Category Archives: Articles from the Laptop Sessions

Buying Music in 2010: Mp3s (Digital Downloads), CDs, and LPs (Vinyl Records)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone, I’m back with another article, as I still don’t have my HD camera (that’s what happens when you order internationally) and I’m still inundated with work here at FMP Studios.  The Traveling Acai Berries were hoping to get a two-song recording session in, but we’d have to wait and see.  Those would still be in standard definition.

Anyway, onto tonight’s article:

Today at lunch, I told my colleagues at work (who are all much older than me) that I’m loving using my turntable.  A turntable, for those of you who either don’t know or have forgotten, is a record player.  And a record player is a machine that plays 12″ vinyl discs with grooves on them, producing sound.

Everyone at the table looked at me like I had four heads.  I heard, “He isn’t 25 years old- take off the mask, Scooby and reveal the real killer old man.”  But, I told them how much fun it was- having these great collector’s items and being able to just sit back and listen to some great music of yesteryear.

Then, you should’ve seen their faces when I told them I had bought new albums this year on vinyl.  They all couldn’t believe vinyl record albums (or long-players, LP) were making a small comeback.  Most of them had gotten rid of their collections or even their turntables.  What a shame!  I know they take up room, but I’m really loving them.  I thought I would write tonight about the options of purchasing and listening to music in 2009 that led me to my old-fashioned choice for music.

Let me start off by saying that, no, I do not believe that they are somehow superior in sound quality.  For years, it was all I could do to reduce as much hiss as possible from my own music recordings and I love the sound of clean, digital recordings.  I even love when companies remaster albums and take away all the hiss, like they did with Elvis’ #1’s album from a few years ago.  Listening to the remastered, cleaned-up version of “Heartbreak Hotel”, you feel like you’re in the room with Elvis.  And that’s a place I want to be. 🙂

So, albums are all but dead now.  I am in the vast minority of people that purchase full albums rather than individual singles.  And, that cross-section gets even smaller because I’m also the type of person that purchases physical albums rather than digital downloads.  You see, I’m a person that wants something for his money.  And purchasing an album online for ten dollars (from iTunes or wherever else you may buy them) just doesn’t seem right to me- you get a FILE?  No jewel case?  No CD?  Nothing you can put in your collection?  Let me tell you something- my father’s vast CD collection is a heck of a lot more impressive than the 10,000 digital songs I currently have on my iPod.

And with physical albums, you actually own something.  I can’t feel ownership of a file on my computer.  Call me old-fashioned, but I want something I can hold, something I can look at in the future without wondering if it’s compatible with my operating system.

So, there are three main ways you can purchase music in 2009, now that cassette tapes, DVD audio, and Super Audio CDs have bitten the dust.  There are digital downloads (mp3’s, usually), CD’s, and new vinyl albums.  Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of each:

Digital Downloads: Well, the obvious reasons are- they don’t take up any space!  Most people don’t want to search through hundreds of CDs to find the song they want, and I don’t blame them.  These things are portable and even I have fallen in love with my iPod portable music player.  But, for my money, I purchase the physical album on CD or LP and then put it into my iTunes for conversion into mp3 or AAC format.  Then, I have a portable copy to take with me, but I also have the physical copy for both my collection and in case something goes wrong with the file.  Plus, they haven’t perfected sound quality of these compressed digital files.  Sure, mp3s don’t sound bad, but have you ever listened to a song in mp3 and then listened to the CD version right afterward?  You’ll really hear the difference.  And, they’re coming out with new, higher quality codecs all the time.  What does that mean?  It means that every time they come out with a better-sounding way of presenting your music, you’ll have to either convert your CD collection again or purchase the songs again in a higher quality.  I like to do the job one time and that’s it, so no thanks.

CD’s (Compact Disc): The best part about CDs is the sound quality.  They are essentially uncompressed and you simply cannot get audibly better sound quality without moving up to surround-sound audio.  CD’s have been our main medium for twenty years now and there’s a good reason.  They scratch, but not too easily.  They take up space, but about a quarter as much as an old vinyl LP.  And they’re really cheap to both produce and to purchase.  Stores often offer CDs for $9.99 when they come out and still make a healthy profit.  I really have nothing against CDs- they seem to be very archival and I feel great about my collection.  There are drawbacks, though- they can skip while playing them if you’re on a bumpy road in the car, they can have digital “artifacts” from not being produced properly, and they’re just a bit too small to reproduce a beautiful album cover with the same effect on a vinyl LP.  Plus, they’re portable…if you’re carrying one at a time…  You can’t put a CD in your pocket or even dream about carrying 10,000 songs with you at all times.  Plus, CD changers are bulky and outdated.

