{"id":2552,"date":"2010-02-12T10:47:04","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T15:47:04","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-06-25T20:57:10","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T00:57:10","slug":"it-takes-an-army-of-quad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/it-takes-an-army-of-quad\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes an Army of Quad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Among the many joys of moderating Rock Town Hall is getting turned onto musical perspectives new participants who stumble into our hallowed halls feel comfortable putting on display and then possibly getting to know a bit about the people themselves. There’s so much an opinionated rock nerd like myself can assume and so many opportunities for those assumptions to make an ass of you and me. The outrageous assumptions we make can be an ongoing source of fun, provided they allow for some true dialog.<\/p>\n

A recent thread by Townsman BigSteve<\/strong> on the reissue extravaganza surrounding RTH icon Lou Reed<\/strong>‘s Metal Machine Music<\/em><\/a> gave me yet another chance to have a giggle, in part, to cover my ignorance<\/a> on the subject at hand. To my surprise and delight, however, the topic attracted a new Townsperson to our ranks who goes by the RTH handle armyofquad<\/strong>. His personal tale in the Comments<\/em> (read here<\/a> and here<\/a> and here<\/a>) of helping to instigate the reissue of this controversial album in many of the formats in which Lou intended his work to be heard was both inspiring and too interesting to let slide with nothing more than our beloved giggles<\/a>. I contacted armyofquad offlist to ask if he’d be willing to field some questions from a music lover who’s gone 46 years being completely ignorant of quadraphonic sound<\/a> and newer surround-sound media.<\/p>\n

Talk about assumptions<\/a>, I assumed armyofquad was at least my age and possibly even one of those “audiophile asshole” guys<\/a> I dreaded from my youth, you know, the kind of guys who were more interested in Japanese imports of some godawful fusion band because it highlighted the highs and lows of their kick-ass hi-fi system. It turns out, he’s 30 years old, a musician himself, and a lover of music itself before the technology. As is so often the case, I was happy to learn that I am an idiot who still can’t get past a few teenage scars!<\/p>\n

BigSteve, another intelligent Townsman who’s less likely to make broad assumptions and who’s also managed to learn little to nothing about quadraphonic sound in his years in front of stereo speakers, contributed to the following questions. Townsman armyofquad provded answers that he hopes will not get too technical for our fellow neophytes. I hope you enjoy this chat with a fellow Townsman over a musical niche as much as I did. As a takeaway message, as long as we keep an open mind to new perspectives, our ribbing is doing its job to “tenderize” ourselves to true rock dialog rather than simply hardening our armor with snark<\/em>. Let’s get it on, shall we?<\/p>\n

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RTH:<\/strong> Thanks for agreeing to discuss your interest and experiences in quadraphonic sound. As a guy who’s challenged by all audiophile issues, some of these questions are likely to be “dumb.” But as a math teacher once told me, “There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.”<\/p>\n

