Tony Andrews on sound

[lvdphse]

I know this has been discussed here from every angle but definitely a topic worth hearing again from someone with a lot of homework in sound.

[dag]

a surprisingly tame monologue from him. i was happy it was not another diatribe hiding a pitch for his speakers. yes, overcompressed, undersized digital files can sound like shit. as if am radio and cassettes sounded any better regarding portable mediums.

something i fundamentally disagree with regarding the sound quality of recordings is that we do have daily references for what things should sound like, and that is daily life itself. We are told that we are conditioned to accept or even prefer bad sound quality, whether by virtue of source or delivery (the PA itself), yet everything that happens in the world around us reinforces what something should actually sound like.

David Mancuso once wrote about going to unamplified orchestral performances every now and then, to get a reminder of what a symphony is supposed to sound like. One doesnt need to go to such extremes. open your window. open your ears. everything is already out there. That guy playing a horn in the subway, thats that what a horn in that particular acoustic environment sounds like, should one ever hear that through a PA. but bring your earplugs. subways entering stations are loud

[lvdphse]

a surprisingly tame monologue from him. i was happy it was not another diatribe hiding a pitch for his speakers. yes, overcompressed, undersized digital files can sound like shit. as if am radio and cassettes sounded any better regarding portable mediums.

something i fundamentally disagree with regarding the sound quality of recordings is that we do have daily references for what things should sound like, and that is daily life itself. We are told that we are conditioned to accept or even prefer bad sound quality, whether by virtue of source or delivery (the PA itself), yet everything that happens in the world around us reinforces what something should actually sound like.

David Mancuso once wrote about going to unamplified orchestral performances every now and then, to get a reminder of what a symphony is supposed to sound like. One doesnt need to go to such extremes. open your window. open your ears. everything is already out there. That guy playing a horn in the subway, thats that what a horn in that particular acoustic environment sounds like, should one ever hear that through a PA. but bring your earplugs. subways entering stations are loud

I totally hear you (pun) on just opening your ears to the things around you. I live outside the city and my house literally backs up to a corn field, just the sound of the wind blowing through is lush enough to make you pause. The same could be said for all the sounds of the city but when you live there you take it for granted. When I go I try to take in the sounds of loud cars,horns,sirens,barking dogs, and shouting people and oddly hear the beauty in all the kaos.

In regards to orch. shows I guess you could do the same for any live show but for me preferably small venues. Something as simple as a good tribute band at the local bar lol. I find at some concerts or larger venues with so called professionals running sound you get right back to that loud is better thinking and it just ruins the experience.

[dag]

I totally hear you (pun) on just opening your ears to the things around you. I live outside the city and my house literally backs up to a corn field, just the sound of the wind blowing through is lush enough to make you pause. The same could be said for all the sounds of the city but when you live there you take it for granted. When I go I try to take in the sounds of loud cars,horns,sirens,barking dogs, and shouting people and oddly hear the beauty in all the kaos.

In regards to orch. shows I guess you could do the same for any live show but for me preferably small venues. Something as simple as a good tribute band at the local bar lol. I find at some concerts or larger venues with so called professionals running sound you get right back to that loud is better thinking and it just ruins the experience.

I mentioned orchestras, as philharmonic venues are often designed to be acoustically amplified. The conductor instructs the musicians how loud ot play, and hte building walls create a horn out into the audience. This works ok if the instruments themselves can be heard (no place for samplers!) or quieter instruments can have their musicians doubled up on, but a quiet secret is the the hearing damage both conductors and musicians undergo throughout their careers.

An unamplified experience lacks any potential coloring by analog electronics, digital conversion, speaker distortion, or any other technical mumbo jumbo which could flavor the reinforcement. That 3 piece at the bar, how would the lead vocals sound like if the pa went silent? In smaller acoustic environments, potentially less reinforcement is necessary. As an example, i mixed a band in a small venue last week and only used 3 mics for the kit (kick, one overhead pointed down to capture some tom and cymbal, another right at the hihat to alse capture a mounted tambourine - was psychedlic rock band). No snare necessary! and some gaffer tape was used under the cymbal (to deaden the ring) as that was normally too loud. I miced the guitar cabs, but the week before i opted not to mic the guitars as the also small venue had different proportions, including how high the guitar amps could be placed.

did it sound good? ive done better, but the energy between the band and audience was intense.

in larger venues, longer reverb decay times become an issue, and outdoors, wind. this could be why some shows struggle. the engineer gets frustrated with the conditions or the audience makes too much noise and the volume gets raised to get hte energy up, all while exacerbating other problems. however, there are many tin ears on tour because they can hang with the band (much like how so many improper systems get installed in dj clubs). maybe they feel inadequate in other areas, maybe they have hearing loss, maybe both.