Vinyl Record Albums (LP): “Everything old is new again.”  Again, I’m a collector.  I really don’t buy too much new music anymore, as my back-catalog collection is essentially complete.  So, when my favorite artists come out with a new album, it’s not a big deal to purchase a vinyl copy.  Buying four albums a year won’t take up much space and I’ll be able to see those great album covers and read liner notes, etc.  Plus, the actual vinyl record albums themselves are a sight to behold.  And there’s something strangely serene about playing one- putting the needle on the record and watching it spin while you listen.  It just calms you down.  Plus, I get a nostalgic feeling when listening to records- like I was alive then.  You’d even catch me listening to stuff I normally wouldn’t, like “Sinatra at the Sands”, that I listened to a couple days ago.  It just felt right.  Of course, records went obsolete for a reason.  In fact, most people that used them long ago really don’t miss them that much.  They complain about the dust, the needle cartridges, the scratches, and how easy it was to make them skip.  Plus, they take up a ton of room when you have a bunch.  So, they’re a nice novelty to me right now.  And, most new albums out on vinyl come with either a digital download code or a copy on CD so you can still have the clean version of the album and keep the vinyl as a collector’s item.

There’s only one recording medium that’s dead now that everyone agrees was a good idea to kill: the 8-track player.  I never had one of these and don’t plan to.

I hope you enjoyed this article and hope that you’ll contribute to the conversation- how do you prefer to buy and listen to your music?  Are you considering the switch to vinyl again?  Do you think they actually sound better?  We’d love to hear from you!

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“Development of a writer” – A retrospective by Jeff Copperthite (Part 3/4)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

In my last installment of this miniseries of articles, I gave some insight into my love of video game music, and some of the things that genre has caused me to do.  For the final part, i’d like to bring it back to original composition work, live music, and help bring it full circle.

In the first part, I mentioned that I took part in many musical endeavors in high school.  Nearly every band or music ensemble that existed, I took part in.  I sang in choir, played trombone in the concert band, double bass in the orchestra, electric bass and trombone in the jazz band, and whatever else needed playing for musical productions, talent shows, and even some Senior Court jam sessions w/ Scott.  I taught myself how to play all the instruments I play with the exception of Trombone.

In 1997 I joined a band that was fronted by a guy named Dave.  I was only part of the band for a few months because my work schedule conflicted with when they wanted to practice and write.  It was a mutual parting and I held no animosity to them, nor they to me.  We did get a couple of live shows in those 3 months, and they were fun to jam with.

I didn’t really play with any bands again until senior year, when Scott asked me to play bass at the talent show (I forgot the name of it, but the idea was for students to display various arts on the stage, be it music, dance, or the like) with another friend of ours named Brian.  The three of us were going to play Dave Matthews Band covers in our act.  We learned about 7 songs (could’ve been more or less) and our performance was actually played towards the end.  I also played bass w/ Brian on drums for one of our other mutual friends’ Lindsay to do her rendition of the song “Fever”.  Funny thing is I still know how to play all these songs on the bass.

Our show was liked by the school that we were asked to play at the school’s other talent event called “EATA” (Evening At The Arts).  Our year was the kickoff for this show and again, it was meant to be a display for all the talents of the students at our school.  Except this time, there were events going on at multiple locations.  I myself loved the idea and the three of us jumped at the opportunity.  Scott & I played the open-mic as a bass/guitar duo, and it was easy to do because for the few weeks coming up to the show, we sat in the senior court playing tunes from the show (we had expanded to other covers as well, such as “With A Little Help From My Friends”).  I think we even collected a few bucks.

That show was awesome.  Somewhere i’ve got a picture of us playing at that show.

Not long afterwards, Scott asked me to contribute some recordings to some original songs he had written for an English Project.  The three songs we recorded would become known as our first EP, which was simply called “English Project”.  How appropriate.  The songs that we recorded were patched together rather quickly because he had recorded the guitar part by himself, so I had to put drums and bass on top of that.  Although for a rookie effort, it worked out nicely.

Around this time I also helped Jim put together some MIDI productions that he used for a project (which class?) on MacBeth, putting some songs to varying points of that play.  It was fun to lend my growing instrument collection (which at that point included the Yamaha PSR 320 I had done MIDI on previously, and the Roland Electric Drum Set I still own and use).

Scott & I had a great reception from his recordings, and we were encouraged to record them more formally, along with four more songs.  That album would become “First Stitch” by Quilt.

