When will there be decent classical music recordings?


With "pop" music the recordings are such that you can hear the rasp of the guitar string, the echo of the piano, the tingle of the percussion ... and so on .... and in surround sound.
Surround sound is brilliant in picking out different instruments that would otherwise have been "lost" or merged with the other sounds.
Someone will say well that is not how you listen at a concert, but that is just archaic. As a friend said many years ago to me ... whats wrong with mono?!
I am sure Beethoven or whomever would have been excited if they could have presented their music in effectively another dimension.
I have yet to come across any classical recording that grabs me in the way it should, or could. Do they operate in a parallel universe musicwise?
I used to play in an orchestra so I am always looking out for the "extra"  presence in music ... in amongst it, not just watching and listening from a distance


tatyana69

Showing 1 response by audiotomb

two and three microphone classical and jazz recordings shine because of the microphones which are capturing the layering of the instruments in the space. No dropped in multi tracking. There is no phase issues, simulated imaging, etc. you hear the natural timbre and decay

try going to the symphony, closing your eyes and picking out each violist, viola or cello.
if they play in unison you should hear them as one albiet with a width and depth to the emsemble section
you hear the orchestra, you hear the room

the minimal mics pick this up spectacularly

i wish more pop musicians would do straight takes with minimal mikes in the studio with a lot of acoustic instruments and electronics played at matched volumes. Sure you can’t isolate an anoying mistake here or there but the imaging is to die for.



Classical Recordings - they practically give away used classical records from the analog era which nearly always are in mint condition.


there are a few chamber pieces where each instrument is recorded in the round ala 5.1
does the cello have to jump out from behind you?
not my cup of tea