I had an odd moment recently when I had been listening to two very different music genres: Baroque Chamber music, and shortly afterwards I went on to listen to musical theatre. I picked a track at random – “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” sung by an artist I had never heard of. The track references are at the bottom of this article.
This is my original write-up: “The first impression on listening to Don’t Cry for Me Argentina after listening to the Baroque chamber music is how much bigger it all sounds, and the full orchestra and the strings sound more in tune! I don’t know whether it is this recording but it seems very bass heavy and additionally it’s a lot louder, and there seems to be some compression artefacts when listening to it. In fact it makes me want to go and find another recording and investigate further. I am also surprised in hearing an arpeggiated synth sound after the orchestra had come in, accompanying the vocal melody. It sounds like a harp. In fact I realise on the 3rd(!) listen that it’s not a real orchestra, but samples.”
This got me into thinking about the wider impact that technology has on the way we listen to music, and the increasing variables that change and process the sound that we listen to. It also led me to question where the problem was coming from with that particular recording. Was it the quality of the streaming? Was it the original recording itself? Was it some sort of software enhancement gone wrong?
Nowadays we are surrounded by electronic devices, and it’s this aspect in particular that gave me pause for thought.
I tend to do most of my listening on the computer and connect it up to my hi-fi. I also use headphones a lot so as to not disturb the neighbours. So just by changing these two last variables, the speakers and headphones, the listening experience becomes completely different.
So as to the other variables. The playback device. In my case it is the computer, but it could equally be an iPod or other MP3 player. It has to decode the digital file using a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). These will vary from device to device. The sound output from the sound card in-built into my computer is different from the sound card that I use for professional recording.
Then there are sound “enhancements” – xtra bass, virtual surround, different reverbs, etc. These all change the character of the sound as well.
So the list could go on – the download speed, the encoding quality of the recording, the type of codec used, the room in which you are listening to the recording, the speaker or headphone design, the amplifier, the speaker cable…
As another anecdote – I purchased a portable speaker system as a gift for someone a few years back. They were quite happy with it except that there was a kind of “pumping” effect when the device was used at high volume. This led to the item almost being returned until we checked the manufacturer’s web site and noticed there was a firmware update. No details were provided as to what this did but we ended up downloading the update and installing it on the device. It fixed the problem.
So yes, we have moved on from hissy cassette tapes and crackly records to a crisp digital era, but this does not mean that we always experience recording exactly as the artist or composer intended.
Before the advent of electricity if you wanted to listen to music you actually had to go and see and hear musicians playing. There is still something to be said for that!
I have only explored the listening side of the equation in this blog. Technology has arguably changed the recording side even further.
Composer(s): Lloyd Webber, Andrew
Lyricist(s): Rice, Tim Artist(s):Perrelli, Charlotte
Label: Stockhouse Catalogue No.: STOCKCDS50 Release Date: 2012
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2F2448983 (accessed 03/09/2017)
This recording of the same piece is infinitely better, The music has space to breathe and does not contain the same overly compressed sound.
Lloyd Webber, Andrew
Rice, Tim – lyricist(s)
Evita: Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
Henshall, Ruthie – vocals
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/stream.asp?s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2Frw9027%5F001 (accessed 03/09/2017)
Jim Mennell Music 