Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Speaker Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: "...after that, listening to any recording of the piece is like eating cardboard."

Posted by Presto (A) on November 15, 2014 at 12:54:23

In Reply to: "...after that, listening to any recording of the piece is like eating cardboard." posted by genungo on November 15, 2014 at 11:17:45:

Guys, live music is a wonderful experience - it's the real thing, with live players and real instruments in a venue. But playback is another animal - it's still music but it's a different experience.

We all know what live recordings do:

There are no frequency response changes. What you hear are the sounds that were created. Phase, timing, everything - it's perfect, but it's based on your precise location in the audience. No two people are experiencing the exact same performance - all listening positions are anywhere from slightly to radically different! You get to see the trumpet player's cheeks puff out. You see the sweat on the conductors forehead. You see the synergy of the members of the string section...

But...

A recording done *properly* has microphones (very high quality ones) placed where you could NEVER sit! And, further to that, there is the case of multiplicity - the microphones are placed strategically where they can best pick up each instrument, or singer, or section. These are recorded as individual tracks, and can be later mixed, with the recording engineer able to pan the track (L to R), change it's relative level, and even impart time-related effects like reverb or even convolution with impulses of other acoustic spaces.

So. In conclusion, although the live experience offers things a recording never could, the opposite is true. Recordings (done well) offer us things that live can't, if for no other reason, we only have 2 ears and cannot be in two (or more) places at once!

Cheers,
Presto

Edits: 11/15/14

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---