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Drums reproduction

Considering audio's desire to reproduce live performance as accurately as possible, why do you think the drums are recorded so far back in the mix? I've attended many jazz and fusion performances and many drummers are at the sonic forefront of their bands. Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, et all sonicly fill the room like nobody's business. Even less powerful drummers are on equal footing with their bandmates. Why does it not sound so on recordings? The drums are politely included for percussive colorations but in no way dominate like live. Example: Elvin Jones live powerfully fills every bit of the room to the point that it can border on exhaustion. But on recordings he can sound like a pipsqueak in comparison, just another polite member of the band. Please don't confuse the performance of the musician. It seems like it is the producers choice. Why?
richardmr
kburke1227
12 posts
 
My comment may not be completely relevant to the topic at hand but is anyone else as impressed as I am at the reproduction of Jeff Hamilton's drum solo at the end of track 7 "Devil May Care" on the live recording of Diana Krall's cd and dvd "Live in Paris"? Just my two cents worth.
mhu
102 posts
 
Just a question for the more experienced music fans, but does this have something to do with the basic structure of the music? In jazz, drums are part of the rhythm section; back-ground support for soloists to build their repertoires on. If recordings are "as-is", I would think that the drums would overpower some of the less dynamic instruments, and drown out some of the more neuances found in the soloists' works.
richardmr OP
90 posts
 
Mhu - What you suggest can be true, sometimes. But, as an example, of which there are countless, I played a Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan lp from the 80's called Sprint. The drums are so quiet it seems like their confined inside a bubble. It's so unlike live.
jfz
570 posts
 
I'm personally glad they don't dominate on recordings. And, for that matter, I'm glad that nothing dominates (except if intended). "Live" (the quotes are there because much of what we call "live" is actually amplified) is much more difficult to control than a recording that an engineer and producer tweak for many hours. I'm saying, much of time, I find recordings better BALANCED than live performances. That it NOT to say that recordings are better in other ways.
henryhk
648 posts
 
Its all about producers optimising for RADIO play not home recorded media (LPs, CDs etc). Dynamic contrasts are generally thrown out of the window, and everything is recorded to sound loud
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