"Serge Auckland" wrote in message
...
Keith G wrote:



I think Serge explained it very well, but I am more interested in a
clear, unsullied depiction of the music than the *ambience* - I'm at a
loss as to how 'traffic noise' can enhance a chamber music recording! My
own view is that ambience may well *add* to the music performance for
some people but it is not *part* of the music - I can add all the
ambience I want, at this end!!


Traffic noise in itself doesn't add to the music, but, to me, it adds to
the sense of a live performance rather than a studio recording. I've found
myself enjoying far more live recordings even with the inevitable audience
cough than "perfect" studio sessions. That's just a personal thing though,
I can quite accept that others would prefer the studio.


It's not a cut and dried thing - provided there's some 'air' I don't have to
have too much 'room' to enjoy ensemble music. I have some commercial
recordings with birdsong in the background which I would have thought was
more accidental than incidental and it certainly adds to the feeling of it
being recorded in a 'real' setting (ruined abbey?) and I have even added
birdsong/distant dogs to some of my own stuff - it can work very well and
create an illusion of great space, but I suspect 'ambient noises' being
added to recordings is in danger of being done to death these days and it
has put my previously-mentioned ideas of a digital recorder on hold for the
time being.

(That and the recent splash-out on 3 x HDMI/DLP cinema upgrade setups which
has run the coffers dry for the moment/forseeable/rest of my life...!! ;-)



However, even on studio recordings and even on jazz/rock music the
extended LF response improves things like kick drums, double basses and on
organ music recorded in a natural acoustic, the extended LF makes a huge
difference to the feeling of a real venue.


Sure, but it would work better for me if it wasn't so fekkin' *rubbery* and
disjointed/late. I have just tried sub/no sub on Saving Private Ryan battle
scenes where the timing isn't quite so important and I'm still not
convinced....



I would love to try one of the ultra-low sub-sub woofers that work on the
variable vane principle. They should go down to 0 Hz theoretically...you
could dry your socks in front of one.......


Don't need one - I've got 300Bs for that!! :-)



but I doubt there's much actually recorded below 20Hz as current studio
mics don't go down below that.


My own mics don't seem to claim much below 30 Hz - hence the difficulty
trying to 'record' a sub!

I'm out of time with the sub I have got here and would have liked a week or
two more with it, but 'gun to my head', I would have to say 'not really
worth the bother' atm - they bring too much to the party for too much of the
time and it's a faff to make them go away. Get the gain right so there isn't
a continual 'engine room' thrum and the effect is reduced to not much more
than a little rush of huffing and puffing from time to time - and most of
that arriving just too late to save a drowning witch!

I can see they might work with 'normal' speakers better than the paper-coned
FR jobbies like my Lowthers, but having striven towards clarity and 'speed'
it doesn't seem to make much sense to ladle in the exact same *blurry
slurry* I have been seeking to remove!!

Jury's back in and it don't look good.....