Wednesday, January 31, 2007

One couldn't, unfortunately, say the same for the quality of his music, which was not just becoming more sedate, but was starting to either repeat itself, or opt for operatic ballads that didn't have a whole lot to do with rock. Elvis' rebellious, wild image had been tamed to a large degree as well, as he and Parker began designing a career built around Hollywood films. Shortly after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performing altogether for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them in the way of story, acting, or social value.
One couldn't, unfortunately, say the same for the quality of his music, which was not just becoming more sedate, but was starting to either repeat itself, or opt for operatic ballads that didn't have a whole lot to do with rock. Elvis' rebellious, wild image had been tamed to a large degree as well, as he and Parker began designing a career built around Hollywood films. Shortly after leaving the Army, in fact, Presley gave up live performing altogether for nearly a decade to concentrate on movie-making. The films, in turn, would serve as vehicles to both promote his records and to generate maximum revenue with minimal effort. For the rest of the '60s, Presley ground out two or three movies a year that, while mostly profitable, had little going for them in the way of story, acting, or social value.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Yet worrisome signs were creeping in. The Dean Martin influence began rearing his head in smoky, sentimental ballads such as "Loving You"; the vocal swoops became more exaggerated and stereotypical, although the overall quality of his output remained high. And although Moore and Black continued to back Elvis on his early RCA recordings, within a few years the musicians had gone their own ways.

Presley's recording and movie careers were interrupted by his induction into the Army in early 1958. There was enough material in the can to flood the charts throughout his two-year absence (during which he largely served in Germany). When he re-entered civilian life in 1960, his popularity, remarkably, was at just as high a level as when he left.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Elvis' (and Colonel Parker's) aspirations were too big to be limited to records and live appearances. By late 1956, his first Hollywood movie, Love Me Tender, had been released; other screen vehicles would follow in the next few years, Jailhouse Rock being the best. The hits continued unabated, several of them ("Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up," "Too Much") excellent, and often benefiting from the efforts of top early rock songwriter Otis Blackwell, as well as the emerging team of Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller. The Jordanaires added both pop and gospel elements with their smooth backup vocals.

Friday, January 26, 2007

At the beginning, at least, the results were hardly any tamer than the Sun sessions. "Heartbreak Hotel," his first single, rose to number one and, aided by some national television appearances, helped make Elvis an instant superstar. "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" was a number one follow-up; the double-sided monster "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" was one of the biggest-selling singles the industry had ever experienced up to that point. Albums and EPs were also chart-toppers, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. The 1956 RCA recordings, while a bit more sophisticated in production and a bit less rootsy in orientation than his previous work, were still often magnificent, rating among the best and most influential recordings of early rock & roll.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

This is the point where musical historians start to diverge in opinion. For many, the whole of his subsequent work for RCA — encompassing over 20 years — was a steady letdown, never recapturing the pure, primal energy that was harnessed so effectively on the handful of Sun singles. Elvis, however, was not a purist. What he wanted, more than anything, was to be successful. To do that, his material needed more of a pop feel; in any case, he'd never exactly been one to disparage the mainstream, naming Dean Martin as one of his chief heroes from the get-go. At RCA, his rockabilly was leavened with enough pop flavor to make all of the charts, not just the country ones.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The singles sold well in the Memphis area immediately, and by 1955 were starting to sell well to country audiences throughout the South. Presley, Moore, and Black hit the road with a stage show that grew ever wilder and more provocative, Elvis' swiveling hips causing enormous controversy. The move to all-out rock was hastened by the addition of drums. The last Sun single, "I Forgot to Remember Forget"/"Mystery Train," hit number one on the national country charts in late 1955. Presley was obviously a performer with superstar potential, attracting the interest of bigger labels and Colonel Tom Parker, who became Elvis' manager. In need of capital to expand the Sun label, Sam Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA in late 1955 for 35,000 dollars; a bargain, when viewed in hindsight, but an astronomical sum at the time.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Elvis' five Sun singles pioneered the blend of R&B and C&W that would characterize rockabilly music. For quite a few scholars, they remain not only Elvis' best singles, but the best rock & roll ever recorded. Claiming that Elvis made blues acceptable for the white market is not the whole picture; the singles usually teamed blues covers with country and pop ones, all made into rock & roll (at this point a term that barely existed) with the pulsing beat, slap-back echo, and Elvis' soaring, frenetic vocals. "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train" remain core early rock classics.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Born to a poor Mississippi

family in the heart of Depression, Elvis had moved to Memphis by his teens, where he absorbed the vibrant melting pot of Southern popular music in the form of blues, country, bluegrass, and gospel. After graduating from high school, he became a truck driver, rarely if ever singing in public. Some 1953 and 1954 demos, recorded at the emerging Sun label in Memphis primarily for Elvis' own pleasure, helped stir interest on the part of Sun owner Sam Phillips. In mid-1954, Phillips, looking for a white singer with a black feel, teamed Presley with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. Almost by accident, apparently, the trio hit upon a version of an Arthur Crudup blues tune, "That's All Right Mama," that became Elvis' first single.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Unfortunately, to much of the public, Elvis is more icon than artist. Innumerable bad Hollywood movies, increasingly caricatured records and mannerisms, and a personal life that became steadily more sheltered from real-world concerns (and steadily more bizarre) gave his story a somewhat mythic status. By the time of his death, he'd become more a symbol of gross Americana than of cultural innovation. The continued speculation about his incredible career has sustained interest in his life, and supported a large tourist/entertainment industry, that may last indefinitely, even if the fascination is fueled more by his celebrity than his music.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

More important

from a music lover's perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements. Presley was not the very first white man to sing rhythm & blues; Bill Haley predated him in that regard, and there may have been others as well. Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. His 1950s recordings established the basic language of rock & roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music's visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Presley

Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of international smashes from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, as well as the steady sales of his catalog and reissues since his death in 1977, may make him the single highest-selling performer in history.

