FOURTEEN Classical Music

It would be pretentious to suggest that an account of recording techniques could be in any way definitive. Quite apart from the fact that the variables involved are so manifold as to defy detailed analysis, the results are judged by aesthetic standards upon which there is, at best, agreement in only statistical terms. Furthermore, there is disagreement upon what the ultimate aim of the balance engineer should be. On the one hand, there is the viewpoint that a performance should be transcribed as nearly as possible to the original – that is, the sound as heard by a listener at a certain point in the original location. On the other, it is suggested that a certain degree of artistic licence is permissible, provided that this results in an improvement in sound quality, impact, or whatever. These are necessarily vague terms and, in fact, there is a range of approaches from one extreme to the other; there are occasions nowadays, for instance, when a composer writes with technical innovations in mind that can only be achieved artificially during recording. Nevertheless, for the most part, 'serious' music recording is concerned with traditional music, for which there is equally a sonic tradition, and it is this aspect of recording that will be dealt with here. There are essentially two different circumstances in which such music recordings take place; with an audience present and without. In the first case, the performance is presented, whether on record or broadcast, as a unique event, and there is a psychological tendency for the listener to identify with the audience and occasion. For this reason, it can be expected that the listener will not judge matters of balance too harshly, in exactly the same way that it is not reasonable to condemn a performance because of the odd musical mishap. This is perhaps as well, as the engineer's control over positioning, microphone layout, and other factors is extremely restricted. It is natural that the listener should expect the perspective of the balance to reinforce his identification with the audience, and the effect of his involvement in the occasion in terms of his expectations of sound quality should not be underestimated.