Sat front row at the symphony...

My 50 year career in music was pretty well divided into 25 years as a symphony musician and 25 years as a recording engineer.  The major orchestra I performed in played in some of the world's best concert halls.  Two of the best were the "Musikverein" in Vienna and Theatro Colon in Buenos Aries.  As an example of the use of sound reinforcement, Royal Festival Hall in London is outstanding. They quietly, over the period of more than a year, gradually introduced the system until critics praised the hall as becoming more and more refined, like the ageing process of a fine violin.  They were enraged to find that they were duped when the secret was revealed !  My first encounter with the hall left me with the impression that it was impossible to fill that huge hall with sound, but on another visit a dozen years later, when the system was activated, it was a very comfortable hall in which to play.

    Just as properly placed microphones that provide a sightline to all parts of an orchestra give an honest sonic description of the ensemble, so does listening from a vantage point in the hall from which all instrumentalists are visible.  Though there are a few exceptions, most venues place the orchestra above the level of the main floor's audience.   Listening from the front row of any hall requires the listener to accept that three-quarters of the orchestra is being "filtered" through the first few rows of instrumentalists.  Not an ideal listening situation although it might appeal to some.  

    A reasonably well known reviewer often was critical of the orchestra in which I performed.  It wasn't until an unusual circumstance forced him to sit in a different seat that he realized that his longtime seat was at a "null" point in the hall.  His criticisms were correct when made from HIS seat !

   This is a good place to quote Duke Ellington : "If it sounds good --- it IS good" ! There is a seat in every hall for every kind of listener and the quest to find it is worth the price of admission.   Keep buying those tickets !!

I had the opportunity to perform in the Berlin "Philharmonie" .   During rehearsals I was able to go out in the hall and listen to the orchestra.  When I returned, my colleagues asked what the hall sounded like.  I told them that I was amazed at how the Germans had re-invented monophonic sound.  It was like listening to an orchestra from one end of a long funnel !  There was absolutely zero of the effect that we audiophiles refer to as "imaging".  By design ?

Viber 6's comment, "If I were a sitting giraffe with my head way over people, then the 2nd row might be nice."  That is a great way of articulating my previous comment about achieving a "sight line" to every instrument in an orchestra. From that vantage point the listener [or microphone] can perceive all three dimensions of a large group of musicians : width, depth and height.  Sitting directly in front of such a large group of 100 or so instrumentalists does not provide the important element of depth.  I cannot dispute the choice of those who choose to do so because that choice is legitimate, just not complete.  Any seat in any hall may be to a listener's liking but most likely not to every one's taste. It reminds me of a friend who was the manager of a large motorcycle dealership.  One day, as I looked over the huge sales floor filled with hundreds of motorcycles, I asked how they expected to sell so many different styles and types.  His response was, "There's an ass out there for EVERY seat" !   I guess the same could be said for the seats in any concert hall ?   

    A music reviewer was once a guest at one of our audio listening sessions and made an interesting comment.  He suggested that it would be a good idea for orchestral recordings to list the "perspective" in which they were recorded.  i.e. -- from the perspective of the conductor, a musician within the group, a listener nearby in the hall or one in the balcony.  We all can identify recordings that emulate those "perspectives", can't we ?   Of course it was a suggestion that went nowhere because of the complexity involved but was interesting nontheless.

    It is no surprise to learn of such varied tastes in listening habits any more that the differences we see in the viewing of "art objects" or the enjoyment of culinary creations.  As an old friend used to say, "That's why they make chocolate  AND vanilla" !

Adolf Herseth, the spectacular trumpet soloist with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, once told a story in a radio interview with Bill [?] Russo about Fritz Reiner who, in my opinion, was the most important conductor the orchestra ever had.  Apparently, Reiner decided that the brass section was "killing everything" and advised them to "cut it in half".  He went out into the hall and listened to the results of his instruction and was pleased.   However, when he returned to the podium, his instructions were soon altered as he continually asked for more and more from the brass section to which he had just given instructions to the opposite.  Herseth said that it didn't take long for the brass to be playing the same level that had been playing previously !  It seems that the podium in Orchestra Hall was located in a "null" that no one realized existed until Reiner experimented with his fabulous brass section !   Podiums are apparently not the best spot in the house from which to listen.  Whodathunkit ?

I got a real chuckle out of "Mahler 123's" comment :   "Hearing the spit clog a horn player's instrument is interesting, but ultimately distracting."   Years ago, when my wife was still my girlfriend, I took a real chance when I pointed out to her that the water that accumulates in brass instruments is condensation --- not spit !  The remark has never been forgotten !  All of my trombones work that way.

    The basic law of physics that states that no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time can be expanded to encompass the dilemma in which we find ourselves as the number of performers increase in an ensemble.  No listener can be in two listening positions at the same time either.  If you are close to one performer in order to experience intimate detail of their sound you will necessarily preclude experiencing the same intimate detail from the other performers in the ensemble. It is a reality with which we must deal that increases with the size of the ensemble. Normally, we would say that we heard the "??? Orchestra" last night, not that we heard the first row of the "??? Orchestra" last night.  Another problem that must be faced is when a large ensemble is being recorded and the recording engineer chooses to use multiple microphones.   The resultant phase distortion, as sounds from different instruments hit different microphones at different times creates a blurred image of what is really going on because the process is unintentionally attempting to emulate the impossible idea of a single listener in two [or more] different places at the same time.  In a symphonic setting, a person cannot be next to the concertmaster, the first clarinetist and the tympanist at the same time except in the magic world of the recording engineer and the twist of a knob.  Experiencing a live symphony concert from a position from which all instrumentalists can be in visual contact is the best compromise and has the added benefit of minimizing the natural phase distortion that such a large ensemble presents to the listener.   Smaller ensembles are best for clarity and perception of presence.  It is just Nature's Law.