it becomes inedible for me. There was also a lot of fennel made out here.
In addition, I am used to excellent sound from Gaudino and these data sound pretty much like mp3 to me.
Only two stars - I've heard better versions - and mp3 sound feeling - ………………. I'll hook it up ………………… .. lemmi
Funny coincidence, while on a free Friday I have breakfast for hours and drink one coffee after the other, this new Gaudi album appears in my playlist. At first I think “ah, theremin again, unfortunately a bit too loud in the mix” then “Smoking Dub“(Stands out positively in the review) with (to my ears) the most terrible hi-hat of all time. Ouch, that still hurts in the next room. Ok, that's a lie, I don't have anything like that ... it was the bathroom. But really, such a high-pitched noise from my good Canton boxes? Last time Mad Professor live went in that direction, but the boy shouldn't be able to perceive anything even above 2kHz ...
I've probably gotten sensitive over the years. Clear, powerful, deep and finely accentuated bass can still not be loud enough for me, but on top it sometimes causes discomfort and even pain. Comparable to blue LED light - as a finely distributed shimmer in the room, with 100 watts at eye level (police car !!) absolutely terrible. I see parallels there. Bass, on the other hand, is more like firelight, or not blinding indirect warm white ...
When I have my fourth coffee and the ninth toast in my hand, I think to myself “I went back to the Dubblog purely what's new “and there is the album what I'm listening to featured: D
Ok, so as not to make a novel out of it: I give the work 3,5 stars. The highlight is "Dub Out Of Theremin “with Adrian Sherwood. The riddim is really fantastic and the theremin dosed just right. The other two Sherwood-based tracks are also convincing. From Prince Fatty, because of whose contribution I first became aware of the disc, nothing sticks this time. Its qualities come into their own here - none Dub, but beautiful reggae and also available as vinyl: D https://princefatty.bandcamp.com/track/deep-sleep-ft-shniece-mcmenamin
With some Gaudi Theremin tracks, something is wrong with the sound quality for my hearing, it has something from early MP3 - but that could also be due to the streaming service. As long as I have not heard another source, the statement is subject to change.
If you're listening to this on a streaming service, it's very likely mp3 & the like (Spotify, for example, uses the Ogg Vorbis format). These formats are all compressed, i.e. (supposedly) inaudible bass and treble are dispensed with in order to keep the file size as small as possible. In a direct comparison of wav and lossless compressions such as flac, AAC, etc. to mp3, mp4, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc., I do not hear a slight difference. Currently at Dub Imo the so to speak "subsonic" bass is immensely important - especially those are pinched away with mp3 and the like. It's a shame around, the warmth goes flute, the more or less tinny comes in.
If you now bring the catastrophic mastering that is common today into play ... what we hear is imo only part of the whole, an amputated copy of the studio original, so to speak. But that's the listening habits today, and I regret the young people who no longer know how dynamic music can be.
End of sad story.
ah yes, something else on "Smokin ' Dub“.. the positive thing about it is the restrained volume of the theremin - it looks well embedded in the track ... it is not the case with the other tracks on the album.
I absolutely agree with you with the “most terrible hi-hat” of all time. Perhaps you have noticed that the Scientist in his newer productions / mixes (not the classic 70's / 80's tunes) permanently mixes the most terrible hi-hats of all time. I perceive it as borderline painful and very angry about it. I assume or could imagine that the good scientist suffered hearing loss in certain frequencies and overcompensated for that in the mix. I can't think of any other explanation for this acoustic attack ...
I use Tidal, because aac / m4a should actually be streamed with a high bit rate or even flac. Normally nothing is missing, but some songs sound bad because, regardless of what you set, they are only streamed in mobile mode (that's around 90kbit / s with AAC-HE, so the top octave is reconstructed during playback and definitely no longer corresponds to the original). This also affects some Vibronics / Scoops releases (if anyone is interested, I'll look for something). Incidentally, I perceive basses transparently with MP3s and co. From a usual bit rate, also via a sound system with 4 scoops. There are many 7 ″ worse.
