Unfortunately for me I really like pipe organ music. So I end up listening to a lot of what I consider substandard recordings. There are very few recordings that manage to actually capture a sense of a pipe organ.
Harp and percussion are tricky too. For a harp you need really good acoustics and percussion, be it wooden bongo-like drums or a full drum kit with Danny Carey, can require multiple microphones with advanced settings.
This helps explain why, as someone who doesn't own or play piano, I'm unable to tell if headphones or IEMs do a decent job of reproducing pianos "accurately." They sound different on pretty much every recording I have, especially of piano concertos.
Difficulty with pipe organ is I like the mics close to the pipes to capture the sound of the pipes and have the ranks dance and image. But also need hall sound to reinforce the sound of the organ. Capturing both the pipes and the hall in the right balance is tricky and most recordings mess that up.
@Thad E Ginathom Indeed, the Gothic cathedrals are instruments themselves for harp, choir and organ pieces. If God is light, then soundwaves must be the Holy Ghost and his incarnate representative Bach (among others). Physical building acoustics can be art and science at the same time...
I don't know what to recommend as a good pipe organ recording. My profile post was due to me being frustrated while listening to organ recordings and realizing I don't own any pipe organ recordings I consider reference quality. All are flawed in some way. Some more flawed than others.
I've got 211 albums worth of pipe organ music. 3586 files. 10.1 days worth. 76.9 GB FLAC. And none I'm fully audiophile happy with. But I still enjoy listening to them (well, most of them).
The issue I have with organ recordings is that with headphones I'm after a "you are there" style of sound. Sound where my ears are the microphones and I feel like I'm in the space as the recordings is being made. I never get that with organ recordings. Sometimes I'll hear the pipes as "you are there" but the room will be off. Or the room sound will be there but the pipes will be off. Never both right together.
Similar issues with piano recordings. I don't want my head inside the piano. I also don't want my head in the room if the piano sound loses the "you are there". Some orchestra recordings manage to the balance of "you are there" with the room sound just right.
I don't know if a listener should be trying to simulate what the performer would have heard or what an audience would have heard. On some piano records, simply raising the volume lets one fake this shift in perspective somewhat.
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