[Dixielandjazz] Fw: LIVE vs STUDIO

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Oops!  I meant to send this to DJML.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
To: "Gordon Wolfe" <gww174 at aol.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 2:32 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] LIVE vs STUDIO


> Gordon GWW174 at aol.com writes:
>
>> Have to put in my 2 cents worth...
>> To this listener there is something about LIVE music which does not
>> captured
>> in the studio.  To me, listening to a studio CD is like listening to
>> 'canned
>> music' which IT IS for sure.  Something 'happens' in a live 
>> performance...
>> maybe it is the ambience combined with an 'ease' in the musician's
>> demeanor or
>> performance....... the 'hand-offs' from one musician to another seem
>> smoother and
>> more relaxed... the 'riffs' are better... there is just 'something' which
>> this non-musician cannot define but methinks that most listeners prefer
>> listening
>> to 'live' or 'recorded live' music as opposed to 'perfect' music created
>> in a
>> studio.
>>
>> would love to hear feedback on this one.
>
>
> Gordon,
>
> Yes, there is something infectious about hearing music live in a crowd.
> The same thing is often true about the difference between watching a 
> comedy Movie by yourself or
> with an audience.  The movie is just as good both ways, no difference. 
> The actors are not energized to do a better job because there is an 
> audience.
>
> For the same reason, that is why laugh tracks are added to sitcoms.
>
> However, This original thread was more along the lines of which is better 
> musically, live or studio recording.  And of course Steve's opinion that 
> in any recording, a clam should not be fixed.
>
> My feeling is that a good musician can, and often does, just as good of a
> job in either setting.
>
> True, there is something infectious about playing to a live audience.
> However, I can't tell you how many times a musician playing live, has 
> gotten
> off the stand raving about the set.  Then upon hearing a play back,
> realizing that it really was not as good as he thought.  In fact, it 
> turned
> out that musically, it was not of recording quality.
>
> And, as Kash and I have said, one bad note in a live session goes by fast 
> and is usually forgotten.  But, one bad note in a recording is there 
> forever and ever.
>
> There is a Condon recording of Jada where Dick Cary cracks on a note while 
> playing his peck horn.  In the background you can hear Condon say, "That's 
> OK Dick, we'll send you back to Lake Placid."
>
> Dick told me that of all the hundreds, maybe thousands of recordings that 
> he did, that one note is what he hears about.  you can bet that he wished 
> that it had never been kept.
>
> And take a good studio recording, dub in audience noise, clapping, 
> applause, etc and you will never know the difference.  You will think that 
> it is a live recording.
>
> One of my favorite albums is of Peggy Lee with George Shearing Live at the 
> DJ convention in Miami Beach in about 1955 or so, titled "Beauty and the 
> Beat".  After hearing it for years, I found out that while Peggy and 
> George did perform  for the convention, this recording was made in a 
> studio with the audience dubbed in.  You would never know it.  It is a 
> great recording.
>
> I know of at least one contemporary band who did the same thing on one of 
> their albums.  You cannot tell that it is not live and it sounds great!  I 
> won't name the band because they are still a working band.
>
> Best,
>
> --Bob Ringwald
>