Came to me the other afternoon. I was walking downtown, as is my fashion, with a pair white earphones plugged in. The playlist was set to shuffle. I was thinking about this week’s video – same as the (free) podcast – and the volume question. One song cycled up, and I had to turn up the volume a little.
I could adjust the recording volume, but it seems, with my computer, my iPod, and my ears, plus my earphones, Lyle Lovett’s music, especially from the older CDs, that stuff just doesn’t seem as loud as the rest of the music.
Maybe it’s because the Lyle music is quieter, maybe it’s his Scorpio trick, perhaps it’s the weird record label and its production values. Or it’s an arcane function of some element in this whole arrangement, ripping a CD mastered in a PC studio loses volume when a Mac imports the tracks to iTunes then transfers the data to a phone. But I had the same volume problem with most of the Lyle CDs I’ve got.
I tend to think of Lyle as a crooner. Some country, a little rock, some jazz and even, as the title to the latest album suggest, big-band overtones. Thoroughly Texan, too. Defies a category.
In the truck, the other afternoon, the question came up, “Julia Roberts, what was that all about?”
I’ve long since figured that inter-species dating is not such a successful combination. As such, I tend to limit myself to girls born in Texas. It’s just easier and safer for all concerned. Sounds like Lyle found himself a San Antonio girl. Again, that’s not this was about, it’s about the volume on the CD’s tracks.
“Here I am, yes it’s me…”
Mercury is backwards in Scorpio. Which doesn’t mean that there is a problem with the CDs, just that I’ve noticed it now. Is it because Mercury is backwards that this annoys me more? Or is it because Mercury is backwards I’m more susceptible to being annoyed by a little problem like the volume level on a crooner’s CD? Or is ultimately annoying because the hardware doesn’t automatically adjust for my tastes?
I think there’s a setting on this phone some place. Maybe if I looked at the instruction book?
That was just a joke.
