tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post418420688936922771..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: Is HRTF the key to classical music's future?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-73672385982506514562019-01-18T23:05:54.325+00:002019-01-18T23:05:54.325+00:00When I was studying architecture at the AA in the ...When I was studying architecture at the AA in the late 1960s my final 5th year thesis was a sound space synthesizer which was simply a geodesic dome with multiple speakers attached to the structure with studio quality sound, manipulated from live microphones or recorded music. In theory it could create any acoustic space, and could project any kind of music whether live or recorded. Unlimited possibilities in 3D. It wasn’t built but was all technically possible even before computers. It all arose from the frustrations of playing live music in terrible environments. <br /><br />Strangely the best acoustic environment we (it was a low volume rock band) ever performed in was the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a super sensitive natural acoustic environment. I think we were always looking, but never found, the perfect acoustic performance situation. One observation which relates to this post was that we as humans appear to be able to hear everything as if we were inside a 360 degree bubble - from all six quadrants. Our binaural ear arrangement let’s in sound but I’m certain that we have a much deeper center of consciousness that actually hears from all directions - below as well as above. I can’t prove it but I’ve observed it many times. On reflection, I think looking for a perfect acoustic space is like a bunch of grapes forever out of reach as we all quickly grow accustomed to whatever ideal musical space we can conjour. My late mother told me of how one of the most beautiful music experiences she ever had was hearing the Moonlight sonata coming out of a crystal radio set in a garden sometime before the First World War.Ian Whitemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16314273346922375917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-30303603798286954462019-01-18T23:05:04.294+00:002019-01-18T23:05:04.294+00:00When I was studying architecture at the AA in the ...When I was studying architecture at the AA in the late 1960s my final 5th year thesis was a sound space synthesizer which was simply a geodesic dome with multiple speakers attached to the structure with studio quality sound, manipulated from live microphones or recorded music. In theory it could create any acoustic space, and could project any kind of music whether live or recorded. Unlimited possibilities in 3D. It wasn’t built but was all technically possible even before computers. It all arose from the frustrations of playing live music in terrible environments. <br /><br />Strangely the best acoustic environment we (it was a low volume rock band) ever performed in was the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a super sensitive natural acoustic environment. I think we were always looking, but never found, the perfect acoustic performance situation. One observation which relates to this post was that we as humans appear to be able to hear everything as if we were inside a 360 degree bubble - from all six quadrants. Our binaural ear arrangement let’s in sound but I’m certain that we have a much deeper center of consciousness that actually hears from all directions - below as well as above. I can’t prove it but I’ve observed it many times. On reflection, I think looking for a perfect acoustic space is like a bunch of grapes forever out of reach as we all quickly grow accustomed to whatever ideal musical space we can conjour. My late mother told me of how one of the most beautiful music experiences she ever had was hearing the Moonlight sonata coming out of a crystal radio set in a garden sometime before the First World War.Ian Whitemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16314273346922375917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-86467409695057491902019-01-16T21:26:45.190+00:002019-01-16T21:26:45.190+00:00Mark, were they wrong? Or were their expectations ...Mark, were they wrong? Or were their expectations simply different to more seasoned classical listeners?<br /><br />It's worth remembering that many experienced classical listeners conditioned by classical/romantic orchestras find the sound of period instrument ensembles unacceptably 'thin'. Again different expectations. As above, we all hear classical music differently. <br /><br />Quantum theory tells us that by the very act of watching, the observer affects the observed reality. So, by the very act of listening, the listener affects the observed sound. <br /><br />There is no 'right' classical sound. Just a plethora of different expectations. <br />Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-14107676718726526932019-01-16T17:05:00.079+00:002019-01-16T17:05:00.079+00:00Not a technical point but not entirely tangential,...Not a technical point but not entirely tangential, either, I do remember in the late 90s hearing bemused electronica guys wonder at the very flat sound of 'classical' orchestras. They were genuinely concerned at the 'poor recording quality' of the music they were listening to. Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00960396346594892626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-80310754680301348932019-01-16T13:22:10.195+00:002019-01-16T13:22:10.195+00:00Joe, as usual, you make good points which lead us ...Joe, as usual, you make good points which lead us to think even further outside the box.<br /><br />Is there not an opportunity for classical music to move to a 'non-fixed' model? One obvious suggestion linked to this post is to offer alternative mixes - proscenium arch stereo or surround. (BBC Radio 3 has been experimenting quietly with alternative binaural streams of concerts - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/29L27gMX0x5YZxkSbHchstD/radio-3-in-binaural-sound). The Neu Ramón Humet CD cited in the post offers high resolution and 5.1 file downloads as a bonus.<br /><br />Exploring the 'non-fixed' route is even possible in the concert hall. In an earlier post I made the heretical suggestion of taking the sound from on-stage microphones and offering it in a surround mix to the audience using Bluetooth. In a concert hall equipped with HRTF sound-shaping the same concert could be given twice: once with traditional' sound, then with enhanced spatial sound.<br /><br />One important and overlooked point is that the sound of classical music itself is not fixed. The physiognomy of the human ear is unique to each person - no pair of ears are the same. So the HRTF effect means we all hear classical music differently. So 'non-fixed' solutions are just a reflection of reality. Trying to fix the sound to a 19th century sonic convention is not.<br /><br />As ever your contribution is appreciated.Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-14881007688821862042019-01-16T12:37:59.947+00:002019-01-16T12:37:59.947+00:00I know where you wanted to go with this, but the b...I know where you wanted to go with this, but the basis of comparing games to music/streaming doesn't seem to understand the moneys involved.<br /><br />Video games aren't "fixed" anymore. It isn't like the old days where you bought a cartridge or a floppy (or later a dvd-rom) and played 'til you were bored with it. There are a lot of ways to pay for bonus items or new levels or interactive play time that continue to keep money flowing.<br /><br />By contrast, the money feed *stopped* in music and video: on demand streaming at a fixed rate has, like mobile phone contracts and long distance calls (in America and Canada at least), frozen the revenue stream for many releases, especially the back catalog.<br /><br />When there is fixed revenue, there are no spikes and few incentives or even means to increase that revenue except by charging more per month (something Netflix does, and it makes the headlines every time they do it). With that is the 'cut' that the streaming service (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, now IMDB has joined that market, Google and iTunes for music) takes that may not be included in that figure, which means the numbers you see are just what the studios see, not what is actually spent.<br /><br />Now I won't argue that spatial sound is a major thing, and I personally am annoyed as my SACD player busted, and they don't make cheap ones anymore (I paid $200 for my Sony years ago...currently I see new SACD players priced as high as $10,000???? - players that are cheaper don't support the 5.1, because of patent costs, which defeats the whole point of having the player). My collection of LSO-Live and San Francisco Symphony SACDs are almost useless.<br /><br />But DVD-A and 5.1 never really caught on: if you're going to be in your living room where you have the 5.1 set-up, usually you'll put on a movie instead. 5.1 mixing is also not necessarily easy to get 'right', and I'm not sure we've as a culture have decided what it should be. MTT did have an interesting mix for the DVD of Appalacian Spring for his Keeping Score: the mix had the "mic" in the middle of the chamber group playing the piece so you had different instrument colors in every direction.Joe Shelbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07371019210357778459noreply@blogger.com