Lo-Fi is the abbreviation of English Low-Fidelity, which translates as "low fidelity".

Lo-fi (low-fidelity) was originally a term used in rock music, which is also the antonym of hi-fi (high-fidelity). It usually uses rough, weird, dissonant timbres and The blunt, distorted playing technique strives to create a noise effect.

However, lo-fi is so popular that it is no longer limited to rock music. Generally speaking, any lifestyle that pursues simplicity, nature, directness, anti-technology, DIY and other pleasure-seeking lifestyles are all labeled as lo-fi. The name of fi.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, lo-fi was no longer just a description of the recording quality of a particular album, it became a genre in its own right. Throughout the history of rock and roll, recordings were often done cheaply and quickly on substandard equipment. In this sense, those earliest rock records, much of the garage rock of the '60s, and much of the punk rock of the late '70s can all be labeled lo-fi.

However, later on, lo-fi refers to a type of underground indie rock musicians who record their music at home using four-track instruments. Much of this music originated in the American underground in the 1980s, including bands like R.E.M.

It also included a number of British proto-punk bands and New Zealand bands such as the Chills and the Clean. Often , these lo-fi bands would fluctuate from simple pop-rock songs to free-form song structures or pure noise and artistic experimental music.

Although these bands kept their music relatively simple and straightforward, poor recording quality, tape-coated vocal distortion and hiss, and abstract and dull lyrics still made their music The sound seemed unusual and radical.

In the beginning, low-fidelity records were traded on homemade tapes, but some independent labels also released official albums;

The most famous one is K Records was run by Calvin Johnson, who fronted Beat Happening. In the late 1980s, bands like Pussy Galore, Beat Happening and Royal Trux had developed a small cult following in the American underground.

By 1992, bands like Sebadoh and Pavement had become hugely popular cult icons in the UK and the US through their deliberately noisy and chaotic records. A few years later, this lo-fi aesthetic invaded the mainstream market in a new and improved style with the help of Liz Phair and Beck.

Features

Lo-fi aesthetics are qualities associated with the recording process. More specifically, effects that are generally considered undesirable in the world of audio engineering, such as degradation of audio signal quality or tape speed fluctuations.

Aesthetics may also extend to substandard or unsatisfactory musical performances. Recordings that are considered unprofessional or "amateur" are usually about the performance (stale or outdated tone) or the mixing (audible hiss, distortion, or room sounds). Musicologist Adam Harper identifies this distinction as "recording defects" and "non-recording defects."

He defined the former as "elements considered (or perceived to be) detrimental to a recording, which originate from the specific manipulation of the recording medium itself. Today they are often the first features that come to mind The theme of "lo-fi" emerges. In Harper's view, recording defects can be "roughly divided into two broad categories: distortion and noise." Definitions of "noise" vary and sometimes overlap. In the lo-fi aesthetic, the most dominant form of distortion is harmonic distortion, which can occur when an audio signal is amplified beyond the dynamic range of the device.

However, this effect is generally not considered imperfect. Rock music with electric guitars uses the same process and, since digital recording, gives the recording a "warmth-like" feel.

Distortion that occurs as a by-product of the recording process ("recording distortion") is generally avoided in professional settings. "Tape Saturation" and "Saturation Distortion" alternately describe the harmonic distortion that occurs when a tape head approaches its residual magnetization limit (a common aspect of tape recorder maintenance held by degaussing tools).

The effects include the reduction of high-frequency signals and the increase of noise. Typically, low-fidelity recordings may have little or no frequency information above 10 kilohertz.

Reference for the above content? Baidu Encyclopedia-Low Fidelity