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When it comes to cars, few automotive brands have captured the cultural zeitgeist quite like Mazda. Who can forget the “Zoom Zoom” commercials of the early aughts, or the iconic red Mazda Miata (a.k.a. the “MX-5”) stealing scenes in almost every hit TV show and movie of the Nineties?
For music fans, Mazda has also become a powerhouse in the car audio space. From a 30-year partnership with Bose on custom sound systems, to constantly tweaking and enhancing the vehicles’ acoustic housing (say, to conceal noise or to get better response from the speakers), Mazda has long made music part of its priority list when it comes to designing cars.
“We feel very strongly about audio,” Masashi Nakayama, Mazda’s head of design, told journalists on a recent visit to the brand’s Hiroshima, Japan headquarters. “Even from a design perspective, there’s a ‘soul of motion’ and a ‘rhythm of form’ that makes the cars feel alive.”
Established in 1920, the automotive company — first founded for cork production — has always made Hiroshima its home, rather than choosing large cities like other automakers. And the resilient spirit of the city has always been at the heart of the brand’s DNA. In a twist of fate, the Mazda headquarters were located away from the epicenter of the atomic bomb drop in 1945, and so survivors who lost their homes and offices were able to use the Mazda buildings as they rebuilt.
The Mazda vehicles have since become a symbol of Hiroshima’s hometown reconstruction; a “never give up” spirit, as officials imparted to the journalists, and one that’s led to a goal to “never stop challenging ourselves” with design and technology. In this way, “Just as we give attention to the engine and the shape of the car, we also feel very particular about sound,” Nakayama says, adding that the team focuses on “consistency, distinctiveness and innovation.”
Mazda has long been governed by the Japanese term, jinba Ittai, which speaks to a “oneness” between the car and driver (the traditional phrase literally translates to the “the oneness between horse and rider”), and Nakayama says the term applies not only to the construction of the car, but to the “Mazda music” experience of sitting behind the wheel too. Mazda CTO Ichiro Hirose, meantime, says the car’s audio systems are an example of the company’s monozukuri innovation, which merges “human craftsmanship and cutting edge technology” to perfect the highest-quality product.
“Many of our engineers and designers play in bands,” he adds, as if to hammer home the point.
Mazda
Few people know this better than Mazda engineer Matthew Valbuena, who has spent more than a decade at the venerable automotive company helping to perfect their audio systems and other in-vehicle technologies. As he tells Rolling Stone, Valbuena has long drawn on songs from his own playlists to help tune the Bose Premium Audio System in Mazda vehicles, and his handprints are (figuratively) all over the sound systems found in cars like the CX-90 and MX-5 today.
“A great system will reveal nuances and details you may have never noticed before, like hearing the singer take a breath before belting a note or hearing the texture of the drummer’s brush as they play,” Valbuena says. “My job is to create a spirited and dynamic listening experience for our customers.”
For the Southern California native, working on Mazda’s audio program is personal. “Because both of my parents are deaf, I was free to explore the radio dial and wander the aisles at local music retailers to discover music, and with no parental guardrails for content or genre, my music library is quite eclectic,” he says. But the self-professed “Nineties alternative rock and hip-hop” kid says he is also constantly looking for music his parents can “feel and enjoy.”
Valbuena double downs on the Japanese team’s remarks, saying it’s not always about the number of speakers or how much power the audio system has. “We’re obsessed with the experience [and] how driving a Mazda makes you feel,” he says. “That same obsession drove our development process for our Bose premium audio system, prioritizing the speaker placement early in the vehicle design process.”
Mazda
For Rolling Stone, Valbuena curated a road trip playlist that offers plenty of opportunity to evaluate your own car’s audio system — or simply to have an eclectic soundtrack for your drive. “Start with songs you’re familiar with as it’ll allow you to notice if the system changes the tonal quality of your favorite tracks due to boomy bass, harsh treble, or muddy midrange response,” Valbuena suggests, adding that “the ideal evaluation playlist should include tracks that are complex, vocal, acoustic, live, and bass-heavy.”
“Music is something that is both personal and communal and creates associations with memories and emotions,” Valbuena says, noting that “a great drive can be made even better when the right song starts playing.”
Here’s what he suggests listening to on your next drive along with ways to stream or purchase the songs and albums online.
“My Hero” – Foo Fighters
“I’ve seen the Foo Fighters in concert four times in the past decade and saw them perform in Los Angeles last summer with my teenage son,” Valbuena says. “Experiencing a song that was released when I was in high school while singing along with my high school-aged son and tens of thousands of fans makes for quite an impressionable memory. The raw energy of Dave Grohl’s vocals and the clear drum mix combined with associated Foo Fighters memories always makes for a spirited listen on any drive.”
“1979” – The Smashing Pumpkins
“I was learning to drive when this song started getting major airplay in Southern California, so hearing this song takes me back to the feeling of amazement and freedom that having a driver’s license brought. In the vehicle, the track’s loops and samples along with Billy Corgan’s vocals all have their unique placement out in front of the driver and you can’t help but feel nostalgic as you sing along with the chorus with your headlights pointed at the dawn.”
