Well, The two pianos of.. etc, were a thing of their time. Made in the days
of radiograms to show off with, never mind realism. I think you have
forgotten that there are times when exciting stereo can be fun. Its not
realism, of course its not, but if you really want to hear what happens
when you let a demented sound mixer loose on a multitrack master, look out
for a track called Mandrill, by Mandrill and beware, do not listen on
headphones.

Brian

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"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
. ..
Well, I prefer mono after recording so at least out of phase crackles are
removed, and nasty wear artefacts do not spread over the sound stage.


There are times when 'stereo' helps (large scale, orchestral) but most of
the time it's a gimmick I don't *have* to have, I find!! Done badly (20
foot wide pianos and ping pong solo instruments) it is atrocious and has
me reaching for the 'mono button' I haven't got on any of my amps!!

Said it before - I do a lot (if not most) of my listening 'off axis'
anyway!!

But then, that's just me!! ;-)

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
. ..
Well, The two pianos of.. etc, were a thing of their time. Made in the
days of radiograms to show off with, never mind realism. I think you have
forgotten that there are times when exciting stereo can be fun.


Hah! I've heard no end of 'Stereo Spectacular' type 'demo records' in the
past and almost certainly have one or two kicking about here somewhere!!
Some of them weren't too bad, as I recall (??) - I'll have to fish them out
and give 'em a spin!


Its not
realism, of course its not, but if you really want to hear what happens
when you let a demented sound mixer loose on a multitrack master, look out
for a track called Mandrill, by Mandrill and beware, do not listen on
headphones.


Gawd - sounds like it's summat 'orrible like a baboon's purple arse...??

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
. ..
Well, The two pianos of.. etc, were a thing of their time. Made in the
days of radiograms to show off with, never mind realism. I think you have
forgotten that there are times when exciting stereo can be fun. Its not
realism, of course its not,



The Two Pianos Of... and recordings of that ilk, were very much a
fashion statement, as is much popular music. I worked on many
of the Phase Four recordings at Decca.

After the initial stereo showcase recordings, many of them were
multi-microphone multitrack productions. And very popular
they were too:-) No one pretended it had anything to do with
realism.

but if you really want to hear what happens when you let a demented sound
mixer loose on a multitrack master, look out for a track called Mandrill,
by Mandrill and beware, do not listen on headphones.

Fun to blame the sound mixer isn't it? One needs to consider
why the particlar project was made, what it is trying to achieve
and for whom it was intended, Brian. Maybe (probably) not
for the likes of you or I. If it is made for "headbangers", then you
should ask those headbangers if they enjoyed it. If they say
"yes" then the project, even with the demented sound mixer has
reached its goal, and pleased the adiencve for which the music
was intended.

It's rather like asking people who enjoy a Peter
Katin rendition of Debussy, to listen to Thelonius
Monk or Charles Bell playing "And Satan Said"

I find the various categtories of music and also the
styles within those categories fascinating. I was at
a lecture recently where we were asked to listen to
some saxophone clips. Some of the very best playing
dated from the early thirties.(there were probably more
professional saxophone players then than there are now,
so the standard was high and competition very stiff.
The recordings were of course primitive by modern
standards, and the playing (due to the fast vibrato
which was the fashion then) was deemed to be "corny"
Most people couldn't see past these two obstacles
and realise that there were in fact some very good players
indeed at work

Iain

"Iain Churches" wrote in message
...

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
. ..
Well, The two pianos of.. etc, were a thing of their time. Made in the
days of radiograms to show off with, never mind realism. I think you
have
forgotten that there are times when exciting stereo can be fun. Its not
realism, of course its not,



The Two Pianos Of... and recordings of that ilk, were very much a
fashion statement, as is much popular music. I worked on many
of the Phase Four recordings at Decca.

After the initial stereo showcase recordings, many of them were
multi-microphone multitrack productions. And very popular
they were too:-) No one pretended it had anything to do with
realism.


The trouble with 'stereo' is that it encourages the geeks who think they can
replicate a real live experience in their own living rooms like '3D
depth/spatiality' is *everything*!! (Even now there are ****s in here who
will blather on about 'proper stereo'!!)

Once the 'audio ping pong' trick was played out I suspect Joe Ordinaire just
ignored it and listened to the music. A 'stereo' label on a record doesn't
particularly excite me - like I have said often before, I guess I'm too 'off
axis' to care much of the time!!

That all said, of course, ignoring the 'stereo capabilities' of one's
'stereo hifi' is one thing - the said hifi' not having any decent stereo
capabilities to start with is quite another!



Some of the very best playing
dated from the early thirties.(there were probably more
professional saxophone players then than there are now,
so the standard was high and competition very stiff.
The recordings were of course primitive by modern
standards, and the playing (due to the fast vibrato
which was the fashion then) was deemed to be "corny"
Most people couldn't see past these two obstacles
and realise that there were in fact some very good players
indeed at work


Oh yes and I don't care how 'primitive' the recordings are by today's
standards (?? are you kidding??) - all part and parcel of the experience for
me!

(Caruso had a little tinny voice in real life, didn't he? :-)