In general, the Lossy Codecs actually work more so that quiet passages are cut away while loud noises - practically the quiet rustling of the wind when a freight train is slipping past. With 128k mp3 you can perceive this quite well if you mix certain quiet and loud test signals together and then remove the loud frequencies again with a precise equalizer. First noticed around 1999 when I tried to play metal with a lot of stereo activity in the midrange (two guitars left / right, synth or organ with stereo reverb and, of course, vocals) by partially fading out the mids. Focus section.
Phew, what a box set.
In any case, what came out sounded strange because the codec reaches its limits with such signals and low bit rates. Back then there were quite a few mp3 versions of which the open source version LAME prevailed in the end (which in turn was mainly due to the music pirate faction, but that's a different story). AAC is more efficient and does not have a few typical mp3 problems, but it is often used when the bit rate is too low.
If you take a few basslines alone and chase them through the codec, everything is actually preserved.
Maybe I should see the scientist Dub record times on ne olle Type-I cassette, slightly overdriven to take out the sharpness: D
Tidal? Interesting ... what is the music offering there, especially in the Dub-Genre?
LAME and the discussions around it remind me of the good old days in the HydrogenAudio forum ... the time when I only used my beloved foobar2000. How time flies!
The thing about transparency is such a thing ... a highly subjective experience, pig's ears are common, and an estimated 99,9% of listeners are (unfortunately) blunted, and they don't always hear the same / the same standard Setting like audiophiles. I myself could not find any transparency in the comparison, I always lack highs and especially the lower Hz, everything seems to be displaced by unnaturally concise mids.
It is always an aha-experience when you hear wav files of a new release in advance and then later the compressed files, e.g. from the streaming service in 320kbs. Sometimes my jaw drops
Strangely enough, I'm also someone who generally lowers highs for easy listening - because I find them uncomfortable. The Scientist Trebles are an extremely unpleasant example.
Your metal experiment is very interesting ... I wonder if that also includes “St. Anger "& Successor would work ... the mastering chopped away a lot like a rough butcher ... and the voice, for example," is all over the place ". That the metalheads let it go ...
Nice, rop up and lemmi that there are still people who deal with music quality in this context. Both thumps up!
I had just sent a miserably long reply comment, it seems to have arrived somewhere in the universe ... just not here in the dubblog.de :(
Succus: blablabla transparency blablabla St. Anger blablabla concise mids whitewash highs and lows blablabla and ...
… Nice that there are people here who care about audio / sound quality!
Hi gtkriz, your comment was automatically sorted out because of suspected spam. You probably used too many dirty expressions ;-). I just unlocked it afterwards.
For me, the content and the result of your interracial technical talk is the most depressing thing I have ever read on the whole topic.
I don't see it in such a way that one has to pity the young people. It's a great advantage if you don't even know what you're missing. "What you don't know doesn't make you hot."
“If you now bring the catastrophic mastering that is common today into play ... what we hear is only part of the whole thing, an amputated copy of the studio original, so to speak. But that's the listening habits today ....... “……. especially "amputated copy" makes me tired.
And the fact that we had to pay for the hearing damage of the Scientist and Mad Professor every now and then does not make me happy either. No CD with Wave will help
Quality.
"Small bit rate" ………… .. its unacceptabele! Its the armageddon! …………………………………………. lemmi
I regret the young generation insofar as I would have granted them the enjoyment and listening experience of the warm sound of a 70s / 80s pair of vintage speakers. Whether they even care is another question :)
I can't really say why the sound of the speakers has changed so much - maybe Ropp Auff knows about this? In any case, the workmanship was of a different quality ... the chassis alone was much more massive and heavier and certainly contributed to the sound experience.
I also remember a large, massive (wooden) radio from the 50s or 60s that my parents owned. That part would blow away my current B&W boxes today. I have never heard such a warm, rich sound again ... although I have to say that memories often gloss over things about the dimensions ... but the sound was really cool.
