CD 的規格制定與指揮帝王卡拉揚有關? 好吧! 這是我第一次聽說!
最近較常聽馬勒 (Gustav Mahler) 的交響曲, 不過卻對於某幾首交響曲得分裝在兩片 CD 中的情況感到無奈, 因為聽完兩三個樂章後, 就得起身去換片, 實在不便. 不過這也沒辦法, 一片 CD 就是只能錄那麼久的音樂 (~74min), 遇到這類落落長的曲子也沒辦法. 聽說當初制定 CD 的容量是跟貝多芬的第九號交響曲有關, 就上網找找關於 CD 的規格制定有什麼有趣的說法吧!
關於 CD 的容量, 以前就 "聽說過" 是為了要配合貝多芬 (Ludwig Von Beethoven) 的第九號交響曲的音樂長度, 不過倒是沒印象跟卡拉揚有關. 今天不經意的上維基百科查一下, 才看到這樣的說法. 不管是真是假, 還真有趣. 沒想到卡老不僅在音樂界呼風喚雨, 還能影響到科技界的規格制定. 不過因為 CD 最原始的設計就是為了儲存以音樂資料, 所以有這樣的說法似乎也不會太離譜!
- [ref-1] ... The partners aimed at a playing time of 60 minutes with a disc diameter of 100 mm (Sony) or 115 mm (Philips). Von Karajan suggested extending the capacity to 74 minutes to accommodate a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Bayreuth Festival...
上面提到, 原來 Sony 與 Philips 各自有自己的 proposals, 經過卡老的建議後, 竟然聽從卡老的意見? 這實在有點難以置信. 此外, 卡老竟然還以福老 (福特萬格勒 Wilhelm Furtwängler) 在 1951 年拜魯特音樂節 (the Bayreuth Festival) 指揮貝九的演奏時間來做建議? 這也有點奇怪, 所以看起來下面的這個說法好像變得比較合理.
- [ref-2] ... The wife of Sony's vice-president, Norio Ohga, decided that she wanted the composer's Ninth Symphony to fit on a CD. It was, Sony’s website explains, Mrs. Ohga's favorite piece of music. The Philips’ website proceeds: “The performance by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, lasted for 66 minutes. Just to be quite sure, a check was made with Philips’ subsidiary, Polygram, to ascertain what other recordings there were. The longest known performance lasted 74 minutes. This was a mono recording made during the Bayreuther Festspiele in 1951 and conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler. This therefore became the maximum playing time of a CD. A diameter of 120 mm was required for this playing time”.
合理嗎? 上面提到, 是因為貝九是當時 Sony 的 VP 的妻子, Norio Ohga, 最喜歡的音樂, 所以他要讓貝九能完整收錄進一張 CD. OK! 這是 Sony 方面的說法. 不過每個指揮家指揮的貝九長度都不一樣, 所以這樣的說法好像又有點不完整.
接下來, Philips 的說法是, 因為當時已知演奏時間最長的貝九是福老在 1951 年拜魯特音樂節指揮的貝九, 所以才以那次的時間為標準.
哇哈哈! 以上說法完全沒有提到卡老耶~
接下來, 有一段商場上的競爭...這說法比較寫實, 但真實性如何呢? Well, I don't know!
- [ref-2] ... Philips’ subsidiary Polygram –one of the world's largest distributors of music– had set up a CD disc plant in Hanover, Germany. This could produce large quantities CDs with of course, a diameter of 115mm. Sony did not have such a facility yet. If Sony had agreed on the 115mm disc, Philips would have had a significant competitive edge in the music market. Sony was aware of that, did not like it, and something had to be done. It was not about Mrs. Ohga’s great passion for music, but the money and competition in the market of the two partners. The decision regarding diameter/playing time was taken outside of the group of experts responsible for the CD format. So I, a former member of that group, can only guess what happened at the upper floor. But something unforeseen happened: at the last minute we changed the code....
簡而言之, 雖然 CD 這東西是這兩家公司主導發明的產品, 但彼此之間還是存在競爭關係的, 所以 Sony 當然不能輕易的讓 Philips 成為他市場上太強的競爭對手.
最後, 就當時的技術面而言, 應該根本就應該跟 Sony 當時的 VP 的太太無關??? (不過到底這位 VP 的老婆是喜歡福老指揮的貝九? 還是只要是貝九都喜歡? 哈! 那是她的事, 我管那麼多幹嘛?)
- [ref-2] ... The maximum playing time of the CD was settled at 74 minutes and 33 seconds, but in practice, however, the maximum playing time was determined by the playing time of the U-Matic video recorder, which was 72 minutes. Therefore, rather sadly, Mrs. Ohga’s favorite Ninth by Furtwängler could not be recorded in full on a single CD till 1988, when alternative digital transport media became available....
- [ref-1] ... The extra 14 minute playing time subsequently required changing to a 120 mm disc. Kees Immink, Philips' chief engineer, however, denies this, claiming that the increase was motivated by technical considerations, and that even after the increase in size, the Furtwängler recording would not have fit on one of the earliest CDs....
什麼? 1988 年以後, 福老的貝九才能錄進一張 CD...
看得一頭霧水, 也不曉得什麼是真的? 什麼是假的?
其實我覺得如果真的是參考卡老的建議, 這樣的建議也算合理. 畢竟貝多芬也算樂壇的代表人物, 這第九號交響曲也算是首大作, 而且長度比他長的曲子 (歌劇除外) 已經不多了. 至於以後會不會有其他的指揮家把貝九演奏得更慢, 慢到一張 CD 裝不下? 雖然有可能, 但機會應該不大吧! 哈哈, 如果卡老還在世, 也許會說, 福老已經夠慢了, 我怎麼可能比他更慢, 至於其他人, 管他的, 大不了就放進兩片 CD 內吧!
至於我們呢? 就當成茶餘飯後的話題聊聊就好了! 反正所有產品的規格一定有一些商業上的考量與技術上的妥協. 我們是 end user, 不是考證學家, 對這個認真? 沒那個必要嘛!
講到這裡, 好像貝九就是最長的曲子了? 當然不是! 雖然以前沒接觸過馬勒, 布魯克納 (Anton Bruckner),... 等作曲家時, 我確實是這麼想的, (井底之蛙) 所以也認為就方便性與完整性而言, 以這首曲子為標準來決定 CD 的容量並沒有什麼不好. 後來接觸更多作品後, 才慢慢發現, 這樣的容量對大部分的音樂而言是 OK 的, 但遇到馬勒, 布魯克納等作曲家時, 可就不是這麼一回事了, 因為他們的有些 "單曲" 還超出 74 分鐘蠻多的, 所以 "換片" 這個動作還是得繼續存在.
話說回來, 如果卡老當初真的有在規格的制定上給了些意見, 而且是以馬勒等人的作品為參考, 建議 CD 容量要更大, 比如一片 CD 要能容納 100 分鐘或 120 分鐘的音樂, 不知道 SONY & Philips 會不會 "就範"? 我想應該不會吧!
最後, 一定有人說: "聽 mp3 就好啦!" 這樣說也沒錯啦, 不過這又是另一個話題了~
Ref:
1. CD (Compact Disc) on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD
2. Shannon, Beethoven, and the Compact Disc
http://www.exp-math.uni-essen.de/~immink/pdf/beethoven.htm
沒有留言:
張貼留言