Today Surface to Air celebrates its one-year anniversary. The site was originally founded to share lessons learned guiding discerning listeners in the transition from the physical music past to the weightless digital future. But over the course of 2012, our focus broadened to join the discussion on the many social and business issues surrounding the evolution of music.
I have often been asked what is the editorial stance of Surface to Air. With a year's worth of writing behind me, I can safely answer that this site stands for three things: 1) good science; 2) solid technique; and 3) reasoned opinion. That said, here is our 2012 index.
Good Science:
- A Xerox of a Poloroid of a Photo of a Painting
- 100% Fidelity is Possible as We Approach Infinity. Are We There Yet?
- We'll Always Have Paris. Or a 24-bit Approximation of Paris
- All Bits are Significant; Some are More Significant Than Others
- 'Mastered for iTunes is BS?' Bad Science Meets Rampant Re-tweeting
- And You May Ask Yourself: Mastered for iTunes? Same as it Ever Was.
- Mastered for Mom: The High-Resolution Audio Debate Hits Home
- How Many Bits in Infinity?
Solid Technique:
- Modern Playback: Lossless Digital Audio Streaming through the Fog
- One Does Not Shuffle a Beethoven Symphony
- Altering Physical Boundaries to Expose the True Structure of a Piece
- Metadata For Miles and I Still Can't Sort My Music Autobiographically
- Transcending the Grade: Don't Judge an LP by Its Surface
- Automated Tools Can't Fully Replace Listener Insight
- What Bell Labs Taught Me About Effective Design
- Time Really Can Be On Your Side, After All
- He Who Sleeps in Continual Noise is Wakened by Silence
- All I Need to Know I Learned From the Hubble Telescope
- Fast is Fine, But Accuracy is Everything
Reasoned Opinion:
- LPs and CDs Are Fraternal Twins
- LPs and CDs Are Just Install Discs for Music
- Technology Can Make Virtual Goods Feel Physical. Is Physical Relevant?
- The John Peel Collection: Infinite, Scarce and Significant Objects
- How Vinyl and iPods Ganged Up to Kill the Audio CD
- We Need to Talk About Our Relationship (With Music)
- What Can You Do When Your Dreams Come True, and it's Not Quite Like You Planned
- Can the Cloud Satisfy the Streaming Audio Needs of Bit Snobs?
- Decide What to Be and Go Be It
- An 11th Simple Truth For a Delusional Music Industry
- What If Your Cloud Suddenly Vanished?
- Would Pandora Survive Russian Winter?
- The Social Media Bandwagon: Everyone {Likes, Re-Tweets, +1's} a Winner
- Music Ownership, First-Sale Doctrine and the Parade of Horribles
- A Consumer-Driven Marketplace Has Been a Wellspring of Innovation
- A Nickel Ain't Worth a Dime Anymore
But sometimes, articles are simply human interest stories:
- Welcome to Surface to Air
- If You Don't Know Where You're Going, Any Road Will Get You There (Metadata Game)
- The Voices of the Little Monsters Were Exceedingly Unpleasant
- The Fireworks are Hailin' Over Little Eden Tonight (Game)
- Of All the Charlie Browns in the World, Mine is the Charlie Browniest
- All the Labor That Uplifts Humanity Has Dignity and Importance (Game)
- Thank You For Sending Me an Angel (Game)
Thanks for reading. Looking forward to continuing the conversation in 2013 and beyond.
Artist: Andy WilliamsGenre: Vocal/Christmas
Year: 1963
Among my many $1 estate sale finds in 2012 was this Christmas classic. Opened, but still in its shrink wrap, its pristine condition implied it could not have been played more than once or twice. This title may be the cleanest used record I ever bought and a welcome addition to the weightless digital holiday collection.
© 2012 Thomas G. Dennehy. All rights reserved.
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