Unwanted Sound On Recordings
Posted by: max in hampshire on 04 November 2001
I recently bought the set of Bethoven Piano Sonatas by Richard Goode. They are highly acclaimed by the Penguin Guide, by Gramophone Good CD Guide, and by contributors to rec.classical music recordings.
The piano playing is excellent but, IMO much of the music is ruined by a gentle, but clearly audible, "wheezing" noise I take to be the piano mechanism - probably a pedal.
Having established that I do not have a faulty set, I can hardly sustain the argument that the CDs are unacceptable in view of all the credits they get. But to me they are not worth listening to - £90 wasted.
I accept that a piano is a mechanical device but I would have thought that a recording engineer would refuse to record a piano making intrusive mechanical noises. I certainly have no other recordings of a piano where the mechanism can be heard.
To take another example, a violinist breathing, almost sniffing, very audibly. I accept violinists have to breathe but couldn't he, or she, be persuaded to breathe a little more quietly while being recorded!
I would appreciate the views of others. Am I too easily distracted from the music? Do others accept that noise of this type is simply part of a musical performance?
The piano playing is excellent but, IMO much of the music is ruined by a gentle, but clearly audible, "wheezing" noise I take to be the piano mechanism - probably a pedal.
Having established that I do not have a faulty set, I can hardly sustain the argument that the CDs are unacceptable in view of all the credits they get. But to me they are not worth listening to - £90 wasted.
I accept that a piano is a mechanical device but I would have thought that a recording engineer would refuse to record a piano making intrusive mechanical noises. I certainly have no other recordings of a piano where the mechanism can be heard.
To take another example, a violinist breathing, almost sniffing, very audibly. I accept violinists have to breathe but couldn't he, or she, be persuaded to breathe a little more quietly while being recorded!
I would appreciate the views of others. Am I too easily distracted from the music? Do others accept that noise of this type is simply part of a musical performance?
Max
quote:In the case of your Beethoven recording, it seems to be an actual problem, but in some cases one might accept background noises as long as the interpretation is so beautiful it goes beyond that - like many old recordings made before WWII.
Do others accept that noise of this type is simply part of a musical performance?
Some musicians have so much individuality that noises they make actally become part of the playing - like Glenn Gould's out-of-key singing. Even the creaking of his old wooden chair was accepted. Pablo Casals, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, and many others used to sing along. I can live with it.
But I agree that a badly set-up piano can sound terrible and should never be accepted by any artist or producer - there are still terrible examples around, like some of Glenn Gould's recordings made in the 70's, where the notes all have that awful "hiccup"-effect.
FMOP I once bought a disc of Dowland Lute Works by Paul O'Dette, but the loud tape hiss in the background (and that in the 90's !) just makes you suffer !
Cheese - may all beings be happy 