By Paul McGowan of PS Audio

Have you ever noticed that if you have an opinion about something it can easily be dismissed or agreed upon as soon as you know there’s a term or explanation for it?

For example I used to reject as distasteful olive oils that were so spicy they burned the back of my throat until I learned that the best olive oils in the world should burn the back of your throat and that without this burn they are neither extra virgin nor as healthful for you.  Now that there’s a label (true extra virgin olive oil) and an explanation I can then choose to either change my opinion or reject the notion as hogwash.  In this case, by the way, I changed my opinion.

This subject recently came up when I was complaining to a friend of mine that many of the older operatic divas ruined the music for me with the use of too much vibrato and an over-affectation of their voice at the beginning of a phrase that sometimes reminds me of my grandmother.  I can hear that this is an added affection because when they sing duets the technique goes away and they’re beautiful again.

My friend dismissed my dislike for the singing as “the style” of the day and therefore it should be appreciated for what it was.

Hogwash.

I remember back in the days of the first solid state electronics when the “style” of design was bright and hard and “clear” sounding.  Much of the style of the day was on purpose because it was felt it helped bring clarity to the sound.

Hogwash.

When style breaks emotional connections to music for any one person it’s just simply the wrong style.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/hogwash/7586/