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Site created 12/15/97.
page updated: 1/7/00
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Get to know Frank... and maybe win some free music DVDs too! |
| Okay,
here's the deal: you've entered Frank's
Notes - the section of the Bits
where I get to share my thoughts and details on DVD issues. And the
issues I care about most, are those that affect Joe Average... since
that's me. Granted, I plan on talking mostly about DVD music &
sound in this column, but I've been known to go off on a tangent
once in a while. So this is where I'll give you all the details (and
my opinions) on DVD, and soon... DVD-Audio. So who in the world am I? That's a good question, so let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a musician, a married man, a working professional, and a huge fan of music and movies. As a musician, I've played instruments, run the sound board and done quite a bit of singing in my time. Life's road has found me doing all sorts of other jobs as well, such as assistant lighting director, gaffer, grip, camera man, sound technician, audio editor, blah blah blah.... In other words, I've been around the block a few times, and seen many facets of the entertainment industry. I'm not all sure why right at this moment, but I got a BA degree in business. While in college, I travelled a lot with an orchestra and choir... so I sang in places like Japan, Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand and several states here along the west coast. My own personal musical ambitions have never been to "make it" and conquer the world, so I usually end up going with the flow and where the music takes me. Shortly after college, I ran into some talented kids who could really crank out some incredible tunes. So I joined their band, called Pax (now Pax 217). We did quite a few gigs and a bit of recording, and were even courted by a half-dozen indie labels. After two years, I'm happy to say that we played a ton of shows with a lot of other bands for a huge amount of people... and once in a while we even made a few dollars. The music styles were all over the place - it was fun being able to take a song and rip it into a funk slow jam or hike it up to a ska or punk rock thing, depending on our mood. Like a lot of "new" music, we ended up being compared to a mix of several bands. The down side was (by the end of 2 years) some original members were no longer with the group and the musical direction was changing. I saw the open door and left too. The enjoyment I find in music is very basic - music that shows talent and includes passion grabs me and gets me to listen and appreciate it. Although passion is very objective, there might be that little something that strikes a chord from within. In my mind, music without some sort of passion is lifeless. I compare it to a movie that contains a great story, talent and the whole nine yards, but lacks that one person that was there from the start, and stayed to the last edit, seeing it all the way through to the end, carrying the story every step of the way because they love the project or created it. Without that person, the movie ends up being remembered as something "with great potential, but that fell short." All right... now you know all about me. So what do I want to write about in these pages? Well... I start with what I want from DVDs, and particularly Music DVDs. I want excellent quality from beginning to end - as far as the technology will allow. As a musician, CDs don't cut it. Don't get me wrong - I know they brought digital to the masses, and cleaned up "unwanted noise" in recordings, but CD's relatively low bit-rate mastering took away so much of character and detail in the music. It leaves music flat (metaphorically speaking) and lifeless sounding. Thankfully, much of that life and detail can been brought back digitally on DVD. I'm not going to say that Dolby Digital and DTS have made huge leaps in bringing sound alive on DVD with 5.1 surround, but they have definitely made progress. And while you can go back and forth as to which of the two "movie audio" formats sounds better, current 96/24 capability and the new DVD-Audio specifications are really pushing to create music on disc that is very near reference quality. DVD-Video is doing some nifty things to bring excellent live concerts, music videos, artist interviews and behind-the-scenes footage to music fans around the world. The addition of DVD-Audio should give music listeners a sound experience that is every bit as good as the video, with many extras. True comparisons, reviews and notes are to come - after all, DVD-Audio capable players are only just being introduced in Japan (they'll be here in the U.S. in early 2000). And as they say... the proof is in the pudding. But I don't want to have to pay four or five thousand dollars for a player that won't play my existing DVD movies and music CDs. For DVD-Audio to take off, people should pay much less, and still get a player that comes close to doing it all. I plan on writing much more about these evolving technologies, including a list of "things I want from DVD-Audio," in the coming weeks. Now you should have a pretty good idea of who I am, and we're I'm coming from with regard to audio on DVD. I'm really looking forward to delving more into this subject with you. I've had an overwhelming response to my contributions to the Bits so far, and I welcome your thoughts and opinions as always, whether you agree with me or not. Now a word from our sponsor... I'm not kidding! The good people at Sony/Columbia Records have been kind enough to sponsor a little contest here in Frank's Notes, where 20 of you will win a free DVD. So be sure to read the rules below, answer the all questions, and get your entries in for you chance to win! Enjoy! Regards, Frank Ortiz fortiz@thedigitalbits.com |
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