RE: Audio File Formats

Answering a query at talkbass, I said:

1. It is my understanding (anecdotally) that WAV may be superior to AIFF – I do not use the latter as I am on a PC and have no need, YMMV.FLAC is “lossless” compression, and IME if you use the highest quality compression, it truly is. You can take a WAV, convert to FLAC, convert back to WAV, flip the polarity and it cancels out the original WAV.
2. There is a theory that 48 is better than 44.1 due to less math being involved. I use 44.1 as that is standard for CD’s and I prefer to avoid conversions, for time/efficiency reasons is if nothing else. To the extent that I ever heard a difference between them (not sure I really did), it is not a case of one sounding better than the other …
3. I will add that IMO bit rate is the more important variable on a practical level – while I can hear 96kHz [and dislike the top end] there is a significant improvement in 24 bit vs. 16 bit in depth and realism – the infamous “remove the gauze” effect, but subtler. Q.E.D., I use 32 bit float [a mathematical variation on 24 bit that may benefit processing], 44.1 WAV to record and mix.)There are other compression formats like OGG and MP3. A 320kps MP3 is very close to a WAV for listening purposes, but will suffer if you process it.
4. All that said, the issue with file compression in recording is degradation, which does mean math stuff (artifacts, distortion, etc.) if you try to process – including mix – a compressed file (or even one converted back to WAV, as there is less data, see below) – it may or may not be audible.
5. The issue with file compression in playback is that the file contains less data, typically bandwidth-limited (file compression can be thought of simplistically as removing the extra zeros in a binary file – finer information detail gets potentially lost and/or more easily corrupted) …
6. But do keep in mind the method of monitoring/playback. Internet sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp, etc. have their own players which themselves may change the sound versus other playback methods – I can hear it on Soundcloud, and the old MySpace was notorious for this. So if you are uploading for someone to listen, 320MP3 is great – (internet standard has long been 128kps with low-end narrowing), and I even on occasion use 320 tracks (converted to WAV) in file exchange recording, where it is one track in a multi-track mixdown.
7. But generally speaking, IMO, you want 16 bit 44.1 in your fave format. I, BTW, use WAV but could use FLAC with my DAW (CEP2.1) – I convert to FLAC at highest settings with sound-shaping and dither for uploads to Bandcamp as the end of my mastering process (in Reaper).
8. DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert, and the above info is what I use to function – you should do your own research, but many of the concepts above might help you get started.

For Ferlinghetti

For Ferlinghetti

02/25/21 Vlayman

Sometimes I feel I don’t read enough poetry

Me, sitting at the computer, reading everything of interest

I read politics, I do, hold arguments in my head about the things said and not said

about the left and the right,

the correct and incorrect

Just my opinion of course, but often shared by millions

or not

And I read recipes, I like to read recipes

I dream of the food, taste it, smell it, fill my hunger for the thought

of things new and perhaps more importantly

more closer to perfect

I want the steak juicier, the fries crispier, the ethnic food spicier or more

… ethnic, authentic and, yes,

spicier

And sometimes I’ll go searching for human interest stuff but not

hardly ever, because it finds me

The picture of the happy thing, the funny thing, the sad that

the child

the dog

the cat, the spider

the plant

the hero or the villain who did or didn’t that someone thought to write about

the story usually with a cute headline or interesting photo

Because writing now needs headlines, and ledes, and buried ledes, and topics like

“Opinion”, “Criticism”, “Human Interest”

And oh, the photos, a new/old language they are, and of interest are articles of

the first photos, and the method and manner of their advent,

as well the colours, the composition – like a poem, sometimes, the composition –

and the hidden and overt meanings, their use in explication and denunciation, in celebration and selling shit

And all the pretty pictures lead you in to the text, whether it is news or criticism or sales, and that’s OK, that’s aiight, sometimes, if you’re lucky, there’s even a bit of poetry there

Found poetry, like howling in the night, the sound of the wind slamming the door shut over and over, the traffic noises, the waves, the corner boys crackin’ up, the insipid Tik-Toks playing on

innumerable cell-phones

The rhythms of the tweet and the re-tweet

The trolley trolling trollees crying out at being trolled

the old, not understanding, trolled and trolling in their old ways, their Luddite ways

trolling nonetheless the children who don’t visit

or won’t move out

lovers departed, spouses they are stuck with

taxes and health issues and politicians and store clerks who fucked them

Like the departed lovers, in many cases

But I digress, for poetry calls for that, as a way to step aside from itself,

and its self, to better understand

what you just walked through, stepped over, s-s-stepped in or on, stumbled against, ignored even

Because you write lyrics

Vlayman: *The Side Piece (a e.p.)*

1. Side Piece 03:53
2. Ain’t For You 04:09
3. Countin’ Halves 03:53
4. Food For Flies 03:30
5. An Abundance of Caution 03:30

Be best, beeyotches.

released February 21, 2021

Drums is nettage.
All else, including elec & acoustic guitars and BassVI in M/S and stereo and mono and amped and amp-sim’d; bass what was amped and DI’d; and vox sober and not so much, is yo.
Writ, mixt, masturd, sequenced at FetaCentralRecording DDL in Feb, 2021 under pandemic conditions with a puppy sittin’ at my feet.

Fartwerk: Jose Jones

all rights reservedbandcamp; vlayman;
THD; Geronimo Cowboys;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

Gtr porn: G&L+LP+G&L

Posted at Tomb:

I have a “The Paul” – whadda sweet guitar, much lighter than a Standard, etc., and I love the green-burst non-bound mahogany body.

Mine came with Dirty Fingers which I used to love when playing out, but I am thinking of swapping to a PAF or even a P90 type. The guitar is just so playable in comparison to Strat-length or even my Tele-types – baseball-battish neck and short-feeling scale. I bought mine used for about US$250 or $300 at a guitar show in in ’92 in the last hour before it was closing, and it is and always has been one of my top-5.
Here it is flanked by my G&L’s, the left-most of which was my #1 for 20+ years (bought used inna pawnshop about ’87 for US$200 or so when no one in Chi really knew G&L) and still would be except I think it needs a fret job; the right most (bought used in another guitar shop about ’94 for similar a price) is active electronics which are OK, but not my preference:

bandcamp; vlayman;
THD; Geronimo Cowboys;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, *Live from the Ryman*

His latest live record with The 400 Unit is awesome – great songs; he’s truly one of the best of the current writers of both music and lyrics – awesome performances including occasional lead guitar but especially his wife’s fiddle (best sound on that I’ve ever heard) – good song selection and a nice length – and the sound is definitely live vs. produced, but great vibe.  5/5 olives