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Heretical view on the importance of high end replay.

Durmbo said:
Another thing. I almost never buy a band’s recordings if I’ve seen it live first, no matter how much I enjoyed the gig. The recordings never approach the scale of the live performance. A special memory of it is enough.
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I was a bit like this with The Pogues
I went to see them many times over the years and live they were something else, but it was always associated with a good night out and far too much to drink!
I never bought anything by them
 
I was about to post exactly the same thing.
I saw the Pogues twice.
Amazing live evenings but you could never catch it on an album.
You just had to be there.
 
Bob McC said:
I was about to post exactly the same thing.
I saw the Pogues twice.
Amazing live evenings but you could never catch it on an album.
You just had to be there.
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Yeah live is where it's really at.
Getting your ticket - The Travel there - Beers - Making a day of it if the gig is in a big City like London - The Sound from PA - Light Show -Atmosphere - And that magic moment when the House lights go down.
Memories of the gig.
It's like a place of worship .....Here was a great memory and so nice it was filmed....that gig ticked all the above points.

 
Miss Ariel said:
Yeah live is where it's really at.
Getting your ticket - The Travel there - Beers - Making a day of it if the gig is in a big City like London - The Sound from PA - Light Show -Atmosphere - And that magic moment when the House lights go down.
Memories of the gig.
It's like a place of worship .....Here was a great memory and so nice it was filmed....that gig ticked all the above points.

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And I'm on that video !!!
 
Arkless Electronics said:
I've said this before a couple of years ago but some of the very most enjoyable experiences with recorded music have been courtesy of a ghetto blaster/car radio/etc when at the right time, with the right people and the right quantity of beer etc.... your own "Wayne's World Bohemian Rhapsody" type memories...
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Hearing Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' for the first time on a ghetto blaster many years ago, in the early hours with some friends was a revelation. One of those unforgettable musical moments.
 
It’s a fundamental misconception to even compare live music to recorded music. They are different things experienced in different ways, particularly in pop/rock/contemporary styles. Orchestral and classical music is a bit different as recorded music was a novelty introduced late in cultural development, but even there the pursuance of a live performance experience in a recording is a fool’s errand.
 
I’ve said it many times before, but the absolute last thing I ever want my hi-fi to sound like is a rock gig! Ugh, hell no! I’ve seen so many great bands over the years, usually at the peak of their powers, and whilst it was a great experience (as much as anything can be with ear plugs in) the sound is always awful. As soon as things are loud enough that someone needs to yell through an SM58 through a PA there is no realism or quality left in play. It is just raw volume. Give me the studio control room sound every time. That’s what I aim to recreate at home. Beautiful ribbon mics, valve mic preamps etc that have the necessary quality to capture real people’s voices and instruments.

Jazz and classical is obviously an entirely different thing, this (at its best) is an acoustic music. No one is shrieking through a horrible boxy or boomy PA system, the only amplification there a lovely valve guitar amp, the Leslie connected to a B3 or whatever. This can be captured convincingly with good recording techniques and replayed at home. This I want.
 
Bob McC said:
I was about to post exactly the same thing.
I saw the Pogues twice.
Amazing live evenings but you could never catch it on an album.
You just had to be there.
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Yeah, some bands just have to be experienced live...Pogues, My Bloody Valentine, Butthole Surfers, Beat Farmers, Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney, Pixies (on a good night), the Dead, and most jazz. Can you tell when I stopped going to shows :).
 
chainrule said:
Yeah, some bands just have to be experienced live...Pogues, My Bloody Valentine, Butthole Surfers, Beat Farmers, Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney, Pixies (on a good night), the Dead, and most jazz. Can you tell when I stopped going to shows :).
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I've seen six of the bands you've named

MBV - you made me realise (Holocaust section) is something else live
 
George J said:
Almost all recordings are no-where near representing a live experience.

The more perfect the repay of recordings, the more the inadequacy of the recording becomes apparent ...

Therefore what you need is a simple replay system that conveys with clarity the balance of Musial lines as much as is possible with the recording in question.

The exception is the live radio relay, which can on occasion present a really good presentation.

Hence my simple replay for recordings: Good enough. And my much superior replay for radio.

Just two pence worth. George
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Agree that its hard to recreate a live performance via home hifi...... But it surely is fun trying. Lots of fun trying. I've crept a bit closer in the last year.
Agree that the better the replay the more recording inadequacies become apparent.... But a good system makes your forget this and enjoy the performance anyway. Again, its fun trying to strike an entertaining balance here.
Agree that live radio is a fantastically enjoyable art form.
 
fegs said:
MBV - you made me realise (Holocaust section) is something else live
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You ain't kidding, my friend. This was basically like being high without taking any drugs. We saw them at the (dearly departed) Roseland Ballroom here in NYC and the door staff required us to take earplugs before they let us enter the venue. This gig was audible from space. I can only imagine what the neighbors/passersby must have thought. Without a doubt one of the very best shows I've ever been to.
 
Tony L said:
I’ve said it many times before, but the absolute last thing I ever want my hi-fi to sound like is a rock gig! Ugh, hell no! I’ve seen so many great bands over the years, usually at the peak of their powers, and whilst it was a great experience (as much as anything can be with ear plugs in) the sound is always awful. As soon as things are loud enough that someone needs to yell through an SM58 through a PA there is no realism or quality left in play. It is just raw volume. Give me the studio control room sound every time. That’s what I aim to recreate at home. Beautiful ribbon mics, valve mic preamps etc that have the necessary quality to capture real people’s voices and instruments.

Jazz and classical is obviously an entirely different thing, this (at its best) is an acoustic music. No one is shrieking through a horrible boxy or boomy PA system, the only amplification there a lovely valve guitar amp, the Leslie connected to a B3 or whatever. This can be captured convincingly with good recording techniques and replayed at home. This I want.
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Not a jazz fan but agreed in terms of live rock gigs, the exception being Moving Hearts, a trad rock act that were well known in Ireland during the 1980's. Their live sound was always sublime. Several years ago I attended a reunion gig and prior to the gig kicking off, I wondered would it go the way of so many other rock gigs I have attended over the years but no, yet again an incredible live sound. Here is a link to the recording of that very gig.
https://tidal.com/album/84000231
 
I wish I was at the show:.... Smoke On The Water is a great live album. It gives me a sense of being in the best row and seats (if there were any). It may have been a lucky accident, but it's a great live recording, one of the best....its aged very well too, from the mid 70s I think. You have to turn up the wick to concert levels for this one.
 
nostromo said:
I wish I was at the show:.... Smoke On The Water is a great live album. It gives me a sense of being in the best row and seats (if there were any). It may have been a lucky accident, but it's a great live recording, one of the best....its aged very well too, from the mid 70s I think. You have to turn up the wick to concert levels for this one.
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Smoke on the Water live album? Do you mean Deep Purple's Made in Japan?
 
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