Tinny sound accompanying cello on recordings ?


I'm somewhat baffled by an on and off tinny sound I've heard on several recordings of Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Up until a few years ago, I either didn't hear it or didn't notice it. The more revealing the sound system, the more obvious is this phenomenon. At first, I thought something was wrong with my speaker drivers, but when I listened through other transducers, I noticed the sound was still there. I proceeded to isolate the rest of my equipment, but the rather unwelcome "guest" remained. It didn't matter whether I used the same recordings with a cd player or a phono front end, things didn't vary. I listened to identical passages of the Dvorak Concerto with Fourier/Szell and Harrell/Levine. I haven't yet bothered to check other cello recordings. This tinny/sizzling sound is a shadow-like resonance hovering around the cello's notes as they are being played, asserting its presence more frequently, it seems, from the mid to upper midrange. I assume some of you classical fans have heard this. Can anyone explain exactly what's going on here ? By the way, I hear it also (though less obviously because of the much smaller sized sound system) when watching and listening to the same piece performed by Rostropovich on You Tube with my computer and its little Altec speakers. Listen in particular to the first movement from the time the cello enters, and onward.
opus88

Showing 3 responses by shadorne

You can tune the cello sound with the bow weight - a heavy bow will sound duller and more resonant and a lighter bow will sound thinner and more "reedy". Pretty much every instrument is tweaked - drum sets have pillows and scotch tapes over them - it is normal - for goodness sake don't sell your audio gear because something sounds too strident - it is likely to have been INTENDED to sound that way.

This is where a system equipment selection based on a nice full warm sound will make you miss half the expression in music - yes it is true - music is SUPPOSED to sound strained/strident/loud/aggresive/painfull/shocking sometimes - music expresses all emotions - not just "beauty" and "warmth". Russian composers often have their music played with a strident sound to the strings - this is intentional!

Those who chase only "beautiful sound" - you know the female vocalist or the "Cowboy Junkies" type stuff are missing the other side of music ....loud bombastic and aggressive shock and awe music...there are all kinds and a properly selected system will play it all...
I never heard of adding weights on bows per se. Is this a known technique?

No it is not normally done that way - usually the bow is balanced so you select the bow based on its feel and weight to help produce the desired sound.

Sorry if my narrow example missed the mark - there are a lot of other ways to control the sound of a cello - I did not intend to give an exhaustive list.
Mental strings versus gut strings are TOTALLY different, as the string players above can attest to. It is always great to sit down and compare are 17th century consort of viols to a modern chamber ensemble playing the same piece

For those interested there is Chris Hogwood's stuff "Academy of ancient music" done on period instruments or reconstructed instruments like what they would have used...I have a fair number of his recordings and like them.