In article xYwpd.329777$Pl.264539@pd7tw1no, Spiderant
wrote:

"Chris Morriss" wrote in message
...
In message MQcpd.321783$nl.260854@pd7tw3no, Spiderant
writes What a plonker he was. And what were his
views on the eardrum of the listener, (being a diaphragm etc --
Chris Morriss

I actually did think about that. When listening to a live performance,
all the music is hitting my eardrums silmutaneously (well, maybe not
silmutaneously as, from what I understand, some frequencies travel
faster than others).

No. In air, and at normal sound levels, the frequencies all travel at
essentially the same velocities.

Consequently, as per your suggestion, I would only hear the combined
instruments--but only if I held my head exactly the same way and,
perhaps, only if the musicians held perfectly still. But as soon as I
would turn my ears towards, say, the clarinets, then they would dominate
over the violins, and so on. And when the solo pianist would start to
play, I would turn my head towards him or her and the piano would
dominate. As a result, a live performance would seem much more
dimensional, would it not?

This depends upon how well a *stereo* (or 'surround') recording replicates
the original soundfield in terms of perception. Stereo is a 'trick' in the
sense that it does not set out to physically replicate the original
soundfield, but to give an effect which tricks our perception into thinking
we are hearing a convincing representation of that soundfield.


Since a recording can only play the combined signal from a stationary
point,

recordings can be made using a multiplicity of microphones, located in
various places. The replay can involve two or more speakers not located in
the same place.

regardless of how I would turn my head when listening to my
speakers, I don't see how I could distinquish the instruments in the
same way.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you listen to good stereo recordings, played using good speakers, in a
suitable room acoustic, it is possible to get a 'stereo' effect that is a
fairly convincing impression of having the instruments laid out in front of
you as they would be at, say, an orchestral concert. Once you hear this,
you can decide for yourself that assuming it is not possible must be
incorrect. :-)

FWIW during the last week or so I did some minor fiddling about with the
audio system in the living room. This produced some apparent changes which
I think have improved the results. A consequence is that I enjoyed spending
time yesterday listening to;

1) CD-A of the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra performance (Mercury Living
Presence on Mercury 432 017-2)

2) CD-A of "English String Music" Barbirolli and the Sinfonia of London
(EMI CDC 7 47537 2) [I also have the later 'ART' re-issue, but tried the
earlier version on this occasion.]

Chose these simply as they are performances/recordings I have enjoyed in
the past, and fancied re-listening to them.

In both cases I had the distinct impression of quite a convincingly
realistic sound of instruments laid out in an acoustic space. No idea if
this is exactly what it sounded like at the time, but the results sounded
like a good directional image to me.

That said, I had to ensure the speakers and my head were in the 'right
places' to get the best effect. :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html