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Re: [ARSCLIST] Transfer responsibility- was Podcasting--explained a bit...
Steven Smolian wrote:
There is an ethical issue. I believe the transferer has an obligation
to make the performer(s) sound as well as they possibly can. They do the
best they can when they make that record. This will be the first
encounter by many with the names on that label. Their reputation will
be affected by the how well executed the copying work has been.
Get the playing speed right, find the best equalization and, more
broadly, give the new hearer as good a product as possible on which to
make his judgement, a strong, if implied, part of the listening
process. It's only fair to those unable to protect the quality of their
art.
I'm sorry, but your standard is set impossibly high. After all, in few
commercial recordings is there attention to fidelity of the performance.
Engineers routinely correct little errors - like flatting a note - and
enhance the sound in other ways to improve on nature or to satisfy the
performer's image of himself/herself.
I suggest that the objective is to provide a *fair* representation of
whatever passes for reality. In classical material of the sort of
interest to me, even getting the playing speed right is a matter of
debate approaching fisticuffs. "De Lucia must have sung it at score
pitch"; "Nonsense - he sang it a full tone flat".
It happens. There is a company today issuing "78-rpm" recordings on
vinyl from original metal parts. A committee recommends playback
parameters including stylus dimensions and playback speed. Often, they
disagree and a minority report on speed is published with the consensus.
Equalization would be even more provocative if they touched on that matter.
Sometimes, the problem is finding truth and the solution is to seek
something less.
Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/