This is the sixth blog post in a series featuring behind-the-scenes discoveries from the Ethnomusicology Archive & Lab at UT Austin’s Butler School of Music.
BY HAMIDREZA FALLAHI, PHD STUDENT
The Ethnomusicology Archive of the University of Texas at Austin hosts a captivating collection of audio files and formats, including 78rpm discs, VHS tapes, cassettes, and vinyl LPs featuring various musical traditions of the world.
Although most of the audio materials kept in the Archive have been digitized over the years and are accessible in the CD format, it is difficult to reject the temptation of enjoying the atmospheric and nostalgic sounds generated by playing vinyl and tapes on our analog devices.
Given the increasing dominance of the digitization and online consumption of music, one might find this practice as susceptible to oblivion, unnecessary, or even pretentious. However, experiencing music via a direct physical source (as opposed to, say, an MP3 file) is more than an old-fashioned way of listening. It has become a preferred activity by many, given its delightful sensorial experience.
Just look at the resurgence of the vinyl industry and increased demand for vinyl records among music enthusiasts, collectors, audiophiles, and everyday listeners over recent years. Vinyl records have seen an unprecedented explosion in physical sales, whether purchased in-store or online (Hendrick 2016: 480).
This resurgence stems from various aspects. Consider, for instance, how the direct and tactile experience of vinyl records cannot be offered and replicated by digital formats of music. Through vinyl, the listener may also access a quality of sound that cannot easily be duplicated in digital formats – with the continuous wave forms of the analog sound often offering warmer aural quality.
Even the sonic imperfections associated with vinyl records are considered by many users as an endearing trademark of its nostalgic appeal. Musical consumption via vinyl records can be described as “opening a nice bottle of wine or having a nice meal,” according to Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day:
The experience of buying a 12″ vinyl record, opening it, feeling it, looking at the artist’s artwork and finally dropping the needle on the record requires a certain amount of attention and focus. The listener ends up being drawn into the experience that the artist worked so hard to create (Hendrick 2016: 489).
In addition to the richness and warmth of the sounds generated by vinyl records, a major contributing factor to the sensorial pleasure of spinning a vinyl is the aesthetic appeal of this mode of musical experience: in the form of a typically elaborate cover artwork and the packaging that holds the actual vinyl record.
While enjoying vinyl’s peerless sound quality, you also enjoy the visual representations of the sounds presented in the album, illustrated and designed by talented artists, further triggering the curiosity of a collector.
The enjoyment of music and artistry through vinyl records transforms it into an experience beyond simple listening. An auditory practice turns into a multi-layered process that links various senses. You touch the vinyl, you see the cover artwork – perhaps you even smell the physical record – and finally you listen to the music.
Here’s an excerpt of a track featured in the “Music of Bulgaria” vinyl from the Archive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GPIeiAU0R1wTA4ySzxn8e2F7CYbvomeM/view?usp=sharing
In addition to the aesthetic aspects of playing music on analog devices, delight is also generated by a nostalgia-tinged experience typically involving the reminiscing of the past, escaping the digital modernization of present-day living, and focusing on positive musical memories which often cultivates the emotional wellbeing of the listener/collector (Burgeon-Renault 2006).
Despite the dominance of digital technologies today, vinyl records continue to hold a distinctive place in music industries. They are valued not only for the songs they hold and keep, but also for the experiences they engender. There’s nothing quite like it: handling the record, placing it on the turntable, and gently dropping the needle – to hear and feel the music (Hendrick 2016).
Sources:
Burgeon Renault, Dominique and Caroline Urbain, Christine Petr, Marine Le Gall-Ely and Anne Gombault. 2006. “An Experiential Approach to the Consumption Value of Arts and Culture: The Case of Museums and Monuments.” International Journal of Arts Management, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 35-47.
Hendricks, Jerome M. 2016. “Curating Value in Changing Markets: Independent Record Stores and the Vinyl Record Revival.” Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 59, No. 2, pp. 479- 497.
