Classic Abbey Road Console Now at MONA's New Frying Pan Studio

On the ABC today...
Image credit: ABC, MONA and Jesse Hunniford
Abbey Road console used by The Beatles finds new home at MONA's Frying Pan Studio

I think this is a marvelous acquisition by David Walsh and his crew. History should be preserved including audio history, and any museum is a good museum to preserve it. Add to that the fact that it is going to be a piece of living history, used to record Tasmanian music, even better. Preserving old techniques is as important as preserving old tools.

The one problem I have with this is the "rabid analog worshipers." Analog is not better, it is different. Different is good. If you're recording Miles Davis era Jazz, or delta blues, or Beatlemania... [breaths]... it's appropriate. Some analog electronic instruments, like classic synths are better for certain genres of EDM, likewise, valve amps have a particular style of distortion or drive that sits really well with guitar. These are colourations, and colourations are simply mathematical formulae, and can just as easily (and as well) be created using digital modelling tools. It has made many antique sounds readily available and affordable. So analog is not "better" than digital, it is different, that's all. It has more tactile workflows, which is great. Digital is more affordable and accessible, and has cerebral workflows. The sounds? Anything analog sounds like, digital sounds like, too. The human ear simply cannot hear the difference, there is science for that. So, if some fancy producer tells you they can hear the difference between digital and analog, they're deluded or lying.

BUT, FOR FUCKS SAKE, PRESERVE THE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES! They have their place, just like a 300 year old Stradivarius has a home in a modern orchestra, tools contemporaenious to the art.

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