That reminds me, we came into that name because we saw it on a license plate while going to Sam Ash to get my bass and amplifier.  I still have the bass, but the amplifier met it’s demise last year (you’ll have to check the blog from March of last year to read all about that).

Scott & I continued to record songs, and our duo still is active.  We have recorded two additional albums and one EP since “First Stitch”.  The albums are “Patchwork” and “Expressions” (the latter of which featured my writing exclusively), and the EP was called “Blanket of Death” (which i’ve mentioned already contains some of my favorites from Scott’s writing).

Well, I’m going to stop this for the evening, as it is late.  I’ve decided there will be a part four about a month from now.  Too much music history left to write about.  Stay tuned for that, and i’ll be back next week for another regularly scheduled laptop session!

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Ranking the Best Moody Blues Albums in Order- A Comprehensive List from a Lifetime Fan

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to this special report for the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my father about the best Moody Blues albums.  My father is very opinionated and we had a nice argument about the subject.  He decided to make a list.  I’m not sure if it’s because we were arguing and he knew I had some differing opinions, but I couldn’t believe how similar his answers were to what mine might have been!  In fact, there’s very few on this list I would disagree with (I’d put “Every Good Boy…” lower and definitely “December” a lot higher…).  So, without further ado, here’s my father’s list of Best Moody Blues albums…including solo albums!

Moody Blues albums:

  1. On the Threshold of A Dream
  2. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
  3. To Our Children’s Children’s Children
  4. Long Distance Voyager
  5. Strange Times
  6. Question of Balance
  7. The Present
  8. In Search of the Lost Chord
  9. Seventh Sojourn
  10. Days of Future Passed
  11. Octave
  12. This is the Moody Blues (A really good Best-Of compilation, mixed like a real Moody Blues album.  However, if a compilation album lands here, you can only imagine how…not great…the albums below it must be!)
  13. Prelude (Another compilation, but this is of their early stuff before “Days of Future Passed”)
  14. Caught Live +5 (I’ve always been a fan of the five unreleased songs at the end, myself)
  15. Keys of the Kingdom
  16. December
  17. The Other Side of Life
  18. Sur La Mer

Moody Blues Members’ Solo Albums:

  1. The Promise – Mike Pinder
  2. View From the Hill – Justin Hayward
  3. Blue Jays – Justin Hayward and John Lodge
  4. Among the Stars – Mike Pinder
  5. From Mighty Oaks – Ray Thomas
  6. Kick Off Your Muddy Boots – Graeme Edge
  7. Natural Avenue – John Lodge
  8. Songwriter – Justin Hayward
  9. Hopes Wishes Dreams – Ray Thomas
  10. Paradise Ballroom – Graeme Edge

Now that we’ve had our say, we’d love to hear what you think!  What would you change about this list?  Turn it upside down?  A few tweaks?  Let us hear from you in the comments section below!

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A/V corner: A review of the LG 32LH30 LCD TV

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By Jeff:

Welcome to a title I just made up.  The world is always a good place when you show your versatility!  It’s quite obvious that Jim, Chris, and myself have a world of interests.

I would like to point out that I didn’t have a very good day today.  However, it isn’t because something bad happened to me.  But rather, someone’s senselessness caused my friend to have a bad day.  Seriously, if you need money, get a frickin job – leave people’s property alone.  Also, can the email at my school work consistently?  I’m tired of telling my students “email me if you have questions” only to find that the night before they have a test I can’t access my email.

But I digress.

Tonight I am reviewing the TV I just bought.  This follows the death of my previous TV.  I had a Samsung tube HDTV that I bought in 2004.  I mean, it looked fine and had two component inputs and allowed me to play my gamecube/wii, ps2, and TV all in the best possible resolution.

Then one morning I was watching Sportscenter and right in the middle of Stuart Scott’s next highlight, I looked up and saw nothing.  I still heard his voice coming through the stereo speakers.  I then smelled an electrical appliance burning, which means “unplug that tv”.  The fried TV made it to the recycling center a few days later, and my living room was without a TV.

The funniest thing is about two weeks before the old TV blew up (as I say it), I had said to my wife “I think it’s time we bought a new TV”.

Granted, the other TV’s in this house are at least 10 years old, and they work just fine.  So it’s a bit sad that this one lasted a mere 5 years.

So of course, I ordered a new TV on amazon.com.  I love ordering things from that site due to the credit card rewards that give me gift cards for money spent.  So this TV was almost an entire $25 gift card.  Plus, I also received free shipping.

