Comparing Surround to 'standard CD'

[P94109]

I find that most people who comment on the surround mixes and complain that 'don't sound like my old stereo' are really out of touch with the reality of live music. Over my many years as a musician, I have heard these comments - "why don't they sound like their records?" being one of the most interesting to me. Studio recordings are artificial and may have several different sessions with different musicians. This doesn't happen with live performances and the mixing is done by the hall itself in these live performances. The sound bounces around, sometimes a singer may move out into the audience, and there are other things that acoustically bring about the excitement of the "real surround" sound.
Recently a DVD site had a review of a jazz sampler and commented that it was OK as long as you were in the room with the home theater, but did not see much sense if you weren't right in the might of the speakers. I have to disagree - along with several musician friends of mine - as state that I can hear the difference even when I am in another room between a surround mix and two-channel stereo. The ambience is totally different.
However, when one considers variance in a live performance, I guess I like the experiments with placing instruments in different spaces, even with the vocal elements around the room.
It seems that trying various arrangements makes sense if one does not have to be tied to the "old CD type stereo". After all, that was only because there were only 2 channels and the idea originally was to make it more like a live performance.

 

[ct]

Right on. As a former musician who peformed in a number of of formats I have always thought that the "stereo" argument was completely out of touch with the music I was used to hearing. Anyway completely agree. And I think the recording folks who are putting out the new multi-channel recordings are on track.

 

[The Quadfather]

I'm not a musician, but appreciate music like most of these guys on these pages. I view the surround aspect as another canvass to unleash one's creative potential. It is one thing to capture the ambience of the hall, but alltogether something else to create a piece of music for surround sound. Each has it's merits. In the latter, the standard music hall is a limiting factor. I enjoy being within the band's playing area, a place I could not enjoy at a concert, or in stereo. Also, some works would lend themselves very nicely to this type of recording. Uriah Heep comes to mind.There are probably some classical works that would work well in full surround also. It's all just another way to create.

The Quadfather