That's why the kids (and not only them) today have these, at least as far as oomph, small speakers (e.g. from Bose). I think they have more oomph than our old ghetto blasters. That knocks me out every time. You (at least I) don't necessarily pay attention to whether I can really hear every instrument well. But there, it says again "the main thing is bass !!!"
And the radio of your parents and especially that of my grandparents reminds me of another crucial point!
TUBE AMPLIFIER !!! Today there is only Bang and Olufsen (if at all) or you build something yourself. But I don't have the guts for that. I would definitely have an opportunity. The expenditure of time would also be too great for me. For me, my sound perception at home from my system (sound system) fluctuates from “the best sound in the world” to “you can throw everything away”.
Is the form of the day between me and my system.
And I am especially blown away by how cool the sound - in terms of bass sensitivity - comes across in cars these days. Even such a little Twingo has a better bass sound than I did in my boxes back then, when I tried to use amplifiers and equalizers to get a reasonably good bass feeling out of all possible pairs of speakers. But the sound was only really good when the engine was off.
There are - from my point of view - quite good technical improvements
the feeding with a small bit rate unfortunately counteracts this very much.
And LED - light at eye level - and that from the police car - (is there still a police force at all or is it all again Gestapo?) Is the summit for me. I just want to know how much the bribe was so that this dangerous, blinding shit could even get a patent.
LED bike lights are no good either. Except taillight.
At the moment it looks like Pablo Moses was right again:
"In The Future, It a go terrible"
And Kabaka Pyramid also showed his qualities as a prophet a few years ago by singing “Can't Breathe” back then.
It's amazing what's going on around the world in terms of fascism.
"JAH JAH Prophet has arise! He's got a dread look in his eyes “…… .. lemmi
I don't find Bose so bad either, lemmi. Every room in Berlin's Sofitel has a clunky Bose part that impresses with its bass. But that's about it, heights are pretty swallowed up - but maybe it's also the setting in the room - I also took the Bose box out of its own wall shelf, otherwise the sound would have been flat like crispbread.
Thanks for remembering the tube amplifiers ... I fondly remember their low hum. As for the car speakers ... they have to be pretty bass-heavy, otherwise the driving noise will swallow the low Hz frequencies. It will be different with electric cars, I think.
My hearing also depends on how I feel during the day, but also on the time of day. Sometimes my ears are better, sometimes worse ... and I generally feel more comfortable early in the morning.
I also tried to optimize the sound for my ears with different EQs for a long (long time !!!) ... until I understood that I was destroying the artist's intention. Since then I have been listening to "blank", without any tonal changes on my part. Mastering and compression alone do enough damage ...
Sorry gtkriz! I really don't want to annoy you!
But I think that quite a few masters (what's the name of those who do the mastering
do ? ) destroy the intention of the artist without my intervention ;-)
And if labels like vp-records interfere, it doesn't even help if a Kevin Metcalfe, whom I've always considered the god of mastering, has delivered the mastering.
vp destroys reggae !!!
Mad Professor sometimes has so many heights in his recordings that I just have to make "a small correction".
Likewise, I have to turn up the highs a little more with Prince Fatty, otherwise it'll be too dull for me. After my "correction", it will be perfect, depending on the form of the day.
Since my favorite music always consists of noise falsification, as well as sound reproduction with the enrichment of various background sounds and sound spices of all kinds, it is almost a matter of course for me to use music as it suits me.
This DubI don't let Syndicate “Live In The Maritime Hall” run off my mixer without a bit of reverb. Apparently they had no one at the mixer at all. Only with a small pinch of reverb
the disc will be really good for me. Otherwise I find the disc boring. Should that make me think now? Where would I go if I thought about it. With Hall, the record is an experience for me and that's how it should be.
Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to convince you of the way I enjoy music, but I really believe that you only hurt yourself when you hear everything exactly as some “artist” thinks right has held.
And I write all of this while on “Deep In Dub“Just that DubVersions of Joe Pilgrem and The Ligerians "Intuitions" (Special Edition) are running.
