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When will there be decent classical music recordings?

With "pop" music the recordings are such that you can hear the rasp of the guitar string, the echo of the piano, the tingle of the percussion ... and so on .... and in surround sound.
Surround sound is brilliant in picking out different instruments that would otherwise have been "lost" or merged with the other sounds.
Someone will say well that is not how you listen at a concert, but that is just archaic. As a friend said many years ago to me ... whats wrong with mono?!
I am sure Beethoven or whomever would have been excited if they could have presented their music in effectively another dimension.
I have yet to come across any classical recording that grabs me in the way it should, or could. Do they operate in a parallel universe musicwise?
I used to play in an orchestra so I am always looking out for the "extra"  presence in music ... in amongst it, not just watching and listening from a distance


tatyana69
almarg's avatar
almarg
8,673 posts
 
I find that most classical recordings deliver more detail, particularly for higher frequencies, than I hear in actual concerts.... Most recordings are made to sound vibrant and alive by kicking up the top end just a little bit more than natural, but, I sort of like this when I am listening at home.
As you most likely realize, Larry, that will happen to a significant degree even if no electronic equalization is applied during the engineering of the recording, since even if just two or three mics are utilized those mics will usually be positioned closer to the performers than most of the seats in a concert hall. And as distance increases treble frequencies attenuate more rapidly in air than lower frequencies.

Best regards,
-- Al

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
The difficulty in recording and reproducing large orchestras is why old-timers like J. Gordon Holt considered reproducing such recordings the ultimate challenge and test of a music system's capabilities. For the exact reason Al just explained, getting the high frequencies right, so that playback on speakers sounds like what listeners in the concert hall hear, is the hardest to accomplish. Should speakers be designed to sound "right" with recordings made using only a stereo pair of mics (some audiophile labels), a trio (as were the Mercury and RCA's of the 50's and early 60's), or many "mono" mics placed close to the instrument(s)? Each style of micing requires a different loudspeaker high frequency balance to produce the kind of sound audience members hear. Pop/Rock recordings are entirely different, a reference to live audience sound being non-existent. 
inna
5,245 posts
 
Tanya, I am sorry to say that what you suggest is...not how it should be. We listen with two ears, I certainly do. Two mikes. Not three or five or fifty - two.
ebm
5,165 posts
 
Try a mint Decca or EMI.
tatyana69 OP
113 posts
 
I also have two ears, but I can listen to 360 degrees. When I walk down the road I can hear maybe the car to my side, the plane above, the dog barking to my left etc etc.  I have 7 surround speakers all playing nice separated sounds as far as recordings can facilitate. I am not interested in recreating the sound in a concert - that is my point - it is pretty one dimensional. It is a matter of taste and habit, but we are still listening to old habits of centuries. A bit old hat now methinks - time to move on. As I have written earlier, I am sure the composers would have revelled in breaking away from a strict concert format if they knew how. I am sure there are enough old recordings out there to satiate all old school wishes.
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