John Mellencamp's Life, Death, Love, and Freedom

[Analogman]

NEW YORK (Billboard) - John Mellencamp's upcoming album, "Life, Death, Love and Freedom," will be released in a new high-definition audio format dubbed CODE.

 

CODE technology, developed by T Bone Burnett, who produced the album, and a team of engineers, creates high-definition audio files that are virtually indistinguishable from the original masters.

 

To address possible compatibility issues, "Life" -- due July 15 via Hear Music -- will be packaged as a two-disc set, with the standard edition of the album on CD and the CODE version of the album on DVD. The set will be priced as if it were a single-disc package.

 

Burnett recently told Billboard of his experience working with Mellencamp, "I didn't offer much direction, really, but he was certainly open. He encouraged me to play guitar a lot on the record, which I enjoyed."

 

"Life" will be available at Starbucks locations in the U.S. and Canada as well as at traditional retail outlets.

 

Mellencamp's month-long summer tour begins July 8 at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, with Lucinda Williams providing support on most dates.

 

T Bone Burnett Lecture: Notes

 

I just got back from the T Bone Burnett Lecture over at UNC. I went with my friend Jim McConnell and we both felt bad that we couldn't stay for the second lecture that his girlfriend was about to give. There was a wonderful vibe in the room and I wished I could've soaked it up some some more by staying longer. Plus, I really wanted to get my picture with Mr. Burnett.

 

T Bone had some great things to say about the future of music and the state of audio as it exists in our culture currently. He likened the state of the music industry to that of a shoe maker who cuts off peoples feet (or something to that effect). One of the threads of his talk went something like this: the music that we are listening to has been degraded so much that the audio quality is such that the music isn't worth much to us. We don't hear the sonic richness in music because it has been compressed and pushed out. When CD's and digital technology were first brought to market it was said that we'd be able to hear so much more of the audio, but instead due to the inertia of the record companies, producers and engineers, about 95% of the sonic potential of a CD is untapped.

 

All instruments are resonating chambers that you attack in some way whether it be with your breath, sticks, picks or fingers. The music industry has created music that is all about the attack, which is more controllable than resonance. T Bone wants us to get back to listening to the resonance in music. He says he only likes things he can't control (like resonance). In order to bring out more of the resonant characteristics of an instrument, he suggests recording musicians differently by getting them to play softer and using minimal mic placement to better pick up the richness of the instrument and the uniqueness of the individual performing. He talked about using a good ribbon or condenser mic and setting up the mic away from the performer to better hear the room and how the instrument and performer sound in that room. He is starting a company that plans to set standards similar to how the RIAA Curve was a standard that helped make audio recordings more consistent. He mentioned that at one time, people were better able to listen to records because of the RIAA Curve, but with the advent of digital recording, that standard went out the window.

 

The name of the company will be called "CODE (whereas the spelling is a bit unconventional: "C" "O" "The Greek Letter Delta" "E")" and will release recordings in 3 formats: Vinyl HD (like the records of yesteryear), HD Disk at 24/96K resolution, and as a 24/96K download. Once you've purchased one of the formats above, you will then get a code to download the same audio optimized for the device you'll be listening to the audio on - such as your iPod with Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones. T-Bone mentioned that we're all going deaf because of the severity of the attack and lack of resonance in modern recordings.

 

T Bone seems down to earth, well educated, knowledgeable and continually growing both as an artist and person. I could've listened to him talk all day. It was obvious that he still has a passion for making music and feels he's in a position where he can be responsible for helping the music industry get back to excellence in sound. He mentioned that his company hopes to be sort of like how THX or DOLBY is for movies. He'll develop a standard that will allow recordings to be certified in a similar way, to insure that the end user gets the best listening experience.