Great cinema for me …………………. lemmi
I could talk about the whole sound story for weeks. I like it "vintage" myself, but you just have to acknowledge that it has never been possible to get a reasonably clean sound with so little capital investment. I'm mainly thinking of in-ear headphones, because there are some things in the lower double-digit range that are good for a lot. And many a Bluetooth box, for example a JBL Flip, doesn't play badly for such a tiny part. What would you have got (adjusted for purchasing power) around 1975 for similar money? Maybe a small FM / AM radio, without any bass and transparency on top, without the possibility to play your own music selection over it ...
I believe that hi-fi (I prefer to speak of “experiencing and enjoying canned music”) was not a hobby of the masses back then either. On the one hand because by far not all people could and wanted to afford high-quality playback devices and sound carriers, on the other hand because it is just one hobby of many possible.
Reproduction technology has continued to develop. Above all, this results in the fact that it has become increasingly cheaper to produce a tolerable quality, which does not necessarily mean that a good forty-year-old loudspeaker, into which a lot of development effort and a lot of material was put, is therefore worse or better than a small studio monitor, for example from today.
There have been (and are) certain fads in the sound of popular playback devices. From the beginning of the 50s that was a full keynote as you might still know it from tube radios and audio furniture, but also from the 60s on the tinny AM transistor radios and plastic case record players ("Mister Hit"), but also really great for more money Sounding portable radios, then stereo and the alleged Taunus sound from 1970 (whereby Grundig, from Franconia, with the loudness function on the control units of the RTV series, which can sometimes not even be switched off, shaped this sound even more), then neutrality from the 80s and flawlessness of the CD, use of computer technology in loudspeaker development, walkman, small and large ghetto blaster, the nasty midrange saws of the 90s (CD boomboxes without boom), then psychoacoustic data reduction became relevant (mostly in the form of mp3) ...
I've had playback devices and speakers from pretty much every era. Not every sound goes with every music. Technical progress does not always automatically mean more enjoyment. Above all, not everyone has the same listening habits and preferences, or even thought about the topic at all ...
Dub sounds fantastic on good speakers!
good night: D
Very interesting, ropp up. May I ask what you think of mini wonders like the HomePod? These parts are much too small for the rather brave sound they produce. I am very tempted, if only because there is no mess of cables and I will have pig ears rather short than long :)
"Vp destroys reggae !!!"
Where you're right, you're right. It's amazing what they're doing there. Kevin Metcalf was * the * Mastering Engineer in the golden Greensleeve times ... but according to you, it should no longer be. I can't comment on that because I haven't heard any VP releases for years.
I can well understand that depending on the album, you make EQ settings that are convenient for you. Especially with the Mad Professor, I am completely with you!
That wouldn't work for me ... I hear “deep in dub“With the Pacemaker app - it shuffles the playlist by automatically looking for the best matching tracks and then turns it into a“ continuous mix ”. You can of course do that yourself and choose the right tracks ... it shows which tracks go well with the previous one. No question, I only hear about this app ... (I'm not doing any product advertising now: the app is free and doesn't even annoy you with advertisements). To cut a long story short: I don't jump up on every track and adjust bass or treble :)))
I think that's a very interesting exchange of views and it's not annoying in the least, lemmi.
Well then ... continue!
Just recently I thought that you were talking about an app that automatically mixes tracks together. Out of curiosity alone, I have to try it out. I would be very interested in how such an automatic cross-fade of tunes resp. Dubs ignites in me. I hope that I, as ComputerDulli, will have no problem installing this app. It has always been one of my favorite pastimes to do these tasks myself and almost completely analog, and when I do myself
When I listened to these CD's or cassettes, the transitions were initially more interesting and more important to me than all of the music I recorded there. But that sounds like more than it really was. With techno you just have to "pitch" the speeds of the beats together and you can have an endless night.
