Un inedito punto di vista estetico sulla sonorità delle onde medie è quello espresso su PopMatters in un dotto saggio sulla moderna musica "indie" da Jay Somerset, ripreso sul blog Radiosurvivor (ormai una lettura imprescindibile insieme a Syntone) da dove lo segnala Francesco Delucia. Secondo Somerset il definitivo tramonto delle stazioni musicali che trasmettevano sulle onde medie negli Stati Uniti rischia di farci perdere parecchie opportunità in termini di percezione acustica. Oggi gran parte delle emittenti AM trasmettono sport e talk, con alcune eccezioni ancora attive su fronti musicali etnici e nostalgici, dal country agli oldies. Ma tanti anni fa le registrazioni musicali venivano ottimizzate proprio per rendere al meglio dagli altoparlanti poveri di bassi delle radioline AM. Senonché oggi molti gruppi musicali indipendenti riscoprono esattamente quelle stesse sonorità e risulterebbero quindi molto più suggestive ascoltate alla radio in AM, non in modulazione di frequenza. Somerset arriva a ipotizzare che le giovani generazioni che ascoltano solo musica in mp3 troverebbero oggi più "familiare" il sound in AM rispetto a un buon disco in vinile analogico riprodotto da un impianto hi-fi. Vi suggerisco la lettura originale di "The day the (AM) music died" di Jay Somerset non foss'altro per la ricchezza dei suoi rimandi a brani musicali. Nella stessa serie, "Retroactive listening", segnalo l'articolo di Laura Schnitker su "Technology and innovation in Indie music".
When was the last time that you tuned in to AM radio to listen to music?Although I’m a huge evangelist for the ongoing importance of terrestrial radio (especially non-commercial radio), the AM slice of the radio band is a place that I only turn when I’m in my car looking for news, weather, and traffic information. But back when I was a kid, AM radio was huge and was the home to some of my favorite DJs and music shows. So, what happened?In a fascinating essay, “The Day the (AM) Music Died,” in the PopMatters “Retroactive Listening: Perspectives on Music and Technology” series, Jay Somerset provides some historical perspective about how and why AM radio moved away from music to talk programming. He also discusses how the mono sound of AM contrasts with FM stereo and why certain styles of music were more suited to AM.He goes on to make the point that when music programming left AM for the cooler realm of FM radio around 1982, AM radio became the home for talk radio, sports, weather, and news. Despite the dominance of talk radio today, there are some holdout AM oldies stations that are mostly playing hits from 1965 to 1982.As he wraps up his essay Jay talks about the trend for some modern musicians to simulate lo-fi, AM-friendly sounds and he wonders if any of these artists will ever actually get played on AM radio. He speculates that with changes to the terrestrial radio landscape, AM music radio could transform into a place that embrace these indie artists (he mentions Kurt Vile, Best Coast, and Neon Indian) who now find their homes on satellite, Internet and college radio.Another interesting point to make is that with MP3 technology, younger ears are getting more and more accustomed to lo-fi music; so AM may actually be closer sonically to that sound coming out of iPod earbuds than to high fidelity music emanating from vinyl played on their grandparents’ stereo systems.
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