Klarinet Archive - Posting 000373.txt from 1997/10

From: HatNYC62@-----.com
Subj: Recordings
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 20:50:51 -0400

>A question for Dan - Don't you think most recordings (and therefore the

musicians playing on them) are devoid of feeling?<

I am not Dan, but I find this to be an absurd statement. No recording can
capture the essence of a live performance, not even a recording of a live
performance. The fact that every time you play the recording you know it will
be exactly the same removes the quality of unrepeatability that you can only
get from a live performance.

If, however, what you are saying is that no musicians who have ever made
records have any noble or lofty thoughts about the music being played, I
would have to take serious issue with that. Not agreeing with an
interpretation is one thing, but dismissing anything you don't happen to like
as "devoid of feeling" is an insult to some great performers.

Another possibility is that your playback equipment is poor, which can make a
good performance or recording sound poor.

That said, the digital splicing of the last 15 years has allowed any bozo to
make a note perfect recording, with loss of continuity resulting. When there
are 3+ splices per minute, nothing is ever played straight through. I guess
that's one reason I have always been interested in old recordings. What I
hear seems more "honest."