Memorex is better!
Posted by: Mike Hanson on 31 May 2001
I've experimented with sitting on the floor near the orchestra, where the tonal balance is wrong, but there's a wonderful sense of immediacy and intimacy. I've also sat in the "expensive" balcony, where the tonal balance is very good, but the notes lose their shape. The notes from the piano all blur together, and you can't really hear the bows hitting the strings.
I've been to other halls where the acoustics are better, and Roy Thompson Hall is about to be re-vamped to improve its own. (People have always complained about the sound.)
This brings me to my ultimate point. I've rarely been to a concert where both the performance and sonics were fantastic. In contrast, my stereo almost never disappoints me. I can pick and choose recordings of the "best" performances, and the sound is almost always stellar.
When I hear people claiming that live music is the yardstick against which we should judge our systems, I have to laugh. Wake up, boys and girls! Live music can be good, but it's just as likely to be a disappointment. In contrast, with our stereos satisfaction is almost always guaranteed.
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
First of all, let me stress that a great performance in a great hall is a wondrous thing, and yes it's better than listening to my system at home (by a bit). That performance of Mozart's Requiem at the George Weston Recital Hall was one good example.Second, I was thinking mostly about classical music. Jazz, for example, is almost always better live. However, jazz is improvisational, and is always about "the moment". I usually hear live Jazz in smaller venues, so I don't have to worry about the room screwing with the sound before it gets to my ears. Also, I prefer sit right up close to the performers. If I'm too far back, then the same problems occur as with classical music.
For live "rock", the sound is pretty much always substandard, and is easily bettered by my system. The caveat, though, is that it might be the event that you desire, and not the performance itself. Going go a great big concert with thousands of people can be exciting, just for the energy of it. Sure the sound is shite, but you don't really care. BTW, I don't usually go to live rock gigs, because I don't really care about the "event", the sound is usually crap, and the quality of the performance cannot be predicted. There are a few combinations of artist+venue that entice me, but they are few and far between.
Raves et al. are another thing altogether. In that situation, it's mostly about the environment/atmosphere. Going nuts with a bunch of other people can be fun, although I have to be in the perfect mood to do it. (Most of the time I'm too much of an individualist to blend comfortably.) The sound is always very loud (louder than I would usually play my system), and sonics are sometimes good. Again, the venue can really screw with this, as I've been to a few in warehouses that were boomy, echoey, etc.
BTW, the bass at raves is so extreme that I interpret it as a "special effect" rather than part of the music; IOW, It doesn't blend well. Also, a simple, regular beat bores me. Consequently, most "Dance" music doesn't do anything for me; the complexity and variety of Drum'n'Bass is much more my style. Therefore, I tend to enjoy "Dark Raves", and I simply despise "Happy Hardcore".
So I hope that clarifies my stance a little.
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
That's not what I said. I don't particularly enjoy being "one of the horde, moving as one". It has nothing to do with "coolness". Hell, if I were considered "cool", then it would mean I'm just like all the other cool people, and then I would have failed as an "individual". That's an oversimplification, but I think you get the point: I don't like to be a sheep.
>> What you meant is that your were thinking mostly of Roy Thompson Hall. <<
Nope. I've been to concerts at many different venues, including the George Weston Recital Hall, Glenn Gould Studio at the CBC (which has good acoustics), Massey Hall (the old home of the TSO, and much better than Roy Thompson Hall), the church that Tafelmusik plays in (I can't recall the name, even though I lived two blocks from the place), The Centre of the Arts in Regina (which has amazing acoustics), and probably a few others I can't recall at the moment. Having good acoustics is helpful, although I still prefer to be closer to the stage to minimize the hall interference. I believe our proximity to the stage was a big part of why the Requiem concert was so stunning. If we were at the back of the hall, I suspect we would not have been so impressed. Of course, there's also the issue of the quality of the performance, which will always be hit & miss.
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
[This message was edited by Mike Hanson on THURSDAY 31 May 2001 at 18:41.]