--- LGS-Europe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I have a
> feeling that the power 
> of the producer, the technical possibilities, the
> skills of the sound 
> engineer and the flawless standard set by cds
> already out there, have pushed 
> cd recording in this direction. 

Its a broader cultural thing.  Many folks today value
consistency over personality.  Look at dining in the
US.

   Just try getting into an Applebees or a TGI-
Friday's chain restaurant on a weekend.  You'll wait
for hours to get in!  Go around the corner to the
independently-owned restaurant and you can have a seat
immediately.  Why?  People know exactly what they get
at the chain.  (Bad food, in my opinion.)  At the
non-chain, you might get bad food or you might get
great food, but most people aren't willing to take the
chance.

We have this in music, too.  It called pop music. 
Very skilled producers and engineers, coupled with all
kinds of editing and studio processing produce
recordings that make even the likes of Britney Spears
and Lindsay Lohan sound like they can Sting, er, I
mean, sing, that is.  (Well, sorta. ;-)

But why do this with lute music?  A solo lute is among
the most inimate forms of musical communication there
is.  For me, I'm not particularly interested in the
"CD-as-product"; I'm after a recording of certain
pieces of music presented by a certain performer along
with his or her personal interpretation.  Who takes up
the lute thinking, "I wanna make flawless-sounding
recordings on this instrument someday."?

I remember Robert Barto saying last summer that he
wouldn't mind doing more spontaneous ornamentation on
his recordings, but "the guys in the booth" (Norbert
Kraft?) were very picky and wanted to have each take
played exactly the same way.  I really respect Barto's
recordings, but I'm not especially crazy about the
idea of the archival process getting in the way of his
total artisanship.  Unfortunately, I doubt Naxos is
going to fly a whole series of "Barto Plays Weiss,
Volumes 1-8, Live" for us to hear how he would do it
differently.


Chris 







It's good to hear
> Tim chose for a non-edited 
> recording of Rosetter. Well done! I'm talking one of
> my singers into a live 
> recording, that would be good, too. There's Tony
> Bailes' Cant degli Angeli, 
> a (slightly edited?) live recording. It's the way to
> go to bring life into 
> musical performance on cds, I feel. Although there
> will be a place for both 
> types of cds, I suppose.
> 
> David  - after a whole morning of experimenting a
> little wiser, and now 
> listening to lute cds in my collection to find out
> what sound I like best, 
> why I like it better than others, and guessing how
> the lute was recorded. 
> There's so much variation! Anyone willing to tell me
> what are his favourite 
> recordings, and why? Just the technical aspect of
> the sound of the lute.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To get on or off this list see list information at
>
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> 



       
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