Article: "Spin Me Round: Why Vinyl is Better Than Digital"


Article: "Spin Me Round: Why Vinyl is Better Than Digital"

I am sharing this for those with an interest. I no longer have vinyl, but I find the issues involved in the debates to be interesting. This piece raises interesting issues and relates them to philosophy, which I know is not everyone's bag. So, you've been warned. I think the philosophical ideas here are pretty well explained -- this is not a journal article. I'm not advocating these ideas, and am not staked in the issues -- so I won't be debating things here. But it's fodder for anyone with an interest, I think. So, discuss away!

https://aestheticsforbirds.com/2019/11/25/spin-me-round-why-vinyl-is-better-than-digital/amp/?fbclid...
hilde45

Showing 1 response by mikeydee

As I have said on other posts here, a big part of music, especially classical music, is dynamics.  A composer writes markings in the score to play a passage either loud or soft or in between in varying degrees.  The dynamics are a very important part of written music.  This is not a big issue in rock or jazz, since most tunes are played with the same level of dynamics. 

In a classical piano or symphonic recording, however, dynamics are VERY important.  Remember that the Italian word "piano" stands for "forte piano con piano et forte"...rough translation "loud and soft, with soft and loud."  A piano teacher I knew in college (I took many music classes) once told me that there are 15 different ways to hit a piano key, producing different levels of loudness and softness.
  
I don't see how the process of cutting a recording onto a vinyl disk can capture the whole range of dynamics from the original master the way that digital can.  If I am wrong about this, please tell me how.