“Romeo and Juliet” – The Killers
“Over the years, I’ve gravitated towards musical covers of well-known songs as they often provide a new perspective on familiar songs that give me new details to appreciate,” Valbuena says. “Brandon Flowers’ understated vocals combined with the use of an electric guitar takes an amazing original from Dire Straits and turns it up. In the vehicle, the electric guitar intro sets the stage before the piano and kick drum come in followed by Flowers’ vocals, with everything layering nicely and clearly discernible in the mix.”
Valbuena calls these “complex” songs, or tracks with multiple instruments or layers that will allow you to discern if the system can maintain clarity and detail.
“Fast Car” – Tracy Chapman
“With Tracy Chapman’s vocals and her acoustic guitar accompanied by a bass guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, and drums, this simply arranged classic is always a great listen,” Valbuena says. “In the vehicle, the warmth and mellowness of Tracy’s voice is readily apparent and the notes on her acoustic guitar are presented closer to the driver. On the drums, you can hear the cross-check as it hits the snare and when the chorus comes in, the reverb from the harder drum hits helps create a more immersive listening experience.”
“The Promise” – Sturgill Simpson
“Sturgill Simpson’s cover of When in Rome’s ‘The Promise’ turns it into a moody outlaw country track from an earlier decade,” Valbuena says. “Sturgill’s voice builds in emotional intensity and in the vehicle the instruments are easily placed with an electric guitar coming from the left, Sturgill’s voice in the center, an acoustic guitar coming from the right, and the drummer in the back. As the song builds, the details of each instrument remain clear and easily perceptible.”
The above two playlist songs put vocals front and center. “Tracks with male or female lead vocalists allow you to evaluate how natural the system’s midrange response sounds,” Valbuena explains. “You’ll also be able to evaluate the system’s high frequency response by how it handles sibilant ‘S’ sounds.”
“First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” – Johnny Cash
Acoustic songs allow you to “assess the system’s ability to play the natural tones and timbre of the instruments,” Valbuena offers. A great example of an acoustic track to listen to in your car is this one, which “captures the power and frailty of Johnny Cash’s voice as he covers this song in tribute to his late wife June Carter Cash,” Valbuena says.
“In the vehicle, the stripped-down arrangement allows you to focus on the timbre of his voice and acoustic guitar. As the organ comes in, when you’re listening with Bose Centerpoint enabled, the spaciousness of the listening experience shifts as the reverb of the organ and his voice makes it seem as if you’re listening in a cathedral.”
“I Am the Highway (Live)” – Chris Cornell
Recorded during Chris Cornell’s Toronto stop on the late singer’s 2011 North American acoustic tour, “I Am the Highway” was later included on his Songbook album specifically because he “wanted tracks that sounded on tape just like they sounded live in the room, theatre or club — complete with mistakes,” Valbuena explains.
In the same way, listening live recordings in the car allow you to evaluate how well your sound system can reproduce the size and atmosphere of the venue, Valbuena says. Think: people in the crowd clapping and cheering, or the faint tapping of the hi-hats on the drum kit. “With the stripped-down performance, Chris’ vocals and acoustic guitar shine, allowing you to hear the guitar pick coming in contact with the strings and the gravel in his voice up front and center while the cheers from the crowd surrounds you.” It’s like a mini concert in your car.
“Free Fallin’ (Live)” – John Mayer
“This performance has John Mayer on center stage with his acoustic guitar flanked by two additional acoustic guitarists seated on either side of him. In the vehicle, you can hear the interplay between the three guitars and how their vocal and guitar harmonies play off each other. When the cheers and applause come in at the end of the track, you can tell that the venue and crowd is larger than that of the Chris Cornell track.”
“Doin’ It Right” – Daft Punk
Of course, everybody loves to turn up the bass in their cars, and there are a few playlist songs that will really get the party started. Valbuena recommends a little Daft Punk.
“From a sound quality reference standpoint, this track is great for identifying an audio system’s dynamic range and frequency range — how well it plays the loudest and quietest parts of the track and how well it handles the lowest and highest frequencies in the track,” he explains. “In the vehicle, this low-frequency bass extension along with the snare snap, vocoded vocals, and Panda Bear’s layered lyrics make for a great listening experience – especially if you can do it with the windows down and the volume up in a Mazda with a Bose Premium Audio System.”
“Turn Down for What” – DJ Snake and Lil Jon
“This track has been played hundreds if not thousands of times by Mazda and Bose audio engineers,” Valbuena confesses. “I introduced this track to the audio team back in 2014 and the track’s powerful bassline and 100bpm tempo was used to tune our vehicles’ low frequency response. At roughly 19 seconds, the bassline comes in and the undulating beats can create a muddy and unrefined bassline along with door panel buzz and rattle in lesser audio systems – especially at higher levels. Thanks to our tuning efforts, this track provides surprising amounts of tactile low-frequency feedback in our vehicles.”
What you want in bass-heavy songs: response that is tight and controlled, not muddy and boomy.