Well anyway, I got the TV on a Saturday morning via Fedex and had it set up in an hour.  I went shopping for a few cables (namely an HDMI cable) and fired it up.

The LG 32LH30 LCD TV is a 32 inch wide screen HDMI ready viewing machine.  Soon as I fired it up I loved it.  The screen is so so much brighter than a CRT TV.  The fact that I can now actually see the HD channels I get in their native widescreen is tremendous.

The setup on the TV is tailored to HDMI.  The back of the set includes 3 HDMI inputs (one on the side, two on the back), 1 component input, 2 composite inputs, optical in/out, and a standard cable input.  I would rather it have came with a 2nd component input simply because there’s a lot of devices that do not have HDMI out that people still use.  Yes many people still have only component outputs (and still others only composite/s-video), so the sole input makes hooking up all your devices simultaneously a bit trickier.  Most people will have to buy a video switcher.

Just to give you an idea of what I have in my setup – I have a Wii, HDMI cable box, PS2, DVD player, Sony receiver, and a 200 CD changer (that’s on its last legs).  Of course, the Wii and PS2 are component able, so I lucked out that I can hook them into my receiver, and use it as a video switcher, and hook a third set of cables into the TV.

The bad news is that, when I change video sources, I have to change them both on my TV and on my receiver.  So again, if you can deal like me, then that isn’t a big deal.

The picture set up mode is something i’m still tweaking with.  A beginner to picture setup can easily set up their TV to an acceptable picture by using the Tv’s “Picture Wizard”.  What it does is basically take the user through a series of images that look different depending on the TV’s settings, which includes an “optimal” image that you should try to obtain.  With each setting change, the TV’s settings change without the user needing to bother with “What the hell does the contrast do?”  I tried it the first try, but again since i’m aware of what these are, I didn’t find it necessary to use.  However, I did note that the interface is sort of idiot proof.

For those that don’t need a safety net, the LG 32LH30 offers a tremendous array of picture tweaks.  There are presets for “Cinema”, “Sports”, and “Game”.  For my video games, I find the “Sports” setting to be quite nice – especially for the Wii games.  But if presets still aren’t enough tweaking, there are 6 zoom functions, and a up to 20 level scalable “cinema zoom”, which takes letterboxed DVD’s and stretches them vertically as much or as little as you want.  There’s also a setup option that allows you to use the TV as an audio pass through instead of a monitor – that is, you can turn off the video, but keep the audio.  This is perfect if you want to put on the music channels most cable companies provide, but don’t need to see the facts on the screen about the music.  You can also disable the onboard TV speakers (recommended if you have a receiver like most techies).

The coolest thing i’ve found so far is the extra HDMI inputs allow me to hook my laptop up to the TV.  It’s perfect for me because my DVD player can play DVDs in a very high resolution on my laptop, and I can now send that to the TV!  The computer screen on the TV is a bit too “fine” for my needs, but it is perfect if you’re watching a bunch of Youtube videos or, as mentioned, a DVD.  I can also play SOME of my computer games on it, and they look really really good.

There aren’t too many drawbacks other than the ones already mentioned.  The thing I don’t like is that the provided TV stand is very basic.  It allows you to tilt the TV horizontally +/- 20 degrees, but there is no vertical tilt.  There also is no vertical height adjustment (sorry Dr. K) allowed, so I had to get a few very thick phone books that were of the same height (harder than it looks!) and drape a black towel over them just to raise the TV to a height I want.  In my setup, I was able to put the center speaker on top of the old CRT, but that’s not possible with an LCD.  The only options are to put it right below the TV or on a shelf above the TV for optimal sound quality.  The speaker I own would block the bottom portion if I didn’t raise the height of it.

Also, the buttons for the TV are located on the side of the TV which is fine, but the one I use the most is the power button.  At the very least, a power button should’ve been included on the front of the screen.  If you’re like most people, your TV is already in a tight fitting area, and it is a minor inconvenience to reach back behind the TV to turn it off if I don’t want to use the remote.

But for the money I spent for it, this TV is all that I could want and more.  If I get another video source, I have space to hook it up to the HDMI connection.  The digital out to my amplifier ensures that if there is a Dolby Digital soundtrack or better that my receiver will make it sound the best it can.  And while it is certainly geared to today’s HDMI devices, again make sure you buy a video switcher if you have multiple component video sources like I do (or be lucky with your receiver being a good switcher on its own).

And if you are in the market to buy a flat screen, LCD TV’s prices are much much better and more affordable now.  I can safely recommend this one to you.  If you can splurge a little bit (i.e. more than $300), then this TV is worth it.

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