Techno-Dj's would say now that it was or is not that easy. No matter ! I always have the complete tune / Dub recorded, at most cut an intro that was too long and ignored the beats. Pitching with reggae and Dub (for music in general) is blasphemy for me. Then I'm even stricter than you are with the
Adjustment of sound in general. That's why I prefer to take a little break when it doesn't go together at all. I like it best when a tune is played to the full and ends with the last hit - without a "thread". If then without a "perceptible" pause the next tune / Dub rolling off with skillful drum patterns reveals the full power of Roots to me Dub reggae music!!!
Juggling (I think it means the stringing together of "different" tunes on the same riddim has never bothered me. That is Sound System Shit! Always annoyed me when too many singers who were actually just yelling around had a really good riddim And besides, I don't have to listen to every riddim for half an hour before the next one comes.
So that no wrong impression arises, I have to say that I was by no means the chosen "transition maker" but I always had a lot of fun and I very much regret that this time is over. So now an “algorithm” takes over for me. Let's see how it works. However, my skepticism is not much less than digital
Drive.
Humans and especially the individuality of each one are poison for the financial locusts. People should give up everything, stop their own thinking and best of all, everyone should only want the same thing as everyone else. This is still the place to make the most money. Conspiracy theory? I really hope so.
“Steppin 'out of babylon” ……………… .. lemmi
Let me put it this way: It's worth a try. It's also easy-peasy ... the app is installed, in my case connected to the Spotify account and that's it, the music in the playlists there are available to the app. Interestingly, it doesn't work with Apple Music (which is typically Apple's very restrictive), but with iTunes or locally stored music. You shouldn't expect any miracles at the beginning ... Pacemaker is an AI thing that learns constantly and has to play through each track at least once to get to know it and its parameters.
Oh yes ... I think the app only works on mobile Apple devices, and the version for the iPhone is phenomenal, the version for the iPad is only mediocre.
Otherwise: pitching, fadeouts, juggling, annoying MC howler monkeys ... I'm 100% d'accord with you.
"Mad Professor sometimes has so many heights in his recordings that I just have to make a" small correction "."
I would just like to raise the fact that people's hearing ability decreases rapidly with increasing age. As babies, we can hear frequencies from 16 to 20.000 Hz. Older people cannot hear either 16 or 20.000 Hz. So you perceive other frequency ranges and thus all have a different hearing threshold. Considering that both Mad Professor and Scientist are past their 60s, this is a perfectly normal development. In addition, the two gentlemen have put a lot of excessive volume on their ears over the decades. That can't go well in the long run. Many musicians became almost deaf in the course of their lives (z. B. Pete Townshend, Motorhead Lemmy etc.).
Possibly or most certainly prefer lemmi your listening area is already on the "march back". A perfectly normal thing of old age. But it is also very possible that Prince Fatty is already suffering from hearing loss. Always a question of how much one expects one's hearing in the course of life. When it comes to hearing, less (volume) is more - the dose makes the poison.
Unfortunately, everything is exactly as you write it RasVorei.
“Less volume is more!” And everyone who has to do with live music professionally has definitely “one way”.
I have to say that at most of the reggae concerts I didn't have the feeling, but now it's really too loud. But with Asia Dub Foundation (in Berlin Moabit) really couldn't do without a plug.
Brutal volume just cannot be enjoyed. But it's a tightrope walk
because too quiet is not necessarily good.
Another problem, which I only know in one direction, because I have not fathered any children myself, is that children have these 20.000 Hz (felt 200.000 Hz) with a volume
can produce strange thoughts sometimes. And they do that without any technical aids, without an amplifier and without a mixer.
Yes, and "our" Rainford had it in one over 40 years ago Dub mixed !!!
"That's the Dub“………………. lemmi
PS: Then I can already look forward to the fact that I will still really like "the" Mad Professor and Scientist discs from 65 ;-) ... .. if I'm still alive and my hearing is still somewhat "funk-connected", mind you .
"Another problem, which I only know in one direction, because I have not fathered any children myself, is that children can generate these 20.000 Hz (felt 200.000 Hz) at a volume that sometimes gives you strange thoughts."