Friday, January 12, 2007

David Gilmour

b. 6 March 1944, Cambridge, England. The solo career of the Pink Floyd lead guitarist and now lead vocalist started in 1978 with a self-titled debut. The material was recorded during a perilously long Pink Floyd hiatus and amidst rumours of a break-up. The album was well-received and made a respectable showing in the UK and US charts. ABOUT FACE came in 1984 after the official and acrimonious split of the band. During that year Gilmour was very active; he performed at the Live Aid concert with Bryan Ferry and played a major role in Ferry's BĘTE NOIRE and Grace Jones’ SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM. In 1987 Gilmour reunited with Nick Mason and decided to use the Pink Floyd title. As Rick Wright had also been hired it seemed legitimate, until Roger Waters objected. Gilmour has been involved in a subtle war of words with Waters ever since. Waters at present has lost title to the name (he does not want to use it anyway) and Gilmour now leads the band. His confidence both as a writer and as a leader has notably grown in stature. Pink Floyd march on.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Závěrem mohu-li radit, proti gustu žádný dišputát. Každý si má vybrat to, co se mu v rámci finančních možností nejvíce líbí. Neposlouchejte však při vybírání svých komponentů moc hlasitě - sluch se rychle unaví a přestane vnímat "důležité detaily" a zhorší se vnímání nejvyšších kmitočtů. Vyberte si vhodné hudební žánry pro posouzení kvality zařízení. Testovací CD vám sice může pomoci, avšak doma budete asi víc poslouchat hudbu. Ne vždy bude to nejdražší také nejlepší. Reklama zde hraje roli.
Musím si stran našeho trhu postesknout na malý sortiment v jednotlivých Hi-end obchodech. To souvisí s malou koupěschopností. Např. ve Švýcarsku je v jednom z 22 kantonů 46 Hi-end obchodů se sortimentem desítek značek. Obchody 30 km vzdáleny si nekonkurují. Naopak jsou v jedné unii a spolupracují. U nás máme jakous takous možnost srovnání pouze na pár výstavách (3x za rok).

Friday, January 05, 2007

Třídy zesilovačů

Třídy zesilovačů běžně používaných pro domácí poslech jsou A, AB, a B. Zesilovač může být pak jednočinný či dvojčinný. S ohledem na výše uvedené požadavky na výkon a přenos "důležitých detailů" se musím přiklonit ke třídě A, při větších pak ke třídě B. Rozebírat zde všechny druhy zkreslení těchto verzí a jejich vliv na reprodukci nebudu, jen musím zmínit, že přebuditelnost elektronky je mnohem vyšší než u tranzistoru. Proto se slabý elektronkový zesilovač jeví jako mnohem silnější, přičemž i jeho zkreslení v oblasti limitace s ohledem na převažující zkreslení druhou harmonickou, jež je špatně odlišitelná od původního tónu a lidskému uchu moc nevadí, někdy dokonce lahodí (fakt psychoakustický), je zdánlivě mnohem menší.
Z konstrukčního hlediska je pak realizace tranzistorového zesilovače v A třídě dosti komplikovaná oproti elektronkám. Výstupním obvodem teče značný proud a zesilovač je tzv. otevřený. Jsme v lineární části charakteristiky, což je pro přenos i malých signálů ideální.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Kmitočtový rozsah zesilovačů

Vnímáme zvuk v pásmu kmitočtů 16 Hz až 20 000Hz. Horní hranice se s věkem a stavem psychiky či únavou snižuje. Já slyším na horní hranici pouze do 15 000 Hz, zřídka do 16 000 Hz. Přesto poznám poslechem rozdíl mezi zesilovačem (téhož principu) hrajícím bez útlumu do 17 000 Hz a nebo do 25 000 Hz. Fázové posuvy, doprovázející omezení horního přenášeného kmitočtu se projeví již na nižších (mnou slyšitelných) kmitočtech.
To se pak projeví zúžením hudební scény a i zploštěním. Ubudou detaily. Naopak kmitočtový rozsah zesilovače do 50 000 Hz mě nepřesvědčil žádnou výhodou. Proč ? Zdánlivá výhoda takového rozsahu pro přenos obdélníkových signálů produkovaných syntetickými hudebními nástroji a přebuzenými kytarami se redukuje faktem, že zvuk těchto nástrojů je v nahrávacím studiu i na koncertě vlastně kmitočtově omezen a upraven elektronkovými zesilovači, většinou pro tento účel hudebníky používanými. Jak jsem uvedl, zpěv a klasické hudební nástroje produkují sinusový signál. Dolní hranice 16 Hz je rovněž pro zesilovač bez diskuse limitující.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Kmitočtový rozsah reprosoustav

BW NAUTILUS 801 s cenou 440 000 Kč za pár má výrobcem udávaný rozsah 37Hz - 20 kHz v pásmu ± 2 dB. Pokles o 3 dB zaznamenáme jako poloviční zeslabení ! Jaké skutečné vlastnosti mají ty vaše bedýnky ? Subjektivně si zkuste přítomnost nejnižších kmitočtů tak, že si zakryjte uši rukama jako nádobami a vnímejte basy bránicí. Doporučil bych zase srovnávat různé soustavy.
Pokles 2 dB na 20 kHz by mě osobně tak moc nevadil, nebude-li doprovázen fázovými posuvy výhybek či RLC kompenzačních článků, jež srovnávají zmíněnou impedanční charakteristiku. To je vyhánění čerta ďáblem. Fázové posuvy se při poslechu projeví například jevem zvaným "cestování" sólisty po hudební scéně.