Stereophile
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- Apr 19, 2013
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- #1
<p><img class="story_image" src="http://www.stereophile.com/images/713listen.promo_.jpg" /></p>
The closest I've come to airing my thoughts about live vs recorded music was in the "As We See It" of the December 2005 <i>Stereophile</i>, "<a href="http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/1205awsi/index.html">Resistance Is Futile</a>," in which I put as many miles between the two as I could. I described live performances as works of art that exist only at the time and place of their making, variables from which their ultimate impact can never be separated; and music recordings as works of art in their own right, albeit ones that require a great deal more from the listener in order to succeed to their fullest. People respond more positively to live music not because it <i>sounds</i> more real, but because they understand, consciously or not, that any performance is a once-in-a-lifetime event.
<p>
Yet another quality that distinguishes the performing from the recorded arts occurred to me only recently: I think the average listener tends to approach the art of live music with a more open mind
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-127]
The closest I've come to airing my thoughts about live vs recorded music was in the "As We See It" of the December 2005 <i>Stereophile</i>, "<a href="http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/1205awsi/index.html">Resistance Is Futile</a>," in which I put as many miles between the two as I could. I described live performances as works of art that exist only at the time and place of their making, variables from which their ultimate impact can never be separated; and music recordings as works of art in their own right, albeit ones that require a great deal more from the listener in order to succeed to their fullest. People respond more positively to live music not because it <i>sounds</i> more real, but because they understand, consciously or not, that any performance is a once-in-a-lifetime event.
<p>
Yet another quality that distinguishes the performing from the recorded arts occurred to me only recently: I think the average listener tends to approach the art of live music with a more open mind
[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-127]