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Post by Grey Hollow on May 27, 2020 8:50:36 GMT -5
I am probably not the only DS listener who finds a strange disconnect between the beauty and escapism of the music, and having to stream it from YouTube or Bandcamp (as amazing as these platforms are as a source of music). I find that when I sit down to listen on my Hi-Fi, having that digital input connection playing live from the internet lessens my ability to connect properly and escape in the music. So I have begun the process of creating a cassette library of albums, trying to make as near as possible perfect replica copies of unavailable DS cassettes.
Putting technical questions aside - I am interested in people's thoughts about this difference in listening experience between streaming albums and listening to hard copy albums. Do people find that the difference is especially pronounced when listening to DS as opposed to other music? Does the streaming aspect interrupt or lessen people's ability to immerse themselves in the music? How do others listen to DS and how does their listening methods affect their experience?
These are just a few questions that might begin a discussion on the relationship between format and experience...I hope I haven't missed existing discussions on this topic.
Yours aye,
Grey Hollow
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Post by koselmond on May 27, 2020 9:10:47 GMT -5
In my opinion, there's always been a huge difference between music from a physical copy. With DS, a lot of the music is just more accessible via the internet, so its easier to search your favourite artist on youtube, but it just feels not as good as having the album on a tape. (For me personally tapes are the ideal format for DS, CDs just dont feel right...)
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Post by crystallogic13 on May 27, 2020 14:34:55 GMT -5
Hello and welcome !! Personally, coming from a metal (+) background, I want to say first that I understand 100% why people enjoy the "whole" continuity and entity of an album/release. It's indeed the complete vision of the artist, as intended and having the full package of the soundscapes he wants to portray and the appropriate cohesion. 100% Agreed on this. BUT I for me personally nothing, absolutely nothing, beats listening to Dungeon Synth in the unorthodox way : like electronic music . From the convenience of the digital LOCAL(not streaming :/ ) files on my PC, an absolute HUGE playlist (or custom ones) of all my hand picked favorites, a master playlist with all of them, on SHUFFLE (mandatory) and with FADE IN/OUT (for non-stop and continuity/atmosphere effect - God bless Winamp for these conveniences!), it's always a grand Campaign containing little adventures, with one different from the other, you never know what to expect, Kobold, Erang, or Mausolei in the next corner, I absolutely can't have enough of these random adventures I get from this way of listening to DS. (Of course I always listen multiple consecutive times each album when I first get it, that's how I actually choose the gems I like and what I don't, from there the favorites end up on the master list which is like a treasure to me since it has in thousands of hours put into selecting manually and listening to all these releases ) ..
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Post by Grey Hollow on May 27, 2020 15:21:25 GMT -5
Hello!
Thanks for the reply - I've never thought about the potential of playlists before. Maybe something to think about in the future. I guess it might seem a little different playing music from file rather than streaming.
I think that one thing that always daunts me with streaming/downloads is the sheer amount of music available - and I think that hard format removes this aspect of "too much choice"! We'll see how long my patience lasts with making hard copies - but it'll be a good mission during lockdown and beyond.
Any more comments greatly appreciated.
GH
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Post by thekeeper on May 29, 2020 22:35:16 GMT -5
Welcome, Grey Hollow! Kool to hear that someone else doesn't shy away from personal bootlegs. I've made a number of these myself. At times I am very into the conceptual idea of music being contained in a physical vessel, while other times I really appreciate the early days of the DS bandcamp scene being essentially digital-only and how the genre really came together in the early '10s because of these files floating around a few blogs. The latter is a bit more meta since it's makes you think of the nature of the genre coming to be, so maybe less 'escapist' in a real transportative way, but still nostalgic for me and for many. Personally, I try not to be in front of the computer a lot during the day just so I can allocate my attention and not get too distracted, so maybe 80% of my music listening is from playing physical media. It also helps with the paradox of choice that streaming platforms can bring, you only have so many things to pick from (but I still have a lot, haha). I like what crystallogic13 said about preferring local files when playing digitally. I'm too scared of data loss where I want to have albums downloaded for posterity, though there's just too much to archive so I only hang onto BC purchases which I try to be pretty specific about, also the classic rips that have been around. I don't have as much free time these days to really sit down with something and let the music paint pictures in my mind. I used to just lay in bed with a tape going through headphones, imagining battle scenes, forest wanderings, lost magic. I still get that sometimes, especially when taking walks. If there's a release that doesn't have a physical, I'll put it to tape so I can play it during the day without always having to have the computer on. It's also just fun to mess around making j-cards.
