Music Collectibles Guide

by a Guest Author

For those who are obsessed about sound quality the name MFSL will sound familiar. If you’ve ever heard one of their gold coated CDs before, you’ll know that their name is synonymous to superb quality. The company also has a history of releasing the best of the best in as good quality as technology allows. When you set out for the best sound quality that can be played in ten or twenty years from burning, you’ll find out that their CDs are the ones to get. Pink Floyd MFSL CDs are available for around $60, which may sound a bit high but for those who know what’s behind the scenes it’s all worth it.

Until the unfortunate financial problems in 1999 Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs produced the best records for more than twenty years. In 2002 Music Direct took it until its wings and the usual attention to detail can be spotted on all their releases ever since. If you’ve been looking for a good record of The Dark Side of The Moon, look no further than the UDCD-1-517. It’s the code name for MFSL’s Ultradisk edition of Pink Floyd’s album from their early years.

This issue was first made available in 1988, but the company had the technology to make it a year before. It wasn’t the first thing they ever put on digital storage media, but it’s definitely sought after by collectors. A well known technique that is used by MFSL is half speed sampling. This, combined with 99.99 percent pure gold reflective layer on the ultradisk gave unprecedented levels of sound reproduction. If you’ve ever been to a concert that was made by proficient technicians, you know what is it like to hear the little sounds the band makes, to receive all the details.

It’s rather interesting to see why Pink Floyd MFSL CDs sound much better than anything else that’s digitally recorded. Ultradisk is a regular CD with some extra features that make recording of data more precise and allow for an error margin that’s up to the highest expectations. A pure gold coating is used to reflect the laser beam, which gives better reception than aluminum. The pits are formed in a moment rather than molding slowly, on the microsecond scale, of course. It gives better pit edges which reduce glares thus less photon bounce away.

Whether you’re a fan of Pink Floyd, or never heard a note from them apart from The Wall, you’ll enjoy these records. It’s no wonder that they’re on sale for $60 in a scratched case. Don’t think that affects playback the least bit, though, Ultradisks are made to last and a scratch here or there doesn’t kill the disc as it would a normal CD-R.

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by a Guest Author

Welcome to volume.2 of the “hip-hop remix” series where we break down the significance of the Hip-Hop remix, and what it the act of “Remixing” Hip-Hop is.

The act of Remixing Hip-Hop  is the to take the art form of Hip-Hop and then add your own personal elements, such as culture. This would involve your incorporation of cultural sounds and ideas to the art to form your version of hip-hop or you “remix”. One of the most infamous and interesting results of this “remix” process is Reggaeton.

Reggaeton is a mix of Jamaican Reggae, mixed with Spanish lyrics and sounds that could range range from merengue to salsa to bachata; topped off with delicious dose of hip-hop. Some argue the genre started in Panama others say it was Puerto Rico (where the majority of the “successful” artists reign from).  Whatever your belief may be about its origin there is no doubt about it’s power and potential to become a major player on the music scene.

Artists such as Tego Calderon, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Lapiz, Zion, Arcangel, Pitbull (for the most part), and up and coming star “Capitol” (www.myspace.com/elcapitol) all exhibit the definition of what it is to Remix Hip-Hop. When Hip-Hop was created, it was created as a voice for the people that didn’t have a voice, it was their particular sound for their particular struggles. So it is only natural that a person of any culture would be able to relate to the message. Hip-Hop is supposed to be about originality and how you express YOURSELF through the art. The very act of Tego Calderon spitting some spanglish mixed lyrics over top a reggae/hip-hop/merengue/rock beat IS the ultimate form of hip-hop in the flesh. It proves my point that Hip-Hop IS the largest genre of music there EVER will be.

A video of the up and coming reggaton star CAPITOL is posted on this page you can also find it here www.todocapitol.blogspot.com / or / www.myspace.com/elcapitol. Watch this video and you will see the mixture of music genres this article has explained. Capitol weaves in and out of Spanish and English lyrics showcasing his versatility as an Artist and also expressing his culture as a Dominican-American. Many criticize saying that they cannot understand what the music is saying other than the words in English, which is a perfectly feasible argument; my only question is…if we listen and dance to reggae music in the club why can’t we do the with reggaeton?…the music is HOT point, blank, period, it will make you move, dance and feel alive. Come experience yet another side of Hip-Hop; another Beautiful Monster that urban city living has created.

I would advise for A&R’s and investors to look into reggaton because it is about to blow up larger than life, just the loyal Hispanic audience alone should be a lucrative enough idea for the industry heads to jump all over it..don’t sleep!

-you heard it here first (crracie.com)

The “Hip-Hop Remixed” articles are a series of articles that displays the different elements of hip-hop from the power of an actual hip-hip remix to hip-hop being used in forms other than music, thus “remixing” the purpose of hip-hop.

CRRACIE.COM IS HIP-HOP REMIXED

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by a Guest Author

The Hip-Hop remix is the driving force behind the massive success of Hip-Hop as the remix is responsible for the expansion of the music genre and culture world-wide. What is special about Hip-Hop is that you can transform ANY type of music into a hip-hop song; only if done correctly of course.

Hip-Hop originated from the sounds of reggae, jazz, and disco. Since then it has been remixed and remade into almost all genres of music while still keeping its original form. From Run-DMC and Aerosmith with “Walk this way” to Nelly and Tim McGraw with “Over and Over”; Hip-Hop has extended its boundaries farther than any other music genre ever.

A “Hip-hop” remix is an original form of music in its own, there is no other music genre that remakes a song that is still fresh on the market and make it into a “remix” and receive more airtime for the same song. The song usually contains the original beat just slightly modified with a either new artist or several new artists on the song. This has been done countless times through several world wide stars such as P. Diddy who is infamous for remixes and remakes. Jermaine Dupri is another super producer who is infamous for remixing hip-hop songs. A lot of hip-hop producers have been able to branch out to other music genres because of this, such as DJ Premier producing tracks for Christina Aguilera or J.D. himself producing songs for Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson.

Another element to a hip-hop remix would be it’s sister music genre; R&B. More than often the two merge together for an original song, tracing it’s grand exposure back to Mary J. Blige ft. Method Man with “You are all I need”. A Hip-Hop remix usually adds a form of R&B if it fits the song or the aim of the dj/producer making the remix. R&B now actually often has remixes adding in its brother genre Hip-Hop to make it an official remix. Many songs, Hip-hop and R&B, could have many different remixes. As a matter of fact so many remixes that there would be an “Official Remix” or Master Remix, as opposed to a remix made by a third party where the DJ/Producer would mix and match Rap and R&B verses with an instrumental that could be from any genre of music.

The Hip-hop remix is a major component to the success of Hip-Hop today. It has allowed hip-hop to merge with other music genres and form new fans (i.e. Jay-z & Linkin Park). Hip-hop is the LARGEST and LONGEST running music genre in history because of its ability to reshape and adapt. Every other music genre has its “time” but as for hip-hop has no time, it will be here as long as music is alive. Hip-hop is NOT dead…that’s impossible.

The “Hip-Hop Remixed” articles are a series of articles that displays the different elements of hip-hop from the power of an actual hip-hip remix to hip-hop being used in forms other than music, thus “remixing” the purpose of hip-hop.

CRRACIE.COM IS HIP-HOP REMIXED

Go to the Table of Contents to see all the topics covered so far.

Click * here * to go to the latest entry on this site.

No Comments » Posted by Guest Poster / thoughts