Nothing Can Replace Live Music

[bmr3hc]

Today I heard some great live music by a local horn player. As I was listening, it was a stark reminder that live music from a horn is so sweet, even in the high registry of notes. No metallic or shrill sounding, no etched ringing or irritation to the ears. Just sweet high notes that was so sweet and smooth. The guy brought the house down with a standing ovation in church. There is no recorded music that I know of that can do what I heard from a horn today, live. Another reminder that live is the best way to enjoy what you love about music. Man, I need to get out more often and make it a point to listen to more live music. Nothing beats live music.
Guess I will look up Wynton Marsalis to see if/when he may be in the area or at a nearby state.

Henry

[ltr317]

I try to attend live concerts as much as possible in various types of venues.  It's taken several years of experimenting to get my system to sound smooth, non-strident and non-fatiguing.  Though it will never sound "live," it does give me great pleasure in listening to music on it, much in the same way live performances do. 

[tmazz]

While nothing will replace live music, nothing will reproduce it either. Too many of us spend so much time trying to replicate the sound of a live concert that we loose track of the fact that what we should really be doing is trying to replicate the emotional connection we get with the music at a live concert. We can enjoy and get involve with the music to a very great extent without having absolute sonic perfection. While the sound of a live concert should be the benchmark that we use to evaluate how well a system or component is performing, to use the sound of a concert as the destination of our quest is akin to panning for fools gold. Many years ago there was a show on Broadway called "Beatlemania", which sold hundreds of thousands of tickets using the byline "It's not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation. People bought ticket to Beatlemania not to "see" the Bealtes, but rather to celebrate and enjoy their music. We all need to step back every once and a while and remember that music is our end goal, not just a test signal to be used in the evaluation of electronic devices.

[bmr3hc]

So true so true. It is the live music experience that reminds me to keep my focus on the reality of it all.

[tmazz]

.......and then there was this friend of mine that is famous for telling us audiophiles that he had to give up going to live concerts because they made his stereo sound bad. 

[Bigfish8]

.......and then there was this friend of mine that is famous for telling us audiophiles that he had to give up going to live concerts because they made his stereo sound bad. 

This one says it all! 

[Carlman]

I'm just the opposite.. I gave up going to live concerts because it was so much more detached than listening at home.  I get a personal involvement listening to music at home.. I'm actually 'moved'.  I listen to a lot of the KBCO sessions and am just astounded at the acoustical performances. 

A live horn or other acoustic instruments can really come together in real life to create an emotional and real experience.  Once the producers, sound engineers, (and their goals) the money, big amps, and computers get into the mix, much of the music is lost.  Well-recorded live albums sound great to me... the less amplification, the better.

When I go to a rock concert, I get bombarded with sound and people.  It's a joke to me.  I generally wear ear plugs and wish I wasn't there after the first 2 or 3 songs.  Most of the acoustic stuff (and all local music) I've heard is music I don't care for or isn't done well.  I've been to 1 good concert (by my definition) in 10 years... Elvis Costello w/ Steve Nieve at Wolftrap, VA... I actually connected with the music and enjoyed the show. 

To be able to enjoy a single horn at church is a true gift.  Henry is lucky to have witnessed this and he was able to savor it.  To me, those are 1 in a million experiences. 

With the hifi, I can guarantee a pretty good experience once a week.   It's not an awesome live experience but it connects me with music better than non-awesome live experiences and costs very little in comparison.

-C

[tmazz]

I couldn't agree more about rock concerts. Today's rock concerts are no longer music events, they are multimedia extravaganzas. By the time they finish setting up the video screeens, the lasers, the smoke machines and the fireworks it seems like the music is often just an afterthought (nevermind the quality of the sound). One noteable exception is a Jimmy Buffett show where the main emphasis seems to be on having a party (starting in the parking lots at about 9AM.) An to pay for all of this the shows are being pushed into bigger and bigger venues with worse and worse acoustic properties. Back in the day concert tours were underwritten by the record labels as a way to promote album sales. As such the weren't expected to make a profit and good sound and performances were essential if people were going to be incented to by the new records. Today rock concert tours are a multi-million dollar business and in fact new records are being used as a promotion tool (or at least an excuse for) a concert tour. Although this is the new way, I am not sure I would call it progress.
Live acoustic music in a real space is the ultimate standard, but unfortunately few of us have access to top musicians playing in well designed concert hall or club. And even for those of us that do, how often does that opportunity occur. A well recorded concert play back on a top notch audio system is still the only practical way for most of us to have regular access to good music.
Ah, but when a good muscal performance in a good acoustic space comes around it is still a little piece of magic........

[tmazz]

Maybe the rarity of the event is part of what makes it so magical

[bmr3hc]

I for one have never been to a rock concert. Just could not see myself spending hard earned money and needing ear plugs. I have always enjoyed the jazz concerts in a smaller setting where you could see and feel the emotion of the music and the artist. 

[Bigfish8]

I for one have never been to a rock concert.

Henry:

In my younger days I saw Bob Seger, in his hay day, play twice in Cobo Arena in Detroit.  They were great concerts.  My last rock concert was an outdoor event held at the Rockingham, NC Dragstrip.  The tickets were a gift from Vera to our son for his 15th birthday and of course there were only two tickets.  Guess who got to take our son, well it wasn't Vera.  We arrived at around 2:30 PM and were able to get within 20 yards of the stage.  A band was playing, I cannot remember their name, followed by Kid Rock, Corn and the headliner was Metallica.  We left the concert when Metallica finished after midnight and I was never able to sit down the whole time we were there.  Metallica played through two thunder storms and no one left.  I don't think there was a girl in the place that had a top on through their two plus hours of the concert.  My son got a real education that day and I had ringing ears for 3 days! 

Ken

[bmr3hc]

Ken,

I lived just north of Detroit in Troy back in the 80's. It was there that I first heard an awesome bass guitar player that just blew my mind. That live experience of a bass guitar player helped get me started in this hobby. When I listened to any bass guitar music after that , it was not even close. Muse made a sub-woofer some years back that had the speed and finesse that could keep up with planar speakers.  Very impressive and reminiscent of the real thing. I am curious as to your son educational experience after the concert. Did he become a doctor or a rock star?