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. 

Some quotes:

The greatest thing he's learned in life:  "To be fearless, and to not commit to anything easily, but when you do commit, do so with your whole heart."

"The producer acts as the proxy for the audience."

"There is a revolution coming..."

T Bone talked about his experiences working on the Johnny Cash movie from a few years ago, and also on "O Brother Where Art Thou." He mentioned how Johnny Cash was a great rhythm player and on songs like "I walk the Line" (which he said has 5 key changes in it), Johnny would put a dollar bill in the strings of the guitar so that the strings were muted, and then play rhythm, similar to how a drummer would play a hi-hat or shaker part.  He said that he took on the movie, because he'd seen the "Hollywoodization (my term not his)" of other music legends such as Hank Williams, and he wanted to make sure that the same thing didn't happen to Johhny and June. In producing the "O Brother" soundtrack he realized he had an opportunity to present the music to a captive audience, so instead of making the music sound scratchy and "old," they produced it like a rock record.  He said he thought the "Man of Constant Sorrows" song sounded like something Traffic could've played back in the day.

It truly was inspiring to be in that room. I felt lucky to ask him a couple of questions, and though I was nervous and a little unsure of how to phrase my questions (I mistakenly slighted most of the musicians in the room as I was trying to figure out how to say what I was asking...typical for me, put my foot in my mouth and get misunderstood on accident - ugh), he was gracious to listen and to answer.

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.  Fascinating stuff...and these notes of mine are just scratching the surface.  I just tried to recount the lecture to my wife and came up with a whole different version than what I wrote here.  Still, at least these notes will give you some idea of what today was like.  Had it been any other week, I wouldn't have been able to attend, due to my "day" job.  So I'm glad that my "Spring Break" was this week and that I was able to be there for this.

If you want to learn more about T Bone Burnett, I found a great interview with him over at Mix Online from 2006.