Umph!

I remember several years back when I went to a specialized audio equipment store in northern London to buy my first "serious" stereo amp. The guy had a really cool testing room in his basement, we brought down a couple of different set ups he recommended, I already had with me a few CDs with the sort of music I usually listen to (he had asked me to bring them), and we started fooling around, full volume and all that. Extra cool stuff!

After a couple of trials, he said we needed something with more "umph"! He explained to me that to give a sound more "umph" (or "body"), it was essential to amplify different frequency ranges at different levels. It turned out that the sound with the appropriate "umph" for me was the result of amplifying the lowest and highest frequencies considerably more than the mid-range ones.

My interpretation of this phenomenon is the following:

The lowest frequencies carry the "base" of the music, its underlying fundamental qualities, its rhythm, its foundations, what is required to make you feel that it is "for real".

The highest frequencies contain the information about instantaneous changes, the culminations, climaxes, the moments of abrupt state changes, the points of discontinuity.

The mid-range frequencies carry the rest of the song, in a sense its "every day" life.

So, as it happens, you (well, I!) can have a perfectly fulfilling and complete (acoustic) experience based on the lows and highs only.

The "everyday" stuff is of much lower importance.

At least that's how I feel about it.