Here's the image of the venue during setup:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fgcgywHFiIYuEPfARIOhVJpXYk2bfOo5/view?usp=sharing
Incredible Audiophile Imaging -- at a Concert!
I was just at a music festival in the mountains near the border of Portugal and Spain. One of the shows was the duo of Maria João (vocalist -- either an acquired tasted or too weird, depending on your preferences) and Mário Laginha (an excellent pianist). The concert was outdoors in the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Ammaia. The sound system consisted of two line arrays, nothing more. But it was incredibly well mic'ed. A pic with the techs setting up is attached. We were seated very close to the sound boards.
About two songs into the concert, I realized that Laginha's piano was mic'ed so that an image of the keyboard, in incredible detail, was mapped from the left line array to the right. Closing my eyes, I could "see" this entire 70 foot wide keyboard image, to a level of detail that any musician who knows keys and scales could easily reconstruct exactly what Laginha was playing. It was absolutely amazing! I had never heard sound with that level of clarity, detail, and imaging in a concert before. The purpose-built San Francisco Jazz Center probably comes close in my experience, but a somewhat distant second place to this simple line array system.
I'm sure this effect was helped by there being no walls or ceiling to create any reflections. And I'm sure being right next to the sound engineers contributed. Did the altitude or cold temperatures matter? Regardless, it made Laginha's playing that much more enjoyable. It was such a treat compared to concerts held at stadium venues, or even large clubs, where the sound often sucks.
I read up on line arrays at https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/line-arrays-explained to get a better appreciation.
Wondering if any other 'goners have experienced something like this at a concert. If so, what was the venue? What do you think contributed to the stellar imaging?
Showing 6 responses by sfgak
Thank you all for the responses! @g2the2nd Thanks for the link. Yes, a very similar effect. It’s not "real sounding", much in the same way that many producers / sound engineers are fond of panning the drum kit all the way across the sound stage. But nonetheless interesting. @sns I realize that the way I described it, it sounds like it was very in-your-face. But it was more subtle than that. It was a very gestalt-like thing. It was in part why it took a couple of songs to perceive it. You could listen to the concert as a whole and not notice it (and in fact none of the 9 other people I was with -- of which one other was a musician -- noticed it). But once you shifted into hearing it (much like those 1980’s-era stereogram photos where you cross your eyes to see the 3D image), then you could bask in this virtual keyboard. @corelli Yes I like the SET / full range driver analogy. I think the sheer simplicity of this sound system, the absence of the complications of reflection, and the sound engineers’ maniacal attention to detail all combined in this uber-cool way... |
So the piano was a grand, possibly a concert grand, opened. It was heavily mic'ed, at least 3 close to the keyboard and 1 or 2 for ambience. My belief is that it was very carefully mixed and panned based on microphones, but not panned based on frequency. It was super clean sounding, and did not have the digital hash which is the hallmark of most DSP systems. Again, this was more of a gestalt thing. You could listen to the sound holistically without hearing this L to R pan effect, but if you focused on the L to R aspect of the keyboard, you got that clearly. My friends did not notice this. Maybe my hearing is just very visual. I only got it when I listened with my eyes closed. I guess I am strange in that, if the sound is clean and deliberate, I am inclined to like the presentation. I assume it's what the artist wanted. Not everything has to sound like Jazz at the Pawnshop to be enjoyed. I do enjoy great imaging, but I can also enjoy a manufactured soundstage as well. I won't refuse to listen to music that does not meet some uncompromising ideal of recording standards. I understand @ghdprentice 's lamentations with DSP messing up the sound at the symphony, and completely sympathize. I hate artificial sound. But when it appears to be what the artist wants, and is very clean (again, telegraphing intent), then I enjoy it as the artist intends... |
+100 @ghdprentice |
@tonyrox Not surprising. Jackson Browne is absolutely fastidious about his sound. Listen, for example, to how clean and meticulous the sound is on the live album "Love is Strange" with David Lindley... |