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Post by Grey Hollow on Jun 6, 2020 3:48:02 GMT -5
Nicely said, Keeper - - I thought I would post a few pics of a bootleg Fief i cassette I made yesterday (I have bought the album from BandCamp!). Still some detail to add to the inside cover around the track listings. As I make 1-5 I will try to keep to the colour scheme of the original release tapes. I realise that I have put the label's logo onto the cassette which is perhaps a bit weird - but I think the design is cool and it makes it have a more pleasing symmetry. I found it harder than I thought to make it look professional/neat but I guess that's what you get when you're using colouring pencils! Attachments:
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Post by Grey Hollow on Jun 6, 2020 3:58:41 GMT -5
And I thought I would mention what I recorded it on. I used a line in from a digital device into my Cambridge Audio amp. From this I put a line into the back of a Marantz SD-35 cassette deck (see photo). I recently bought this on ebay for Β£30 and I didn't really know much about it. I recorded onto the tape using the player's Dolby Noise Reduction, which increases the recording level on the low volume mid- and high- frequency audio. It then reduces them by the same amount during playback, meaning that what's played back is the same as the original but all of the hiss has gone. It's amazing to listen to when you turn the NR off and the hiss is instantly noticible. The only downside is that as well as the hiss being audible - the levels are all distorted when played without NR. So it won't sound too good on another deck/portable that doesn't have the feature. I think I'll cross that bridge later when I get my hands on a portable... It's been a bit of a revelation as I expected a hiss on my cassette recordings. I'll make a few without NR and make comparisons to what feels best while listening.
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Post by MvcvrvmSangvis on Jun 6, 2020 10:39:54 GMT -5
I think it's a great idea. I'd definitely do it, but because of where i live i have two problems: first, it's nearly impossible to get original stuff within city limits and even to import it from other countries, considering the shipping costs. Second, it's insanely hard to find the gear to make bootlegs (gear which, when found, is sold at high price). So my only way out is the internet.
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Post by Grey Hollow on Jun 6, 2020 10:57:08 GMT -5
Where is it that you live, Sangvis?
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Post by MvcvrvmSangvis on Jun 7, 2020 10:28:30 GMT -5
Where is it that you live, Sangvis? Brazil, precisely in the state of Amazonas. Pretty hard to find this kind of stuff right here
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shalashaska
Squire
Croeso! Shalashaska dw i a dw i'n mwynhau dungeon synth.
Posts: 79
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Post by shalashaska on Sept 10, 2020 22:11:10 GMT -5
Interesting to see how your project has turned out! I'd say it's gone really well, way better than a similar idea I had to record black metal demos onto cassette!
You've avoided all my pit-falls but in case anyone else wants to try making some DIY, dungeon synth cassette tapes, I have two points of advice:
1. Make sure you're recording with a type of tape your machine can record/play. Generally this is type 1 or type 2 tape.
As I understand it, there are 5 different kinds of tape: 0-4, along with many variants. When I first made my cassettes, I accidentally used type 4 "metal" tape which is way heavier than type 1 or 2. Because I was using a cassette deck that wasn't made to play or record onto type 4, my audio was heavily distorted and had an insulting amount of noise. I can't say for certain, but pretty much every cassette deck that can record will accept types 1, 2 and possibly 3 with no problem. Type 4 (at least according to what I've read/can remember) requires a specially compatible cassette deck. DO NOT record onto a type 4 cassette without checking to make sure your cassette deck was designed to accept that kind of cassette, as it could damage your deck (and probably the tape too!).
2. Use good equipment.
I was broke at the time and bought the absolute cheapest cassette deck Argos would give me. It was basically a hand-held recorder, intended to tape interviews - not record music. I couldn't control any of the EQ settings on it, so I had to effectively guess and hope the tape was loud enough to hear without clipping. The worst part though and something I've only realised now I'm writing all this down? All the sound was in mono. Yeah, as I think you can all imagine, those cassettes sound awful and I don't even know if they work properly anymore. If they sounded like that to begin with though, did they ever work properly?
Can't think of any other nuggets of wisdom (read: tales of failure) off the top of my head right now but I'll maybe drop some more if I can think of any.
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