Roar, lemmi, thigh thigh roar ... I laugh across my head :))))))
You laugh your way across and I'm very happy about that ;-)
(ouch ..... now I've really lowered the level again)
Until …………… lemmi
Have you ever heard Jah Shaka with its own sound system? In contrast, Mad Prof and Scientist sound like audiophile nerds. Shaka is still extolled (!), But actually his sound is awful. Because it consists only of throbbing, undifferentiated basses and screeching, rattling high tones. I've had to leave his gigs several times because the sound was too much on my nerves. My theory: hearing damage.
"My theory: hearing damage."
Very possible, Jah Shaka is / is around 70! (The hearing deteriorates, see above)
So guys, be prepared for something aurally ;-)))))
Let's hope for even better hearing aids than today.
... and one more wish on my bucket list ...
High René!
I haven't even read that here.
I was always annoyed when, for example, I was on the Summerjam JAH Shaka
missed because he hung up somewhere in a small corner of the tent. Now I read that I basically haven't missed anything. Because bad sound just doesn't fit Dub, even if you sometimes have to accept that because the Dubs are simply too good not to be “inhaled” at all.
I don't understand the hype about JAH Shaka anyway, although I would like to give him my heartfelt love if he has a lot of fans. But that's been my theory or even for a long time anyway
Understanding. Most of them (exceptions confirm the rule ;-)) who go for Shaka Dances and the following Uk steppers “Hottevents” are only there because it has become a cult and because the pants are flapping. They are probably interested in the physical experience of music. You like pain as if it were Dub a form of SM but with pleasure for connoisseurs it has nothing to do with it.
In addition, I also do the Dub- JAH Shaka's albums for the most part correct but really boring and still find them. I'm not looking for exceptions now.
At that time, JAH Shaka mainly "clashed" against them with his discs for me DubSlices from Mad Professor. And in between lay more than just hidden ones
Worlds. JAH Shaka cannot sing at all. But that doesn't matter, because the man is (also from my point of view) blessed. His announcements and his manner are very personable and exude magic. Although he only spins with a record player, which I think is only cult and otherwise "nonsense", you somehow still don't notice any breaks.
Well, sorry to all Shaka fans, but I like things a little more colorful. Both in terms of sound itself and the different styles of Dubwho are completely sidelined at Uk and Shaka dances, which is one reason I marginalize them.
But I have to say that I only know this from listening and reading and have more than enough of it from live recordings on YouTube. The level at the
Auflagern as well as the steppers is too low for me. Since the whole range is the Dub offers far too little accessed. I think that's really sad.
But that's just how they, the human children, are for the most part very simple.
Oh man, it shouldn't be that long again ………………. lemmi
There is no theremin in the Star Trek theme. That's a singer.
Thanks for the hint. I had researched that the theremin was later replaced by several sopranos (one after the other, not as a choir) ...? If it's not right, I like to replace the intro with one of the many Star Trek theme theremin versions.
Trekkies just love their theremin :)
I now had time to research, and indeed: According to some websites, at least some versions of it should be a woman's voice. Unfortunately, I couldn't verify this, but to be on the safe side, I exchanged the video and adapted the text. Thanks again for the hint, doctor!
The Homepod is not bad, it is also often new for 225 EUR. Behind this is very complex technology, even more so than with the better Bluetooth boxes.
These almost always use DSPs. A lot of tricks are used to get the full sound out of the much too small housings and membranes:
I express this in a deliberately trivial way so that it remains understandable, if interested, I also go into more depth.
First of all, the small speakers (drivers) are very resilient and have an unusually high (somewhat) linear deflection. Conventional boxes are designed as a bass reflex, where the sound energy radiated from the back of the membrane is additionally conducted out through a resonator (the tube). Because of the longer transit time due to the "detour" and the speed of sound, this sound does not arrive at the listener at the same time, but slightly later, the wave is thus amplified "below".
Small Bluetooth speakers are usually equipped with passive membranes, which has a similar effect and is calculated in almost exactly the same way, but is more flexible in terms of the parameters and brings further advantages in mobile use (water and dust protection).
