Low bit
Encyclopedia
Low bit is a music
al aesthetic characterized by lossy data compression
artifact
s caused by encoding
song
s at low bitrate
s. Artists making low-bit music believe that if a song is good, it can be appreciated at any bitrate or on any speakers.
reaction to the perceived bitrate snob
bery in the organized music piracy (on peer-to-peer
networks) and net label
scenes. It also shares a strong do-it-yourself ethic with punk ideology
.
Low-bit music is distributed primarily through net label
s. Unlike most net labels, many low-bit labels do not focus on representing a single music genre
. Instead, the catalog of each label reveals the personal tastes of the curator
.
Because of the small file sizes of low-bitrate encodes, it is possible to download an entire EP
from a low-bit label in the same time it would take to download one song from a standard net label. This makes low-bitrate releases accessible to listeners who have only a dialup modem
as well as conserving space on portable music players with limited memory.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
al aesthetic characterized by lossy data compression
Lossy data compression
In information technology, "lossy" compression is a data encoding method that compresses data by discarding some of it. The procedure aims to minimize the amount of data that need to be held, handled, and/or transmitted by a computer...
artifact
Compression artifact
A compression artifact is a noticeable distortion of media caused by the application of lossy data compression....
s caused by encoding
Encoder
An encoder is a device, circuit, transducer, software program, algorithm or person that converts information from one format or code to another, for the purposes of standardization, speed, secrecy, security, or saving space by shrinking size.-Media:...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s at low bitrate
Bitrate
In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time....
s. Artists making low-bit music believe that if a song is good, it can be appreciated at any bitrate or on any speakers.
Overview
The low-bit style emerged as an avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
reaction to the perceived bitrate snob
Snob
A snob is someone who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera. Often, the form of snobbery reflects the snob's personal attributes...
bery in the organized music piracy (on peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
networks) and net label
Netlabel
A netlabel is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats over the Internet...
scenes. It also shares a strong do-it-yourself ethic with punk ideology
Punk ideology
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture. In its original incarnation, the punk subculture was primarily concerned with concepts such as rebellion, anti-authoritarianism, individualism, free thought and discontent...
.
Low-bit music is distributed primarily through net label
Netlabel
A netlabel is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats over the Internet...
s. Unlike most net labels, many low-bit labels do not focus on representing a single music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
. Instead, the catalog of each label reveals the personal tastes of the curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
.
Because of the small file sizes of low-bitrate encodes, it is possible to download an entire EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
from a low-bit label in the same time it would take to download one song from a standard net label. This makes low-bitrate releases accessible to listeners who have only a dialup modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
as well as conserving space on portable music players with limited memory.
External links
- an English-language interview with mathias of 20 kbit/s
- a Russian-language interview with mathias of 20 kbit/s
- Lowbit Community
- Lowbit Netlabels List.
Low-bitrate labels
- 20 kbit/s - godfather of lobit
- Tibol - the first Low-bitrate radioshow ever known
- Microbit Records - only lobit
- lalala4e - netlabel based in mexico with artists from all over the world with a variety of genres such as lobit, techno, electro, dance, field recordings, chiptune.
- abulia concepts - experimental chiropody and lowbitrate
- bootlegs for real life - bootlegs and mix sets @ 13 kbit/s
- fashion proof - new face from the east coast of America
- gainlad - playful chip music and technoTechnoTechno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
out of south America and worldwide - mp3death - run by a net label pioneer who started broke bunnie in 1996
- NORTHAMERICANHARDCORE - punk rockPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, noise musicNoise musicNoise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, hardcore technoHardcore technoHardcore techno is a type of electronic music typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples...
, and other raw sounds - stars in rehab - run by an old school DemosceneDemosceneThe demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
member - Unaware Records - All electronic subgenre-encompassing netlabel from South West England.
- 8Ravens - lowbit net-label for 8 kbps music.
- Unicode Music - Italian lowbit netlabel.
- Oh! Bleep Records - Low-bit netlabel based in Australia.
- Lome - Lo-bit netlabel for minimalist musicMinimalist musicMinimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
. - Sphicot and Tharoop - Lo-bit netlabels from Finland founded by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen.
- Microbit Project
- 4M.@-RECORDS
- 8Ravens
- Sirona records - in GrenobleGrenobleGrenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
also releasing Lo-bit sometimes - DEX AND THE CITY RECORDS (Latvia)
- TOP OF THE FLOPS