"Iain Churches" wrote in message


Most recordings are not made with all players present in
a single acoustic, and so a real A/B is not usually
possible.

This means that there are no comparisons in the sense that we do all the
time with ABX.

Conclusions are based on memories that lose most of their detail within a
few seconds.

All studio trainees get this opportunity for recordings
made straight stereo.

If you're multitracking single players or small groups, there's a pretty
good chance that many if not most tracks are mono.

Typically, the studio is a relatively small, dead room and of course the
micing is close.

This does not produce tracks that are accurate representations of what one
would usually hear if they were in the studio at the time of the recording,
as the sonic viewing point of the listener is vastly different from that of
the microphone.

It's enormously useful and a very
interesting experience to sit out in the studio below and
slightly back from the main pair and just listen.

When multitracking this way, there is no main pair. Main pairs relate to
recording large ensembles with a combination of a main pair and spot mics.

When the take is completed you can go back to the control room
and hear the same performance from the monitors.

When you listen to the monitors, the question is not whether the recording
sounds natural at this point, but whether it has any obvious flaws. Close
micing always produces a certain characteristic, essentually unnatural sound
that is up front, lacks natural reverb, may include a fair amount of lower
midrange boost due to proximity effect, etc.

There's a general rule for setting up a monitoring environment for checking
tracks, and that is to use speakers or headphones that are hotter than you
would use if you were listening for pleasure or mastering. The goal is to
hear any flaws such as clipping, not to have a natural sound which is
impossible at this point due to the close micing.

Few people get the opportunity these days, except at concerts, to hear
musical instruments "in the flesh" as it were,
and are sometimes quite surprised when they do.

This is even true of people who work in audio production, but do not record
live events.