Comments on Profile Post by Hammy

  1. Hammy
    Hammy
    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.
    Nov 26, 2020
  2. Deep Funk
    Deep Funk
    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.
    Nov 27, 2020
  3. gixxerwimp
    gixxerwimp
    Examples?
    Nov 27, 2020
    crenca likes this.
  4. Tchoupitoulas
    Tchoupitoulas
    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.
    Nov 27, 2020
  5. Hammy
    Hammy
    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.
    Nov 27, 2020
    Deep Funk likes this.
  6. Azimuth
    Azimuth
    B3 organ and Leslie cabinet 4th. Acoustic guitar 5th.
    Nov 27, 2020
  7. Thad E Ginathom
    Thad E Ginathom
    Isn't the thing with big pipe-organ installations that the whole building is the instrument?
    Nov 27, 2020
    Deep Funk likes this.
  8. E_Schaaf
    E_Schaaf
    blumlein micing ftw
    Nov 27, 2020
  9. gixxerwimp
    gixxerwimp
    @Hammy can you list some examples of what you consider to be good organ recordings?
    Nov 27, 2020
  10. Deep Funk
    Deep Funk
    @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...
    Nov 28, 2020
    Thad E Ginathom likes this.
  11. Hammy
    Hammy
    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.
    Nov 28, 2020
    gixxerwimp likes this.
  12. Hammy
    Hammy
    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).
    Nov 28, 2020
    Thad E Ginathom and gixxerwimp like this.
  13. Hammy
    Hammy
    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.
    Nov 28, 2020
    Deep Funk likes this.
  14. Hammy
    Hammy
    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.
    Nov 28, 2020
    Deep Funk likes this.
  15. Deep Funk
    Deep Funk
    Vintage AKGs excel with this music. Certain Philips headphones also work well but give an old K500/K501 some proper power and you enter bliss...
    Nov 29, 2020
  16. Claritas
    Claritas
    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.
    Dec 14, 2020