Rather than being disappointed in the sound of applause, we should be amazed. Amazed that plastic cones, aluminum ribbons, metal dones, mylar sheets and the like, are capable of sounding so much like kick drums, bassoons, Steinway concert grands and 300 year old violins. And all of this information is being retrieved by a beam of coherent light reading pits in a piece of aluminum foil! Or a stylus reading an erose canyon wall. It is truly amazing and wonderful that it sounds as close to live music as it does. Be amazed! Happy listening, Don
Applause: Bummer
Now that I have a rig I can call a "system", I often find myself looking up from a book or the computer or whatever to pay attention to a particularly involving musical passage. Finally, it ends and I think, 'wow, that was just right', or 'jeepers, Vladimir or Dizzy or _______ was right here a moment ago'. But if it's a live recording, the applause always brings me down. Never, not once have I heard applause on any audio rig that sounded like hands clapping. Baez "From Every Stage", Dizzy "An Electrifying Evening" and "Newport II", "Jazz at the Pawnshop", Horowitz at the Met", Clapton "Unplugged", nada. Am I opening the gates to hell pursuing realistic applause? Is it out there at $50,000 per? Should I care? Have I ruined anyone's day?