Vol. I No. 14

There was an EP - a 45 rpm 12" record - called Uncertain Smile which I heard several times in 1986. The 'musicality' of this song contrasts greatly with the dance music of the present day. (Listener: You must get the EP version only. There is a version of the song on an LP which is no good. I would rely only on a 'vintage' copy of this record. Why should you trust that a re-issued version hasn't at any point been fed through a digital signal processor? The same goes for other recordings. But you'd do well if you learned to distinguish digitalized from all-analog vinyl by means of the microscope.)

The complaint I anticipate from recording artists who are successful with digital instruments and processing is "Crowds love our stuff. It's great for dancing. The rhythm is very compelling - even overwhelming!" In reply to successful dance music artists and producers who would make this argument, I urge you to open-mindedly audition the Uncertain Smile EP on an all-analog system. As you do so, consider the capabilities of this all-analog medium and format - capabilities involving the 'momentum' of a song and the flexion or flux of the sound.

A digital signal processor puts out its sequence of samples according to its own clock and timing. It represents a rupture of the continuity between the musician's impulses and the outputted sound. It simulates, according to its own synchronization, and very approximately and intermittently, the living continuum it receives.

A digital signal processor is like a Black Hole: all the rich detail, variety, and nuance of the exertion it receives is lost there - and replaced by a crude, quasi-mechanical sequence of approximations initiated by its own clock/timing frequency.