[Dixielandjazz] The Perfect Recording

Wed Jun 25 13:21:04 PDT 2008

Most of the time I would agree that recordings should be left alone however 
I have one tune on a CD that I really love.  It's a Mozart Oboe piece and 
the soloist is wonderful except for this one very exposed out of tune note. 
Every time I play it the hair stands up on the back of my neck in 
anticipation.  I grit my teeth and hold my breath for that one second note.

Technology is wonderful and I use it all the time but I find the effects 
used, usually excessively, are there to cover up what otherwise would be 
regarded as a boring and poor performance.  Effects are rampant especially 
the guitar community.  These guys walk in with whole arrays of foot pedals 
that alter the sound.  At one time all we had to put up with was some guy 
going nuts with a fuzz box or wah wah pedal.  Now the sky is the limit.

I also fault the listening public too.  I just walk away scratching my head 
when some guy plays the same three notes, real fast, in the same pattern for 
what seems to be forever cutting in different effects only to have the 
audience clap and scream.  One would wonder what ever happened to real 
musicianship in these cases or musical taste of audiences?

I also wonder what effect it will have in the long run on young musicians 
who can't produce perfect music?  Will it cause them to give up prematurely 
or become frustrated by the technical difficulties of the wind and other 
instruments that you must make the sound?  Will it make them think that 
their solution is in a box or computer program.

Today we tend to want to take a pill for our problems.  The quick fix.  My 
sister-in-law suffers from depression and gets pills for it but refuses to 
go to any kind of counseling to fix the underlying problems so she never 
gets better and just takes more pills.

I think a lot of this technology is simply quick fix that really doesn't 
improve things much in the long run.
Larry
STL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dick Sleeman" <dick at sleeman.nl>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 6:48 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] The Perfect Recording

> Ken wrote a.o.:
>
>>>I'd rather hear a recording played with conviction, originality and
>> passion, but with imperfections, than something that had all the soul 
>> edited
>> out of it in the studio in the pursuit of perfection.
>> Ken Mathieson
>
> During my years as a recording engineer at one time I worked with only one
> musician in the studio, to record some tracks over the already made rhythm
> tracks. He played one mistake during the rehearsel and again the same 
> faulty
> note during the first take. When he asked whether the take was OK, I 
> suggested
> to do it once more without mentioning the wrong note. During the second 
> take he
> made the same mistake, so I stopped and asked him if he knew he played a 
> wrong
> note. He answered: "Yes, I know, but it's in the score!" (he didn't think 
> much
> of the arranger who wasn't present, and persisted to play it as written 
> :-))
>
> Up until today, when the song is played over the radio, we are the only 
> ones who
> still hear this note!
>
> Dick Sleeman
>

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