How are you Frank? Here it was extremely hot today...I hit 40° Celsius outside on my deck under my umbrella shade! I have a fan outside @ maximum speed, the type they use on Hollywood movie sets.
This thread, that I started, is fascination...@ least to me. Why? Because for several reasons.
One, professional music recordists (audio music engineers), they use quality monitor speakers in a nearfield environment to monitor their master music recordings.
I'm not talking about all the 95% music crap out there, I'm talking about real music, the one that soothes the soul of a man, of a woman and of a child. ...Harmony.
Two, farfield, from the big boys @ live acoustic jazz/blues alley record/listening level.
And in both cases/rooms, the acoustics are supremely important...the room's acoustics.
Why? Because it will help to hear all the minute details of those beautiful music recordings done with love and passion and true dedication.
Again, not all that 95% crap music out there, but those great music recordings from Classical Opera, Chorals, Organs, Ballet, Chamber, Orchestral, Jazz, Blues, New Age, World, Avant-Garde, Percussion, Fusion, Motown, Soul, Folk, Exploration and Nature.
A clean state in a clean system with zero distortion and pure black background in that proper studio/room will give us the best balance between fine detail retrievals (micro and macro), and realistic live like being there or they are (the musicians) there in the room in front of us in the now moment, where there is not only no more walls and ceiling and room but also where there is no more separation between the artist musicians and the listener.
Brief the illusion is complete enough in the 2016 world we live in with all the parts playing each their role in absolute synchronicity.
Just a thought, my opinion.
I dream of a higher supreme life's experience; where there are no more frontiers, no more barriers in the vast universe of transparency and eternal ♫ bliss.
...Expanding universe along with my own horizons. ...The Mix, it's all in the Mix.
Frank, critical music listening is a natural and relaxing flow. The brain doesn't have to work, everything comes on a silver plate, like room service.
The journey to get there...it's all about that journey...the hard work we all put in our lives...the Mix.
And for each and one, it has no limit, no convention, no pandemonium, but full liberation of the spirit and ecstasy of the mind.
It's like you worked so hard to put all the system together in that room, that you can only tolerate what's musically good for you, and the critical moment comes when the artist is finally there in your own room and playing right in front of your two very own eyes and ears.
All the audio science @ that point pays off. We can finally retire for good and just enjoy the music playing while gardening in the garden with the flowers, butterflies, birds, cats, dogs, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, carrots, beans, cherries, berries, blueberries, strawberries, apples, pears, apricots, plums, peaches, avocados.
But, just for a moment forget about what I just said, and try to define "critical music listening" in more depth, from a different perspective.
And you know, when listening to chamber classical music that was recorded inside an auditorium, and you happen to hear that back door opening because you heard the external noise outside that auditorium through that open door for the time she remained open...don't sweat it too much because I've assisted to those type of concerts before with that exact type of circumstance. Nothing is perfect, but it is in that imperfect music listening experience that everything that happened during the recording can become critical to the point of hearing it all, and part of it all. Don't blame the microphones, don't blame the recordist, don't blame the musicians, blame the person who opened that exit back door of the auditorium/hall. ...And only her (it's generally women who are curious of what's going on the other side of closed doors, and who open them) because someone forgot to lock that door during a critical music recording session. I've seen this, I've been there, and it's all part of that critical music experience...not in a negative way but a realistic one. Take two? Sure, but the essence is different; the first take is usually the best one...the one in the moment...not having any other takes preceding it...like a repetitive set of notes where the artists lost the emotional 'tempo'.
Look, when Glenn Gould plays the piano, what else do we hear than just the piano playing?
Keith Jarrett, same. So, how critical are we when listening to the music we love? What else did the mics capture during the music "ceremony"? And these two guys, forget it the number of takes they take; their playing style won't change.
Hey, some of the best music I've heard in life was improvised, ...Miles Davis, John Coltrane, ...
To me, it's all part of that critical aspect of music listening...nothing is hiding...all is there for me to hear what the mics heard.