Personally, I'm a trombonist. Quite a bit of my audition is searching for something such that Joe Alessi sounds just the way he does when I actually see him at Carnegie/Avery-fisher. In other words, PHENOMENAL! Similarly, another part of it consists of listening to some brass heavy orchestral works, such as Mahler 3, Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz, Beethoven 5,Brahms 1,2,4, etc, Beethoven 3 (maybe slightly less brass-heavy), etc. Then I listen to some classic rock, just to sound how it deals with yet another part of the music that I listen to, but the initial two parts tend to be the more important.
Are you an instrumentalist/singer, and if so, how does it affect the way you audition equipment and/or listen to music.
I play drums and just about any other "struck" style instrument. I don't rely on drum records to audition equipment because I've found this seems to be one of the easier instruments to reproduce. I use acoustic piano, brass, and of course the human voice - male and female.
I studied classical piano, sang off-broadway, taught myself guitar and played in bands all over New York. Being a musician has absolutely affected the way I approach audio.
First, from making my own recordings, both on puny 4-tracks and in big studios, I've spent time getting the right sounds in the room so they would sound good on tape, and when you're mixing, you really have to think about balance between instruments and carving out a range for each instrument so that it stands out from the rest while blending into a whole. I think a good audio system accomplishes a similar feat.
Gear-wise, I have a 1967 Super Reverb for my guitar. The Fender not only introduced me to tubes, but it's simply the best purchase of anything I've ever made. For 8 years now, every single time I plug in, I always have to smile at the sweet sound coming out of the amp. This experience has given me something to strive for when assembling a music system-- even if just for a second, I want to just get some joy from the equipment and be reminded of why I was excited to buy it in the first place.
Saying that I "play" the guitar is an insult to everyone that actually does. I noodle around with it. My hobby probably is more buying guitars (although I don't have very many) than actually playing. So far I have an Ibanez AR 100, a Fender Stratocaster Deluxe in black, an Ibanez acoustic. What I would dearly love as a substitute for a vintage Hamer Studio in TV yellow would be a Gibson Les Paul Faded Double Cutaway. Would also like a Guild acoustic and a big box jazz guitar, geez IÂ’d settle for a Washburn. So my "collection" would still be very small, but give me a break I can't even play the damn things!
I play the guitar, a Les Paul electric and a Picador acoustic, more enthusiasticly than good. I have been told I have good voice, but won't sing on stage unless I'm hammered, and then not so good.
Piano since I was 4, stoped in the teen years to pursue guitar, bass, and little drums. Also lucky enough to have perfect pitch so that helps. Nowadays, it's hard enough to find time enjoying my 2-ch system and check on Audiogon. Musical instruments took a backseat...
As a musician (guitar & trumpet) and vocalist, my listening habits are a mixed bag. I enjoy singing along in the car with a cheap radio, and at home listening more closely to the fine musical details from my 2 channel rigs. I have always looked for equipment that has been described as transparent or neutral, so I can hear what the recording engineers intended. However, after spending time in recording studios, and knowing what the potential is, I am dismayed by much of the source material that's available. IMHO it's source that's the key to enjoyable listening, not the MEGA-BUCK systems that unfortunately many times, just add up to being expensive EQs. So, I guess being a musician, I really, really do appreciate the few albums & CDs where the instruments sound like the real thing. Sonny
Drummer for the last 12 years. My main inlfluence was also Neil Peart of RUSH, for playing I usually go the progressive rock side. There's a bunch of drummers I admire, Neil Peart, John Bonham, Bill Bruford, Phil Collins (Genesis, Peter Gabriel era), Christian Vander, etc.
I am a classically trained percussionist (Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University) and a beginning acoustic guitarist. I think that the keen attention to tone quality that I learned as a musician carries over into my listenting to audio gear. When I'm really drawn into a recording, it's usually because of the tone quality.
I have been playing trumpet for the last 27 years, thats how I got into classical music. One day, my teacher gave me a Maurice Andre record. I liked it so much, that I found the classical station, WQXR, and sat and listened to my dads fisher 400 unitl they played Maurice Andre. Somehow in all that waiting, I began to really like classical music. And, WQXR still plays Maurice Andre once in a while!
I am a bass player (upright, as well as electric, and everything from classical, to swing, to rock and roll), and I do believe that it has had an impact upon my hi-fi tastes. I am a big fan of accuracy, and I want an upright to sound like an upright, a Gibson to sound like a Gibson, a Fender to sound like a Fender. Sure, I want to hear the bass, but I want it controlled, and not bloated, or over-hyped. But I am also quite keen on upper mids, where the bass spends more of its time than you might think. Really good, really convincing upright bass is a difficult thing to reproduce, so most of my critical listening will include some upright, for sure.
Interestingly, my hi-fi love has seemed to affect my bass gear as well. I am a big fan of the less well know, be more well made equipment from the likes of Euphonic Audio (who started out making ultra-accurate hi-fi speakers) and Accugroove.
I play the Drums. I started playing on September 26th. 1980 the day AFTER John Bonham died. He played drums for Led Zepplin, for those here who don`t know who he is. I was INSPIRED by Neil Peart of RUSH! I always loved the drumming of Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips as well as 1000`s others. I like to use live drum recordings to see if a piece of gear is good or not. Neil Peart`s solo on Exit...Stage Left from 1981 is 1 of the best to use, as well as his later release of A Show Of Hands 1989, it has better sound quality on it.
I grew up playing classical violin and piano and about 10 years ago progressed into playing jazz piano/keyboard. Music has been such a part of my life that its only natural to extend that into how I listen to music whether its at a live concert or in the comforts of my living room. Am I more critical than non-musicians. Probably, and sometimes that does detract from the overall enjoyment but I wouldn't have it any other way!
I play 2 Indian classical stringed instruments, rudra vina (archaic, ancestor of sitar family) and surbahar (bass sitar). It definitely comes in handy when I'm auditioning equipment - I bring along a CD of my teacher and know what it really should sound like. They say you can tell painters at museums because they walk up to see the paintings from close range while non-painters stand back. Do musicians listen more closely? Kind of asks you to get into other people's heads....
(Holds thumb and index finger about a centimeter apart.)I play about this much piano.
For me effective practice/performance is having a mental image of the sound I want and then trying to achieve it. As the performance gets better,so does the idealization,so I'm constantly chasing something that is unobtainable(at least for me),but making progress in both areas.
Yes,as my ears become more accomplished it does effect the way I judge equipment. I'm more conscious of articulation and imaging than I was five years ago. Who knows how I will feel in another five years?
Aaron Copeland made distinctions between listening to music on sensual and musical planes. I'm becomming more conscious of counterpoint and tone colors of orchestrated combinations of instruments. I find myself listening to less large ensemble,concert hall music and more small ensemble,salon venue music-be it classical or jazz
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