Whether it was to study, work, or even relax, you’ve probably listened to lo-fi music before. Lo-fi gets its worldwide appeal from its remarkably soft beats, which have an exceptional ability to set a calm, focused mood for its listeners.
Many people use music as an escape or support system in a chaotic world, which is why lo-fi music has been, and still is rising in popularity. Lo-fi is taking the music scene by storm on social media. Lofi Girl, a YouTube channel that streams lo-fi music as an animated girl studies, has soared to over 13 million subscribers.
It’s not just Lofi Girl. There are an endless amount of musicians (and listeners) who are eager to showcase and develop the art of lo-fi music around the world. Despite lo-fi being a relatively new music genre, the talents of passionate artists allowed it to bloom, securing its presence in the music world.
The Not-So-Detailed Detail Behind Lo-fi’s Calming Sound
You may think that lo-fi’s serene melody comes from artists’ unreal precision, but that cannot be further from the truth. In reality, the beauty of lo-fi music comes from its imperfections, particularly in sound quality or fidelity. In essence, fidelity refers to a sound’s accuracy from its source, which is why lo-fi, or low fidelity, has its name.
Lo-fi is unique because of its low sound quality, wielding its lack of depth in each beat to bring out an authentic sound, seamlessly moving your body and heart into tranquility. Its defining “imperfections” can take many forms, like misplayed notes, substandard equipment, ambiance, and other distortions that alter the music.
Some of lo-fi’s more significant audio characteristics are harmonic distortion and analog warmth. Harmonic distortion consists of artificially added frequencies onto the original sound, contributing to the “warmth” and even the lowering of audio fidelity.
Analog warmth contributes to lo-fi’s distinct sound quality even more, produced by subtle distortions associated with analog audio equipment. Among many other “imperfections” musicians leverage, harmonic distortion and analog warmth are vital in creating the authentic, raw “feel” that makes lo-fi so enjoyable.
Lo-fi Music’s Rock n’ Roll Origins
As rock n’ roll was flourishing throughout the United States in the 1950s, musicians continued to break the limits of what their art was capable of. One of the innovations that rock musicians introduced to the American music ind