[Dixielandjazz] Eddie Condon

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi all,

Steve posted on the above: 

>snip
Columbia has often been accused of adding lots of bass and muting  
treble etc., which while it improves tone (for some), it is not what  
the band sounded like live.

<snip

Muting the treble will reduce the presence of cymbals and snare in the mix and as a result will rob the recording of some of the energy that would have been present in the performance. Similarly, putting drums at the back of the mix, further masks their energy in the recording, so the records won't even demonstrate the energy which went into the studio performance, let alone capture the energy of a real live preformance. All of us who are players recognise the trade-off of studio recordings: cleaner sound, better balance, ability to fix goofs etc, but on the down-side, it's very difficult to replicate the energy and exhilaration of a live gig in studio conditions. It just underlines how lucky those Chicago theatre-goers were in the 1920s to catch Louis' Hot Five on their only known live gig. That would be my first stop if I had a time machine!

A Guid New Year Tae Ane an' A'

Ken Mathieson

www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk