When looking back at
some of the best years in United States history, very few people would ever
dare to rank 1930 among the top. The Great Depression was in full swing, a
horrific drought leading to the dust bowl years had begun, and worst of all,
the people of this year could not even drink their sorrows away because
Prohibition enforcement was stronger than ever. In spite of all this, there was
one silver lining that came in the form of a 12” flexible plastic disk. This
was the very first commercially available vinyl record created by RCA, and
little did the world know that those discs would stick around another
eighty-five years as the people of today are turning to vinyl records hoping to
find the true authenticities of life, which just may be lying in the flaps of
that old dusty record.
People
nowadays may be familiar with records because their parents or grandparents
kept them lying around the house. However, these were not always a huge hit.
Initially, records were a flop, and it was not until 1945 that the industry
standard record (33½ rpm) was produced (Palermino 1). From that point on, the
vinyl record would go on to face a plethora of obstacles and challenges ranging
from reel-to-reel tapes, 8-tracks, CDs, and more recently mp3 files and online
music streaming. Yet, the year is now 2015 and vinyl record sales are the
highest they have been in twenty-five years! Why do these plastic discs keep
hanging around, and what makes them so appealing to the mass public? People in
today’s fast paced society are quietly searching for the authenticity of life,
thus correlating with the recent surge in record sales. Vinyl records provide
nostalgia by offering a glimpse into history, their sound quality is
imperfectly-wonderful yet unparalleled, and the act of listening to a record is
a drawn-out process that forces one to slow down and take the time to
appreciate the music as well as the experience.
Widely debated, is the
sound quality of vinyl records. Does music really sound better on vinyl, and if
so, how? Though there have been bundles of bloggers and journalists alike
taking a stab at this mind-bending question, there is no definitive answer or
proof stating that the sound quality is indeed better or worse, because the
quality of a certain thing is an aesthetic judgement that cannot genuinely be
defined objectively. With that said, it should be noted that there is indeed a
distinct difference in digital music files versus the vinyl record. The digital
file is likely to be more polished and clean although the sound is not as full
and pure, while vinyls have a crackling noise during rotation and are very susceptible
to scratches which will cause skipping in the record, although the vinyl’s
sound is a lot more full and authentic. Ah, there’s that word again,
“authentic.”
Today,
everything technological seems to be striving for complete perfection by its curators,
which is an almost unattainable goal, and is quite possibly where the digital
music market went wrong. People turn to vinyl for its flaws and imperfections
because everything is so diluted in digital recording’s cookie cutter sound,
equating to a minimalistic amount of authenticity. Old records are pure, aboriginal,
and full of flaws, which just might be the thing making them almost perfect.
In his book, Six Names of Beauty, philosopher Crispin Sartwell explains a
phenomenon very similar to the one stated above. Throughout the book he is
describing forms of beauty that may not be clear or present in everyday
culture. These beauties are not widely publicized or even commonly known, and
in Chapter 5, entitled Wabi-Sabi the Japanese
aesthetic concept based on Humility and Imperfection he starts off by recalling
the first time he heard the blues, more specifically the first blues disk he
heard, and in this he states, “The damage on its surface-its crackles and
skips- traces my intense relation to it, and gives it a kind of old-time
sounding authenticity. But even with all that displacement the blues seemed to
me like an absolutely inevitable syntax, as though I was hearing my own voice
the way I wanted it to be” (Sartwell 110). This quote is almost identical to
the flawed perfection vinyl records seem to carry with them. By a judge’s
decision, the sound quality in Sartwell’s example would be ruled a
disgrace-much like that of old vinyl records- but by Sartwell’s ruling, there
is much more to it than sound. There is this unimaginable feeling that floods
his brainwaves allowing Sartwell to hear the true beauty behind the cracks and
skips that lie on the exoskeleton of the blues he’s listening to. That is
authentic. That is what it means to be true to the roots. That is without
question the very thing a vast majority of humans crave, yet that is exactly
what is absent from the majority of modern society’s newest products.
Collectively, people love music, and there is a branch of music that is still tangible
and simple and those who know about this branch are flocking to it in droves.
Shortly
after this recollection, Sartwell defines what exactly that feeling is. It’s called wabi-sabi and it is a Japanese world
view or aesthetic that focuses on the acceptance of imperfections. In this
section, Sartwell goes on to break down the word’s meaning as he writes, “Wabi
is most directly translated as “poverty” and initially in its history had all
the negative connotations of that state. The life of the peasant- hard, humble,
and bare-is wabi.”( 113). Sartwell makes it plainly clear that the first word
of the term is anything but lavish, and in regards to the second, Sabi, he
states that, “Sabi means “loneliness” again originating in a word that is
largely negative” (114). This view fits the vinyl record and its surge in
popularity so perfectly, because the glamourous world of “see it-want it-have
it” is no place for a large hunk of plastic, but the loneliness and simplicity
of the vinyl record is everything people wanting to escape the norm are looking
for.
While those feelings
previously expressed with examples from Sartwell in regards to sound, the
following feelings take a deeper look into the emotions a singular vinyl record
can provide, rather than why people feel the dubbed “perfectly-imperfect” sound
is better than digital music. Now, as stated previously, vinyl records have
been available for the public for just under a century. They have kept current
with new artists, styles, and sounds, and there does not seem to be a true end
to the commercial growth of this product anywhere in sight. Having this sort of
longevity offers listeners the rare and almost exclusive ability to experience
what people from up to eighty years ago felt, and to sincerely be put in their
shoes. Music is said to be timeless, and attesting to that statement is the
fact that the biggest and best selling vinyl records today are of albums that
were made in the 60s, 70s, and 80s (Mathieu 1).
Having
said that, I want you try to picture this scenario as a reader: a twelve year
old boy stumbles upon his father’s old records in the family basement, when he
sees one record with four men on the front walking across the street. His
interest has been sparked and as he takes out the LP and puts it on the
turntable, dropping the needle, he begins reading the back cover to discover
what exactly it is that he is listening to. The boy is hearing The Beatles’ Abbey Road for the first time today, and
he may be experiencing an unexplainable feeling that his father got years
before the first time he listened to that very album. The
universality of music has been the driving force behind the revival of records,
but feelings so pure, nostalgic and euphoric such as the ones illuminated in
the previous example are what keep people coming back for more. Music, as a
whole, is not something that can be validated by lists of data and statistics
on songs and albums, it is simply something that may or may not resonate with a
particular individual. That alone has kept vinyl records relevant, because
there are no figures or numbers to convolute the organic feelings and emotions
that become present the second the needle drops into the grooves of a record.
To
further accentuate the previous scenario, imagine that boy’s affinity for music
continued to grow. In fact, imagine it grew to the point where he began wanting
to make his very own music, so his father goes out and buys his son a guitar.
As the boy ages, he is exposed to more and more musical influences and begins to
develop his own unique sound, while at the same time mimicking his musical role
models in their technique and style. For the sake of this example, let us say
that the boy became an exceptional musician and he began making a career out of
it. Let us say that the boy now had earned enough money to make his very own
studio album, and make it available for the mass public, so he goes and records
his music, and now he has his first personal album. He wants a wide variety of
people to hear his music, so he makes the logical decision of making it
available on the Internet and all popular music streaming sites. Enough people
buy the album online to where he begins to make his money back, and in the
midst of his recent income, he thinks back to that old dusty copy of Abbey Road that began his life journey,
so what do you as a reader think he will do next? If your guess was that he
would go get his very own album pressed and released in the vinyl format, then
you just may be right. This is a way to validate himself with the influences he
grew up listening to. While this scenario is fictional, it is based on very
real and not-so uncommon events. In the short film Turnaround: A Vinyl Records Documentary, musical artist Daniel
Baulch says in regards to vinyl records and his music that, “We’ve had a lot of
amazing moments sitting down and listening to certain vinyls and stuff, so it’s
a dream of ours to maybe give someone else that sort of experience”(Turnaround 2:36). For this particular artist, much like our fictitious
boy, vinyl records have played a significant role in his life, and he can only
hope that his music will do the same that his role model’s music did for him,
in the same format that is a vinyl record.
This nostalgic and
authentic experience that has been previously talked about in great excess
comes from the actual process of listening to a record, which in fact, is much more
extensive than just pressing “play.” Before zooming in on the process of
listening to a vinyl record, the most popular method of listening to music must
first be examined, and that method is none other than online streaming. This
process is quite simple: people pull up a selected music station with the genre
of music they like, then the streaming site will generate a playlist of similar
sounding songs so that the listener has minimal work to do, and they can go on
about their day with music in the palm of their hands. Online streaming is
simple and work free, and while some people love this ease of accessibility,
others prefer the longer and more laborious route.
To
attain a record, one has to go to a record store, yard sale, flea market etc.
From there, they will probably find a couple dozen milk crates completely
filled with records. The consumer will have to dig through these crates and
look at every single cover until they find the one they want. This can take
hours depending on the amount of crates and piles the consumer is going
through. Following this, the person will have to return to their record player,
put their latest purchase on the turntable, drop the needle, and listen. There
is no changing the artist after one song, but after four or five songs it will
be necessary to flip the record over to the B-side. This is a strenuous and
lengthy process that some people just cannot get enough of. It forces the
individual to be present while listening to the record and some have stated
that a sense of pride is felt whenever they discover a new artist on their own
this way. It is that sense of accomplishment after hard manual labor that must
entice a selective crowd, and it can be assumed that the record-listening
forefathers had similar feelings when they completed the very same action.
Everything with records is full circle if it is not apparent just yet.
Those
in opposition to vinyl records may claim that they are not portable, making
them obsolete in our current and highly mobile society. While it is true that
vinyl records are anything but portable, the reason they are so popular is
because it forces one to be still-to not move about but rather to sit there,
and truly listen to the music being played, not just hearing it. Additionally,
people may not enjoy being locked into a contractual agreement to only listen
to one artist and one album for hours at a time. This is completely rational
and understandable, but to reiterate, vinyl records may not be for all people.
In 1958 vinyl records were the online streaming of the day, but times have
changed and vinyl records are for people that do not mind the challenges or
even annoyances.
All
in all, this is an imperfect system that has garnered its winnings from its
very own flaws. The vinyl record is an anomaly really, because the very things
that should have weeded out this artifact decades ago are the only things
keeping vinyl records afloat almost ninety years later. The wabi-sabi that Sartwell
speaks of and the ability to see the beauty in imperfections play perfectly
into the very thing that vinyls are. Not only that, but the nostalgic feelings
and emotions that come jam-packed within the flaps of those records keep the
cycle going full circle whether it be with big-time music fans, or even the
artists of newer generations. Lastly, there is a process to listening to a
record, a very time consuming yet rewarding process that has engulfed millions,
and based on the surge in sales, is continuing to expand its listenership.
Vinyl records were a thing of the past, are clearly a thing of the present, and
all roads point to them being a thing of the future. All things considered, the
year 1930 may have been a tad “depressing” but the historical significance with
the country’s economy, weather patterns, and enforced laws are still talked
about today. In fact, people still
make songs about those occurrences. Then those artists slap the songs on an
album, get it pressed on a vinyl record and… well you get the point.
Works Cited
Baron,
Lee. "Why Vinyl Has Made a
Comeback." Newsweek.com. Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.
Gibson,
Meghan. "Here's Why Music Lovers Are Turning to Vinyl and Dropping
Digital." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.
Huet,
E. “Resurgence In Vinyl Records Means
Booming Business -- And Growing
Pains
For Factories.” Forbes.Com, DATE OF
ARTICLE Web. DATE ACCESSED
Hughes,
Matthew. "4 Reasons Why Vinyl Is
Better Than Digital."MakeUseOf.
N.p., 18 Apr.
2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2015.
Morris,
Christopher. "Album Sales
Continue Decline, Music Streaming Rises in 2014." Variety.
N.p.,
06 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
Palermino,
Chris Leo. "Vinyl Sales Are
Still on the Rise in 2015, Fueling a Revival That Keeps
Pointing up." Digital
Trends. N.p., 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.
II.
Defense of the source:
"LPs
Turn 65: Top-selling Vinyl Records of All Time." Times Union. Ed. Jarron Mathieu.
N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Sartwell,
Crispin. "Wabi-Sabi Japanese,
Humility, Imperfection." Six Names of Beauty. New
York:
Routledge, 2004. 109-31. Print.
Turnaround
- A Vinyl Records Documentary. Dir. Chris Axiaq, Blake Hennequin,
James Thomson,
Thanh
Loc Do, and Robert Milner. Perf. Andrew Hayden, Jackson Clarke, Daniel Baulch
and Jackson Kay. Blake Hennequin Films, 2012. Documentary.
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