The small chassis are driven by a downright absurd amount of amplifier power in relation to the membrane size. Many a “half-liter can” puts more watts into its 3,5cm driver than almost any fat, heavy 80s boom box. This is made possible by the class D amps and lithium batteries with high energy density (capacity per weight and volume). This battery chemistry is also used in e-cars and smartphones. For comparison: charging a smartphone once corresponds to approx. 6-10 AA batteries.
Such a loudspeaker would sound poor without the DSP. This signal processor takes the digital or previously digitally converted signal and does the following in particular:
- Permanent equalizer: An EQ curve made up of a large number of bands of different widths removes annoying parts and reinforces areas where the speaker box has weaknesses. Alternatively, a kind of sounding can also be achieved. UE, for example, have a less transparent and rather annoying basic tone-emphasized typical sound over the entire product range, but these things are good as secondary sound on a noisy construction site or outside with not so demanding music.
- dynamic equalizer, limiter: depending on the volume, critical frequency ranges are reduced. "Volume" can mean the playback volume set by the user as well as refer to the current waveform. In almost all sound wonders, the deep bass is reduced before the membranes deflect too far in order to prevent distortion or even destruction.
- Bass boost: algorithms are used in a number of devices that supplement / replace frequencies that are "too low" with cleverly chosen one / two octaves higher tones or generate harmonics or intentional distortion in order to fool the untrained ear into a particularly fat sound. Depending on the implementation, this works quite well.
- Crossover: Often an amplifier is installed per driver so that the tweeter does not interfere with the Dub- If the bass is tormented, it doesn't even get it, and the woofer only gets what it does best ...
- Stereo width: if two speakers are mounted directly next to each other, you hardly notice anything at a distance of one meter. If the differences between left and right are reinforced, this can be compensated somewhat.
- mute / noise-gate: because quite a few of these boxes have a very high background noise, the output stages are only switched on when the signal is reproduced. So you can hear them rustling disproportionately at low volume, but it doesn't rustle until hardly when no music is playing. Some also mute the line-in or only pass the signal on from a certain strength.
- Functions to save energy, e.g. slightly reduced maximum level and bass when the battery is below 25% or increased power when using the mains (h / k go & play)
With the Homepod there is also a room measurement. We all know the effect that the placement of the speakers in the room has a significant impact on the perceived sound. There are several reasons for this, but above all it is due to the reflections off the walls. The Homepod can compensate for this somewhat via the DSP. Because Apple builds in quite decent components there, the result can be heard, and since the part is often quite cheap (the list price is a lot compared to Apple) that would be my shortlist - if I needed something like that.
On the other hand, the closed system speaks for me, that “even I” can't do much in the event of a defect, but also that I already have a good hi-fi system. There is simply no need for more boxes. And all that smart stuff can stay stolen from me anyway. I don't want to talk to my electronics, I want to touch haptically appealing metal controls.
The limitations of the small speakers become noticeable with increasing volume (or even with very quiet). First the dynamics decrease, then the bass drops ... but it doesn't distort, if at all.
The Homepod is also mono and emits 360 ° - both properties that are more beneficial for background music. “Consciously enjoying music doesn't work with it” would be an exaggerated statement, but I would really be missing something if only such systems existed. It is fascinating what has been possible for a few years, but the technology is mainly used to make acoustically disadvantageous concepts that are very cheap to produce in large series bearable. So that's what Bose since the 70s * scnr
Great loudspeakers have been around for tens of years, and often they have been a pleasure for decades. With the little miracles of sound you get something short-lived.
No further questions ;-)
(I don't mean snappy but first I need a pack of shoelaces to be able to process all of this / thanks for the excursus)
woah…. thank you, ropp up, for the very interesting and in-depth information. You are obviously * the * expert in terms of speaker / sound and I am very happy that you contribute your knowledge!
Yes, the little miracle sound has its price and is not even available here in Austria. Only the apple knows why the speaker has never been on sale in this country (and in many other countries) ...