Artists who tell you how to listen to their music

Of course, people needn't be told at what volume they should listen to a record.

Should people be told how to listen to a record?
I don't really care either way. It's kinda fun when they do.

Yes, some of them will be regurgitated in a Stylus column soon...

Coil - Music to Play in the Dark

The Electro Hippes album has someone at the begining of it saying "Play right loud."

(We know that about all yr threads, Nick.)

Never talk to me on MSN. ALL goes in a column.

Think Disintegration by the Cure says "mixed to be played loud" by that's more a statement then a suggestion.

Not many heavy metal suggestions here so far surprisingly.

Big Black - Songs About Fucking

Are there any that mention use/disuse of headphones?

on moloko's do you like my tight sweater? they advise you to buy two copies of the album and play them at the same time on two separate cd players in the same room, and apparently the result will be an "interesting quadrophenic effect" or some such gubbins (plus two copies of the moloko album sold).

Phill Niblock, YPGPN

sleeve notes from stereolab's "transient random-noise"

"try this:while playing this disc,rest your fingers lightly on top of the grill of yr speakers...." -from Superconductor's - Bastardsong lp.

1982 release

AN AMBIENT SPEAKER SYSTEM

I regard this music as environmental: to be experienced from the inside. Accordingly I considered releasing a quadrophonic version of it, an idea I abandoned upon realising that very few people (myself included) own quadrophonic systems.

However, I have for many years been using a three-way speaker system that is both simple to install and inexpensive, and which seems to work very well on any music with a broad stereo image. The effect is subtle but definite - it opens out the music and seems to enlarge the room acoustically.

In addition to a normal stereo hifi system all that is required is one extra loudspeaker and some speaker cable. The usage of this speaker in the three-way system is such that it will not be required to handle very low frequencies: therefore a small or "mini" speaker will be adequate.

As shown in the diagram, the two terminals of the new speaker are connected to the two positive (red) speaker connectors on the amplifier. This speaker is located somewhere behind the listener - at the apex of a triangle whose base is formed by the original loudspeaker set-up. One of the unexpected benefits of this system is an increase in the usable listening area - almost any point in the room will yield good (although not necessarily "accurate") stereo sound.

I arrived at this system by accident, and I don't really know why it works. What seems to happen is that the third speaker reproduces any sound that is not common to both sides of the stereo - i.e., everything that is not located centrally in the stereo image - and I assume that this is because the common information is put out of phase with itself and cancels out.

More technically, the lower the impedance of the added speaker, the louder it will sound. If it is found to be too loud (although this rarely seems to happen), you can either insert a potentiometer (6-12 ohms, at least 10 watts) into the circuit, or move the speaker further away.

http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/enoass.gif

(okay, so nobody has actually said that, but it would be great if someone would)

Chick Corea, liner notes to Miles Davis' Black Beauty

"A splendid time is guaranteed for all"

designed for shoulder speakers srs-gs 70 sony

- It says this on all Pulp albums

There's a Mega City Four record--"Who Cares Wins," I think--which has an adorable disclaimer on the back about how they had compromise sound quality in order to fit all of the songs onto two sides of vinyl, and suggest listening to it very loud on crappy speakers or while in a car.

"Note: These pieces should be played VERY LOUD. Sweet Potato should be played less loud than the rest. There is enormous bass in the piano piece, so watch out for your woofers."

from Touch Food

From Bernard Gunter's "Un Peu de Neige Salie" -- "the music on this CD is intended to be listened to at very low volume!"

I have another record, can't remember artist or title, that says "Made Loud To Be Played Loud."

I say in some cases, "yes." If someone says to listen to it loud, that may mean that the way it was mastered, you will get the most out of the dynamics if played loud. That could be critical if a record has a lot of lower level detail...certain things will jump out a bit more if you raise the volume.

However, turning up any radio friendly song louder just makes it more unbearably annoying to listen to.

"A bit of advice from Jimmy M: Maximum cycle characteristics and frequency response of high decibel level have been set according to standards suggested in the GUY STEVENS Producer Manual, chart #357, in index, page 304. These recommended standards were compiled by the same authority having recently measured audible damage created by supersonic aircraft - if for any reason you do not agree with these standards - turn it up."

-- Rombald

But, but... that Brainticket album also has a lot of very ON-topic pieces of advice:

"Warning. Only listen once a day to this record. Your brain might be destroyed! Hallelujah Records takes no responsibility."

"Note: this is not 'background music.' It should be listened to in full, preferably in total darkness. Also recommended are headphones and a travelling companion."

"Join in... Listen to the first recording of this LSD/Hashish/Fixy/Jointy Sound. Take a trip to your inner light. See the hallucinations of reality rise out of the groove You've got your Brainticket now! Hallelujah!"

That's the first thing I thought of though.

They must've chickened out on later pressings cos' mine is not like that. Autechre's LP5 is like that though isn't it?

John Cage / Lejaren Hiller - HPSCHD -- http://www.johncage.info/cdlabels/nonesuch71224.html

every copy had a computer dot matrix print-out 'score', each one with different randomly generated values -- though Cage wasn't telling the listener he had to do this, it was more of an invitation

What, instead of just playing "Romeo Had Juliette" over and over again?

The American version of "The Clash" had a warning similar to Pulp's on its lyric sleeve.

Warren Zevon once remarked in an interview that he thought the "play loud" thing was stupid. It was in Goldmine, if you want to look it up.

*Important Warning* The song Torture Chamber should NOT be played at high volume

John Cage put out an album with complete instructions on how you should turn the volume, pan, bass and treble knobs at selected intervals (about every 15 seconds).

John Cage / Lejaren Hiller - HPSCHD -- http://www.johncage.info/cdlabels/nonesuch71224.html

every copy had a computer dot matrix print-out 'score', each one with different randomly generated values -- though Cage wasn't telling the listener he had to do this, it was more of an invitation

-- milton parker (milton.parke...), May 10th, 2006 6:36 AM. (later)

Doesn't Mix/Feed with Max Neuhaus also have something similar, or am I imaging it.

Whitehouse (surprising) have requested that music of their not be played loudly. In the track listing for the Twice Is Not Enough collection, the last track; 'Torture Chamber*' has:

*Important Warning* The song Torture Chamber should NOT be played at high volume

Burial - Burial

Apparently - I don't have copy yet. Suspect it will be one of the best albums of the year though based on the Hyperdub 12"...

I am going to put "Play at a reasonable volume, be considerate of your neighbours. Use headphones if necessary." on the Shimuras album.

awesome. you could also add "Be nice to your mother" and "clean your room".

They Might Be Giant's Apollo 18 has a bunch of short (like fifteen seconds each) songs collectively known as "Fingertips" and the liner notes encourage you to play it on shuffle.

Not that I know how that would be possible in the first place.

So...do they mean like, knobs at 2:00 and 5:00, or just 2 and 5? Out of what? "These go up to 11."

The third-speaker Eno thing is fascinating. Would that really work or is it some sort of put on (ie, will actually blow up your speakers)?

Yes, exactly. Tt's a little drawn diagram thingy sorta like:

B:0/2 T:0\5

but with the / & \ inside the 0 with the number on the end. So it's actually more like bass 7, treble 10. Hope that makes sense.

this, i think, is because the whole thing was crammed onto one vinyl record - fuck knows why; it really should have been a double - and was the single quietest artefact ever. you had to turn the volume up to 11 to hear anything at all.

-- sixteen sergeants (andrew.bryso...), May 9th, 2006 9:59 AM.

They also use this on White 2.