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It's All in Your Head

I commented in an earlier thread that the emphasis on components, cables and room treatments obscures the fact that the music all happens in your head.

This is from John Atkinson at RMAF 2012 reported on Stereophile:

"Stereophile editor John Atkinson used everything from a drumstick to a cowbell, both sounded “live” and played back on the seminar room’s stereo system, to convey the message: “Nothing is real. How the recording art affects what you think you hear!” As John proceeded to point out that the brain combines information from separate left and right loudspeakers into a single stereo image..."

"I showed that it is a fallacy to assume that “the absolute sound of live music in a real acoustic space” resides in the bits, pits, or grooves, even when such a live event existed. Making recordings is an art, not a science and there may only be a coincidental resemblance between what is presented to the listener and the sound of musicians playing live, even when all concerned with making the recording were trying to be as honest as possible. Even the fundamental decision of what microphone to use moves the recorded sound a long way from reality..."

What we aim for when we put an audio system together is a pleasing facsimile of the original musical performance that happened in a studio or at a live venue. But, ultimately, the music's all in your head. It sounds like it's in the room because that's the way our brain makes it seem. Music is essentially a spiritual experience mediated by the brain.
Systems that are not in the "best" category may reproduce music in a way that moves us but the "best" systems have the ability to involve us on even deeper emotional and spiritual levels.

Getting really close to the essence of the performance means we need "special" gear. That's what "gear chasing" is all about -- trying to get closer to the essence of the performance on deeper and more satisfying levels. "Gear chasing" that involves trying to reproduce the actual performance is an illusory pursuit. Many audiophiles have observed that the "best" systems are not necessarily the most expensive ones. This has also been my experience. But it will still take quite a bit of cash to put together a system that enters the realm of the "best".

All of the above is IMO, of course.
sabai
minorl
1,018 posts
 
Most of us were not in the recording session/room and therefore, have no idea what the original recording session sounded like. Also, others have posted correctly that recording is indeed an art and science and the best recording engineers earn their big bucks because they really do know what they are doing. you have to not only have the best microphones, but you also have to know how to correctly place them. You have to have the best cables, mixing equipment (I know, I know), amplification equipment, etc. This goes way beyond the ability of the average recording engineer, if they really want to get it right. Also, then you need the artist and recording personnel to sit in the room and listen to the playback to see/hear if they got it right. and guess what? most times, they are listening to the recording through equipment that isn't close to what you have a home and continuing to mix based on what they hear using that equipment. Unless you were there during the recording session and also hear the recording afterwards, we have no idea what it really sounded like in the first place. So we approximate based on what our "experience" tells us it should have sounded like. I would be interested to hear the accounts of people that actually were at a concert or recording session and then heard the actual recording afterwards to see if they got it right or even close.

enjoy
csontos
1,311 posts
 
I have not been myself but I've talked with musicians who are typically amazed at how much is "lost" in the final product.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,739 posts
 
I like the quote from the original Star Trek pilot episode "The Menagerie" something to the effect of:

"She has an illusion, and you have reality. May your way be as pleasant."

May our audio illusions as we perceive them also be as pleasant ......

No doubt enjoyment of music is largely due to emotional responses to what we hear, that may also invoke a spiritual response as well. These can only be attributed to the listener. The source/system/recording is merely a representation or reproduction of the actual product produced by the artists + engineers. If the end response is a pleasant one, all is good. If it becomes unpleasant for any reason known only to the listener, then the value proposition is not there. THat's pretty much it. All the rest are just various means to the end. In the end its, all in the mind.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,739 posts
 
"I have not been myself but I've talked with musicians who are typically amazed at how much is "lost" in the final product."

Few recordings are designed to capture what the musicians hear at ground zero when playing. Part of this is the intent of the producers and part of this is technical limitations in many cases.

Its not nearly as hard to produce a reasonable reproduction of what a listener might have heard were they present say in the audience during a similar live performance.

Whether one hears exactly what one would hear if live or not is a moot point for most, save perhaps professional musicians who are regularly immersed in what is happening at ground zero when playing live. Dynamics will be the greatest there and hardest to reproduce. Other aspects of the sound will vary as well due to the unique sonic perspective of an artist playing at ground zero compared to that of most any actual listener.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
Bryoncunningham,
This is indeed a very interesting question. And, yes, I am a philosopher at heart and I am aware if this age-old debate. Of course, the room also mediates what happens in the brain. If you are using headphones, for example, you take the room out of the equation and your room -- or your listening space, if you will -- is the room that your brain creates. Which is exactly what happens with the room in the equation. The brain is recreating everything from the "outer" reality. If you are truly one with the music you will note that there is no room at all. It disappears completely. Something like the proverbial "disappearing" speakers -- but not quite the same thing.
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