Because we met you through the recent Metal Machine Music<\/em> thread, let’s start with Lou Reed in quadraphonic sound. Did Lou release anything else in quad? Is there a non-quad Lou Reed album you’d most love to hear in that format?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> Metal Machine Music<\/em> is the only Lou Reed album to have been released in quad. I would love to hear more Lou Reed in quad or surround. I think Transformer<\/a><\/em>, Rock ‘n Roll Animal<\/a><\/em>, and Berlin<\/a><\/em> would be great in surround.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> You said in our MMM<\/em> thread that someone gave you a quadraphonic system and that you got into the format that way. Did you have an interest in any other high fidelity systems prior to that, or was quadraphonic sound your
\nfirst foray into a deeper level of appreciating recorded music?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> By the time I had gotten that first quad system when I was in high school, I had already gone through a few different older stereo systems that were handed down to me by family members. When I got into college and got on the internet, that allowed me to start more research into quadraphonic, and sound systems in general. So, I certainly already had an interest, but while I was getting into quad I also at the same time got more into high fidelity, and picking up better stereo equipment to try a piece together a better system. My current system continues to be a work in process.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> What is the rationale for quadraphonic sound and current-day formats, like Dolby 5.1 sound? We only have two ears, so isn’t stereo sound natural
\nand ideal?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> The \u201c2 ears\u201d argument is a common argument from some. There are still those that will claim mono is better than stereo. But, in the real world, sound surrounds us. We have the capability of detecting whether sound comes from in front of us or behind us with our 2 ears. Surround sound offers someone more freedom when creating an album in the studio.
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Here’s one hrrundivbakshi and I should check out!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Both quad and 5.1 are or were promoted as “surround sound.” 5.1 seems to have won the technological battle. Is quad better, and if so why?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> First of all Dolby doesn\u2019t = 5.1. There are other 5.1 digital formats. But I\u2019ll spare you all the boring technical details. One of the differences between quad and 5.1 is the number of channels, with 5.1 you have the addition of the center speaker and subwoofer. I\u2019ve found that the center speaker isn\u2019t essential, but there are benefits to having a center. The subwoofer can be helpful with the low end. But, it isn\u2019t necessarily essential to have a subwoofer channel; most systems with a sub will feed the sub from the other channels using a low pass filter, so you don\u2019t need a designated channel devoted to the sub to enjoy the benefits of it. The biggest difference between quadraphonic and modern 5.1 is the technology. Releasing quad onto tape was easy enough, just use 4 tracks. But the real challenge for quad was releasing things on the common format of the day, vinyl. There were several different formats for quad vinyl, with 3 of them being the most common, SQ, QS, and CD-4 (also called Quadradisc). They each had their limitations, and were basically different ways to try and get 4 channels of audio onto a 2-channel format. With modern digital technology, there aren\u2019t the same limitations that had to be dealt with in the days of vinyl. You no longer have to figure out a way to get 4 channels of audio onto something that can really only hold 2.<\/p>\n

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Lenny is fired up over quad!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Do you remember the first quad album you bought to hear on this system?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> Finding quad recordings was a bit difficult before I discovered eBay. My first quad 8-track tape was Highlights from Leonard Bernstein\u2019s Mass<\/em>. In high school I was in the marching band, and our show\u2019s theme my senior year was Leonard Bernstein\u2019s Mass<\/em><\/a>, so that one grabbed my attention when I saw it for sale on a website somewhere.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Could original quad mixes of albums like Metal Machine Music<\/em> be issued in 5.1 format, possibly with the center channel suppressed?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> Yes. You can leave the center and sub channels blank and issue quad mixes on DVD, or other digital formats. That\u2019s exactly what is being done with this Metal Machine Music<\/em> reissue. You don\u2019t have to use all channels when creating a 5.1 disc. But, at times some discs have been issued of quad mixes with center and\/or sub channels derived from the quad channels.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> While following this specific medium of recorded music, I’m sure you’ve come across some unlikely quadraphonic releases. What’s the least expected quad release you’ve heard?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> Well, I\u2019d probably put Metal Machine Music<\/em> into that category. To me it makes sense that Lou created a quad mix of Metal Machine Music<\/em>, but that it was released, and released in quad, is a bit of a head scratcher. I\u2019m very glad it did get a quad release, though.<\/p>\n

Another one I find particularly strange is a quad release of John Cage<\/strong>\u2019s Winter Music<\/em>. Winter Music<\/em> is a piece for piano that consists of 10 pages of music with different chords on them and spaces between the chords. It can be played by 1 to 10 musicians, each musician grabs one or a few pages and plays the chords. There is no indication of dynamics on the music, or the amount of time that should be waited between chords. As you can see, randomness is a large part of this piece; no two performances would ever sound the same. This particular recording, the musician played the piece four times, not listening to the previous performances when recording the next one, and one is put in each speaker. It is an interesting idea to record it in that way, and it is interesting to listen to. The idea of recording a piece of music that is never supposed to sound the same for any two performances is a bit silly, though. It also makes me think of the John Cage interview I once saw where he stated he disliked the idea of recording music, because he once overheard a kid at a performance of a Stravinsky piece conducted by the composer state \u201cthat\u2019s not how it\u2019s supposed to go\u201d due to the kid being used to a particular recording.<\/p>\n

