Do we really know what "Live" music sounds like?
Do we really know what music sounds like?
Pure, live, non-amplified, unadulterated music.
Musicians do but most layman do not.
Interesting read by Roger Skoff.
Enjoy.
Of course we do. Unless you have a very limited musical palette that only consists of amplified music, then you know exactly what live instruments and vocals sound like. Some of my most enjoyable musical experiences have been "live". Rigoletto, Turandot, or La Boheme at the Met Bryn Terfel, Cecilia Bartoli, Joyce DiDonato or Renée Fleming at local recitals Buddy Rich and his orchestra or Woody Herman and the Thundering Herd at the Commodore Ballroom |
It seems that most people set up as the standard to compare their systems to; "sounds like live music or an instrument they are familiar with. That certainty is a noble aspiration, but in my opinion impossible to meet. An audio system is a series of electronic pieces of equipment trying its hardest to sound like wood or metal instruments in which string are struck, bowed, plucked... or blown through with small pieces of wood vibrating or air from the musicians lungs flowing through complex passageways and escaping out the other end. How can pieces of electronic equipment sound "just like" this complex system that generates music. To add to this what is the listener basing his comparison to? A concert attended to in a specific hall. First audio memory is extremely fleeting. I forget exactly how quickly it fades but it is seconds. Second the musical instrument that you are saying your system sounds exactly like will change it sounds based on the size of the hall, how filled the hall is with listeners how many other musicians are around playing, the humidity etc. These influences all affect the sound one hears so one piano played in one location will not sound like another piano played in another location not to mention who made the piano and how in tune it is. Now you play this recorded music in a living room, your basement, a dedicated listening room, a room that has been treated one that has not been treated etc. All this makes me very puzzled with how people tout how their system reproduces music just like what they heard at such and such concert. The best one can say is my system is extremely musical and gives me the impression of what I remember instruments or a concert sounding like. You can talk about decay, harmonics and on and on which are all very important for creating a live accurate sound but one can only approximate the sound of an instrument and will never truly sound like that concert you fondly remember or that instrument you play. The last item I always consider when listening to a review of how great a system sounds is that everyone hears the same sounds differently. |
i agree with @tony1954 to add on to the above, i would say, if one plays an instrument, been in or heard a live choir or recital, one is exposed to live music and can form clear impressions of what it sounds like... the exact sound can fade from memory but the impressions formed are more easily remembered |
i get your skepticism. But from those of us that have been dedicated to creating a great system to reproduce real music, and to people dedicated to develop systems capable of delivering that sound, an incredible amount of skill can be developed over decades. It is one thing going out and listening to live music in different venues one or twice, occasionally. Then it is very different doing the same hundreds of times over long periods of time.
I have gone to concerts at the Oregon Symphony hundreds of times. They always announce when they are recording for a release. My seats are under the primary microphones. I own a bunch of recordings made there. The acoustics are very predictable and different from my seat as they are above mine. But completely predictable. I have also frequented the Chicago Symphony and many venues, and other cities. You can learn about venues and acoustics. All part of being an audiophile or developing equipment with true passion. |
