A few months ago, I received a phone
call from Dr. John Q. Walker, the Chairman and founder of Zenph Sound
Innovations, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, a company that has developed
important, new music technologies and a line of award-winning recordings of
classic performances. I had heard of the work that Zenph was doing in the area
of "re-performances" of famous pianists and their recordings. I had
even heard the Gould recordings and was thrilled at the sonic quality and interpretations
of his 1955 Goldberg Variations. Zenph Sound Innovations has received rave
reviews of their Glenn Gould and Art Tatum releases on Sony Masterworks and I
was well aware of their work.
It was a welcome surprise to find that
John was aware of my audiophile label AIX Records and iTrax.com. He wanted to
know if I would be interested in releasing the latest project from Zenph, the
re-performance of "Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff" in any format
other than standard definition compact disc. Sony Masterworks has limited their
release to the CD version, which had received rave reviews from Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, but were not going to issue a high definition
disc. They had agreed to let Zenph partner with iTrax.com for the HD Surround
tracks. Very good news for those of us that are addicted to high definition
sound and surround mixes.
Of course, I was thrilled at the chance
to partner with Sony Masterworks and Zenph, and become the home of this
important recording…in HD Surround!
So what exactly is a re-performance?
This is the explanation provided on the Zenph website:
"Author Kevin Bazzana refers to
our process as a “live realization of the original interpretation.” Zenph(R)
Studios takes audio recordings and turns them back into live performances,
precisely replicating what was originally recorded. Our software-based process
extracts every musical nuance of a recorded performance, and stores the data in
a high-resolution digital file. These re-performance files contain the details
of how every note in the composition was played, including pedal actions,
volume, and articulations – all with millisecond timings.
These re-performance files can then be
played back on real acoustic pianos fitted with sophisticated computers and
hardware, letting the listener “sit in the room” as if he or she were there
when the original recording was made. Most importantly, the re-performance can
be recorded afresh, using the latest microphones and recording techniques, to
modernize monophonic or poor-quality recordings of beloved performances.
Important to this process is the use of
high-resolution data. Those familiar with the MIDI specification (now more than
25 years old) may know that regular MIDI isn’t really sufficient for capturing
and replicating fine nuance. It’s like the difference between regular TV and
high-definition TV. The high-resolution specs we’re using vary among
instruments, but all offer 10 bits of data to preserve the velocity of each key
(compared to 7 bits in regular MIDI), as well as detailed information about the
key and pedal positioning.
We feel the word “re-performance”
summarizes this technique perfectly."
The ability to convert older recordings
with limited fidelity into high-resolution re-performance data, and then to newly
record them with state-of-the-art audio equipment AND to deliver them in full
HD surround to music consumers is a transformative event in the history of
recordings.
I've been fortunate to be able to compare
the Rachmaninoff tracks played from the standard-resolution CD and from the HD
surround files here in my studio. While the sonic quality of the CD is
absolutely first class and up to the full capabilities of that format, the
clarity and sense of spaciousness offered by HD surround offers a completely
different perspective.
The addition of Zenph Sound
Innovations' "Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff" to iTrax.com is a huge
step forward for those seeking REAL HD recordings and for the future of our
site. I'm extremely happy to be able to feature this album in our iTrax.com
catalog and I look forward to adding new items as they become available. Thanks
John for believing in iTrax.com!
I read something online the other day about how Apple had gobbled up Lala.com, one of the streaming online music delivery sites. The commentaries that I've read extol the virtues of the company's business model. You get to listen to any tune you want for free…but just one time before you have to fork over $.10 to hear it again anywhere, anytime through a web browser. You want to "own" the .MP3 of the song? You're going to pay another $.79, almost equivalent to the iTunes price. The fundamental difference between the Apple iTunes model and the one that Lala.com created is one of ownership vs. rental. And this is where it gets really interesting.
Is music something that you need to own to enjoy? I don't think so. Sure it's great to have some great music discs in your shelves or ripped to your iPod, but isn't what you really want is the ability to hear the music anytime through a convenient delivery system? Sure. And with the power of mobile computing smart phones and the increased geographical coverage of the telecoms it just makes sense that keeping your music catalog "in the cloud" might be the best way to go. It certainly works for Lala.com and someday it just might work for HD surround music as well.
So this whole new rental scheme got me thinking. It's seems like a great model for the low bandwidth, stereo MP3 world that dominates commercial music. But could this possible be expanded to include the kind of audio quality that HD music download sites require? Could the model be expanded further to make room for HD surround tracks delivered via the cloud? In the long term (maybe 5-10 years), the answer is absolutely yes. The bandwidth via wireless connections will improve, the power and sound quality of portable devices will improve and the cost structure revised to make HD surround music available "anytime, anywhere" a very realistic possibility. It’s coming and I can't wait.
This new paradigm will not replace the comfort of your favorite lounge chair and the large B&W 800D surround speakers that you enjoy in your own home surround music system, but will augment your listening pleasure when you're not at home. Audiophiles can still enjoy their vinyl and tubes. More progressive listeners can revel in full HD video and HD audio through their home theater system. But the possibility to take your HD surround listening experience on the road and connect via the Internet…wirelessly, is definitely worth considering.
I may be unusual because of the business that I'm in and because I'm addicted to HD surround music but I rarely listen to the music on the radio. I'm tuned into NPR almost exclusively when I'm driving…and I own a car that could be playing DVD-Audio discs in full 5.1 surround. I'd rather listen to the news or other programming available through NPR than be hammered by the commercial stations that are available in the Southern California marketplace. Dynamic range and fidelity are not part of current terrestrial FM broadcasting.
I've become an HD surround music snob! I would much rather spend an hour or two in my primary listening room enjoying one of my recordings or those of other dedicated high quality labels than put on a CD or listen to FM radio (don't get me started on the crap that parades as HD Radio!). I have to have surround and I have to have the dynamic and frequency response extensions available with higher sample rates and longer word lengths. Nothing else can satisfy my love of recorded music.
I will occasionally put on the Beatles, Peter Gabriel or Counting Crows (one of my favorite rock bands), but in reality I prefer an upscale listening session.
So here's what I see in my crystal ball. HD music download sites will continue to flourish in the short term. The catalogs will continue to expand and eventually surround tracks will find their way into the normal download model…when the music servers adopt HD surround playback as their premium playback standard. In a few short years, the tracks will be delivered from the server in the sky, the so-called HD Surround "digital cloud," to your HD surround portable player, which will deliver a personalized 5.1 surround experience to your pair of ears. Yes, it is possible to deliver surround via headphones…I've heard it and it works.
