RTP-area local music and culture

[Duncan Murrell <dvmurrell AT nc.rr.com>]

And, perhaps equally as oddly, it's been learning a new instrument  
that has caused me to quit downloading music off iTunes. There are two  
reasons:

1.  I use software to slow down the tricky parts when I'm learning a  
song, and unless they're an MP3 or WAV, then the software doesn't read  
it. And that means all tunes downloaded from iTunes, as y'all know.  
There is a laborious workaround to turn an aiff file into an MP3, but  
as you know it's a royal pain in the ass, and though I like computers,  
I don't like geeking with them that much.

2.  So, I've been looking for CDs -- for instance, Bill Monroe  
complete collections. That way I can have my MP3 to slow down and  
analyze, but I've also got instant backup, the CDs themselves. This  
started to become an increasing concern as more and more of my music  
collection existed entirely on my hard drive.) I know CDs aren't the  
most cost effective storage strategy, but they work.

3.  And, as a result of looking for Bill Monroe deep cuts to learn  
tunes and alternate versions of those tunes, I've discovered the Bear  
Family Collections. Here's one:

http://www.bear-family.de/mailorder/showoneproduct.html?lang=en&p=BCD+16399

(Which you can order through your local independent record store, as  
you should. You should also always order books through your local  
independent book stores. You'll get them just about as fast as you  
would from Amazon, without the shipping charge.)

When I opened my first set, I suddenly rediscovered the awesomeness of  
the truly great set of liner notes. It is possible, through these  
particular liner notes (which I'm only using as an example; this  
applies across the musical spectrum), to reconstruct the life of Bill  
Monroe, and also to better understand how songs evolve. There is no  
such resource easily available when you download music from iTunes.  
And even if you could, your pdf would still suck compared to the  
meticulously printed liner notes on outstanding paper stock.

The same goes for the Beastie Boys anthology of a couple years ago:   
you could perhaps download all the songs, but you'd be missing out if  
you didn't get the liner notes.

As my interest in and knowledge of music has deepened, I've gone from  
an avid downloader to an avid orderer of CDs from my record stores. I  
wonder if there isn't something in this (admittedly, very peculiar and  
personal) tale that might offer some hope for some sort of music store  
that is more than a record store.

I'll shut up now.

d


On Feb 29, 2008, at 2:27 PM, James Hepler wrote:

> Oddly, it was the purchase of a new car stereo which led me to go  
> for the
> iPod.
>
> On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 2:02 PM, Gorman <goylemjax AT yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > I know a lot of folx who feel similarly about the compession issues
> > involved w/iPods and such.  While I'm not really of the same mind, I
> > haven't really been smitten w/any urge for an iPod or any varients
> > either, other than perhaps when I'm out of town, sans laptop; the
> > radio action of xyc and xdu is just as, if not more likely, to  
> > uncover
> > something new and interesting than a mtn of ripping and downloading.
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene