Shamitabh | Maestro | Amitabh | Dhanush | Balki | P. C. Sreeram

[mappi]

k_vanan,

Digital came only during the 90's. Cassettes during the 60s and vinyl records during the 30s.

Uravadam Nenjam belongs to 1976. The format would be a wide cassete release with huge vinly record production. Both would have been available in the retail market. If you are hearing it on your computer or any other digital equipement, rest assured that its been digitalised.

Digitalisation is a process of converting any format and making it available as digital format. The hardware consits of the intial format's player, in this case a vinyl record or cassete player, a port that allows a standard player to pass its signal/output, a receiver, in most cases a laptop using USB ports. Once all are plugged in, a software is launched in the digital equipement which extracts the necessary output from the record player and stores it in a format readable by digital equipements. For more hi-tech outpout, computer audio interfaces are used between the hardwares and specific connections are made to get leveled outputs.

But how enhanced it is depends on the person who digitalises it. The input is more important than the output as it becomes a base material. Corrections can be done without tampering the master sounds and it can also be enhanced through channeling to bring out a larger hearing experience. It needs enourmous passion and devotion to do it, which is not the case now, they just do an extraction, bundle it and upload it. Many of IR works are getting tampered.

Myself, would wish to setup a large production unit (and an IR library) which extracts the sounds and assemble it to suit the digital format through which the sound production of IR does not become artificial but capture exactly what he wished to record in the tapes. Immense talent is needed to understand, decipher and channalise the sounds, tunes, rythms, beats, etc., IR has produced. Its not only a costly, but a tedious process.

If iTune proposes a song, I am confident that they have done justice in digitalising it, as I have listened to couple of songs on iPod - (not my favourite, mine is still vinyl records with all the customary noises which itself become an awesome sound) - and was awed by its clarity.

And Oru Naal Unnodu from Uravadam Nenjam is a fantastic song.