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This one will spur alexmagic to try quad!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Is there music more or less suited for quad? It seems like the point of quad or surround sound is the feeling of being immersed in music. So is something like MMM<\/em> the perfect music for the medium? Is rock music, based on the image of a band onstage with the music coming at the listener from one direction, the “wrong” music for quad?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> There can be varying opinions on this, but I think most kinds of music work great in surround. There is a big difference in seeing a live performance and listening to an album. Albums are studio creations, different takes are recorded, parts overdubbed, sounds tweaked, which is very different from a live experience. As many have demonstrated, one could really use the recording studio itself as an instrument in the creation of an album. When you add surround sound to that, it expands the possibility of what you can create in the studio, allowing you the freedom to place instruments and sounds anywhere around the listener. There are people that prefer stereo to surround, because they feel its \u201cunnatural\u201d to hear something come from behind you, when at a live concert you would see the band in front of you. It\u2019s a personal preference thing. But, I must also point out there have been live concerts done in quad\/surround. Pink Floyd<\/a><\/strong> and ELP<\/strong> have done quad concerts.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Is there any one album that you wish could be released in quad or some other surround-sound format that never has been?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> Many. I could make quite a long list of things I wish I could get in surround. In particular, I\u2019d really like to hear Stereolab<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s albums in surround. Their music just screams for it.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> If someone wants to try checking out quadraphonic sound, how would you suggest they get started?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> I would suggest reading up on it a bit. There is a wealth of information on www.quadraphonicquad.com<\/a>. You want to know a bit more about the various formats and equipment so that you know what you\u2019re buying before putting any money into putting together a quad system. It might be better to start by getting a modern 5.1 system (still doing research before buying anything). There have been many DVDs, DVD-As, and SACDs of surround music put out that one could easily play by purchasing a 5.1 system and the correct players. Oppo<\/a> makes a nice blu-ray player that can play SACD and DVD-A. Also, for those that want to get into quad, but don\u2019t want to track down hard-to-find, out-of-print recordings, deal with vintage decoders, and figure out how to properly setup and calibrate decoders for quad vinyl, there are many of us that convert quad material to newer digital formats as hobbies, and share these. I\u2019m not sure how much discussion of bootlegs<\/a> is allowed on your site, so I won\u2019t go into too much detail. But with a little searching and asking, one should be able to find these things.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Finally a somewhat funny question before we enter our Dugout Chatter<\/strong> segment, but how deep are you into surround sound? Can you still listen to regular albums in stereo, or do they leave you wanting too much?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> I own many stereo CDs and records; there\u2019s no way I could give them up. I listen to music for the music first. Surround is the icing on the cake. However, there are many times when listening to something in stereo I find myself wishing I could hear it in surround.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Following are some questions in our Dugout Chatter<\/strong> segment.
\n<\/p>\n

DUGOUT CHATTER: armyofquad Edition<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/embed><\/object><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

RTH:<\/strong> What was your first music-playing device beyond a radio (eg, boom box, Walkman, cheap stereo)?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> I had a kid’s record player as a kid. I spent many hours listening to records on it.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Did quadraphonic releases come with especially cool record covers?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> They come in different covers. Many of the Columbia albums have a gold border around the album art. Different labels had their own ways of distinguishing their quad albums.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Do drugs help or hinder the quad experience?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> I wouldn’t know.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Was The Who<\/strong>‘s Quadrophenia<\/em> ever released in quad?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> There was a quad mix made of Quadrophenia<\/em>. But it never did get released in quad due to Pete\u2019s disappointment with the technical limitations of the QS quad format, which it was scheduled to be released in. It would be great if they would release it on a modern format now that we have the technology to give it the proper release that it deserves, but getting in touch with The Who has proven to be a bigger challenge then getting in touch with Lou Reed.<\/p>\n

RTH:<\/strong> Can there one day be hexaphonic sound?<\/p>\n

armyofquad:<\/strong> It\u2019s already gone beyond it. If you shop for a new surround system, someone will probably try to sell you a 7.1 or 7.2 surround system.<\/p>\n

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Did it take twice as many quarters to play two songs on a quadraphonic jukebox?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thanks again to armyofquad and BigSteve!<\/em><\/p>\n