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Reality Is Overrated When It Comes to Recordings (Article from music Engineer/Producer)

Peterinvan

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I have heard live music that sounds terrible. Musicians playing at their individual max volume, drum kits overwhelming, saxes whaling.

I now have much respect for recording engineers that tame all that and give us a nice illusion of a band or orchestra on stage.
 

Jim Shaw

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I have heard live music that sounds terrible. Musicians playing at their individual max volume, drum kits overwhelming, saxes whaling.

I now have much respect for recording engineers that tame all that and give us a nice illusion of a band or orchestra on stage.
As much as I detest most record producers personally, I have to give credit to those very few who can listen to audition tapes and decide which one-tenth of one percent are even worth bringing into a studio to see if they can possibly make a crowd-pleaser. Recording mixers can help somewhat, but the soloist or group just has to have some talent. Usually, a great deal of talent. Not necessarily a degree from Julliard or Curtis, but native ability and training. Take a look back at artists that have sold lots of records: most really do have some talent that the mobs like.

Figuratively, no matter how many mics you put on one drum kit, it still takes a great drummer. A bad singer will sound just as bad singing into a U87 as an SM58. Marshall's best amp can't save a crappy guitarist. And Steinway & Sons can't save a lousy piano player.

Oh, and a pair of Wilsons fed by McIntosh's best can't make a crappy record sound anything but louder crap.

There's another side to this coin. Except for classical, jazz, and solo instrumental music, record producers have no motive for recording reality. None, zero, zilch. Their jobs are to embellish the musical performance in a way that gets air time and is appetizing to an audience with enough money to pay for the record, CD, stream, etc. It is not only not real, but take away all the mixer's tricks and the records will probably not even sell to the band's family.

When it comes to jazz, symphonic, solo instrumental, and chamber music, forming an honest image is job one. What happens then is we can hear any crummy musicians for exactly what they are. The string section may be precise or ragged. The pianist uneven, or the violinist unable to keep up. A conductor may be in a rush. The hall may add nasty reflections or modes. The jazz drummer might be a last-minute substitute, and still figuring it out. Reality can be brutal. It's why there are so many recordings of some musical pieces.

(Not) just one man's view.
 
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Sal1950

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Man there's a tough crowd here. :facepalm:
 

TimF

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In the background in almost all Star Trek episodes, and in many Star Wars episodes, and other movies about outer space travel there is often if not constantly a drone of brown or pink or white noise to represent god knows what---the sound of air movement or the hum of engines, and on top of that is the dialogue and music. Is that drone in the background music? Does is serve a function we could consider related to music?
 

Axo1989

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In the background in almost all Star Trek episodes, and in many Star Wars episodes, and other movies about outer space travel there is often if not constantly a drone of brown or pink or white noise to represent god knows what---the sound of air movement or the hum of engines, and on top of that is the dialogue and music. Is that drone in the background music? Does is serve a function we could consider related to music?

Much video entertainment content has suitable ambience track/s. I assume the sci-fi ones are the spaceship's mechanisms, for example. If there was silence, it would sound like a soap opera—which is ok for Star Wars fans, but not for Trekkies. But a procedural will have an office background with people's movements and murmurs. Sometimes the spatial characteristics of these tracks are quite convincing.
 

SMc

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In the background in almost all Star Trek episodes, and in many Star Wars episodes, and other movies about outer space travel there is often if not constantly a drone of brown or pink or white noise to represent god knows what---the sound of air movement or the hum of engines, and on top of that is the dialogue and music. Is that drone in the background music? Does is serve a function we could consider related to music?
And sometimes the space ship ambiance continues when the scene changes to planetside.
 

tomelex

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Two channel stereo is a limitation of what you have to work within. The original main game was at a movie theater where you could pin the dialogue to the screen horizontally. The man who "invented" stereo even tried to address some of its flaws but never could iron it all out.

Tying to expect too much from stereo is the road to audio hell. Somebody decides what you are going to listen too. They might think you need your audio compressed to hell for sure. The goal is to get things to sound like what you expect, ie drums should sound like drums, and to do that you need to manipulate the original feed to get it to sound right out of speakers, which are another limitation as well. And your room too.

Outside of compression, you can tailor your sound to what you want, with rudimentary tone controls or much more advanced digital techniques, either way we are in charge of our systems.

Only when you know what your system is missing for you, such as low bass or a too forward or rearward sound stage, should you start to try to make changes. And although you can make a change with a component (say a more powerful headphone amplifier or using a SET amplifier or speakers) equalization and room correction to get rid of damages done by your own listening environment should be a priority.

Near field listening with you own speakers is a good place to start to determine what is the issue you are trying to fix, the gear or the room.

No way in hell can a stereo pair of speakers bring the original (live non amplified event) to your home, it is at best how much you accept the illusion, your tolerance. In the audio club you can listen to all kinds of systems, they all have their strengths and weaknesses, none are correct, none are wrong.

While folks can agree for example that a drum set sounds more real on someone's system, it is never real. There is no reference in audio, not even the recording. It is the wild west.
 
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