Why Don't More People Into Music Reproduction At Home Play Around With Musical Instruments


 In the pursuit of music reproduction in the home it is my firm belief that you must listen to live music every now & again so that you know & understand how real music,with real instruments,in real physical spaces sounds...
 With that as a foundation I used in judging equipment's "voice" I also believe that playing around with a musical instrument is an excellent way to gain first hand experience with musical sound...EVERY person that reads this can learn a few musical notes,on ANY musical instrument on the planet..For instance I play around with electric guitar.NO I can NOT play,but I can play the notes EFG,on first string & BCD on the second string...Now  I know those few notes & easily recognize them in any song..I am just this coming week going to start playing around with an electric keyboard....So I wonder,why don't more audiophiles simply play around with real instruments as part of their pursuit of honest reproduction in the home?Surely the education in reality is worth the $100.00 it takes to get an entry level guitar,keyboard,horn etc...
freediver

Showing 2 responses by geof3

Yeah, not many $100.00 instruments are going to accomplish what you suggest. Though any good musician can make any level of instrument work well, and sound pretty good. As a recently retired professional musician (I continue to play on my own time now), I am fortunate to have been around live music in various settings, all the time. The music thing is just in the blood. It never ends.
@lloydc Dead on with your note regarding recorded music never being the same as live. Recorded music is tweaked to "sound" like the artist/producer intended. Not to be a true representation of what instruments sound like. Take my drums for example. I've got a great kit... Raw, in just about about any room with no mic'ing etc. they sound really good. However, set those bad boys up with a great mic set, put some effects in the mix and eq them for the space... they are an entirely different animal. Any "acoustic" instrument will be the same. Anytime something has been recorded the "instrument sound" is altered one way or another. This includes pretty much any instrument. So, in some ways, the "audiophile" pursuit of "perfect reproduction" really is impossible. But, it's still a fun pursuit and makes me happy, and I'm endlessly amazed at how little things can make such a difference in end product listening.