"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article otxpd.338175$nl.283401@pd7tw3no, Spiderant
wrote:

The signals from the different instruments will be linearly superimposed.
i.e. the information about all the instruments reaching the microphone
location will all be present at that point.

Consequently, no matter what I do with that signal after it
is recorded, and even if I had as many speakers as instruments in an
orchestra, I never again break the signal up to reproduce the original
instruments. The recording is forever going to be only a shadow of the
orchestra. Again, this seems quite logical to me.

Yes. The same would occur if your ear was at the microphone location. The
sound pressure at your ear would be the same linear superposition.

Hence the place where the sounds are 'broken up' again and identified is
in
your ears/head in each case.

Now, as I believe Chris Morriss suggested in another posting, the
diaphragm of an ear is not unlike the diaphragm of a microphone.
Consequently, when listening to a live concert, I too would only hear
the combined signal coming from the orchestra. However, as I mentioned
to Mr. Morriss, when we go to a concert, it is not a static event.
We're constantly turning our heads and thereby altering the signal
coming to our eardrums. Therefore, even if we can only experience the
combined signal while attending a live recording, this shadow is
constantly shifting and changing along with the shifts of our heads and
it becomes possible to discern the individual instruments that a static
recording can never reveal.

Again, please correct me if this analagy is incorrect.

Yes. Please seem my comments elsewhere. 'Stereo' is essentially a 'trick'
which exploits the properties of human perception. How well it works in
any
case depends upon the recording, the replay system (including the room),
and the individual.

My experience is that it can sometimes work very well, but in other cases
not at all. :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--

I really appreciate your pointing me in the right direction in this and
previous posts. I've come to the realization that my understanding of basic
audio principles is very limited. I picked up some audio books from the
library, which I'll peruse before asking more questions. BTW Your previous
post about analog waveforms will be the focus of my research.

Out of curiousity Jim, why do you sign your emails with the term "Slainte"?
I live on the West Coast of Canada and I've never heard the word. What does
it mean?

Thanks again for your lucid and informative responses.

Regards,

Roland Goetz.