[BC] Could our concept of audio be all wrong?

[Rich Wood]

------ At 06:56 PM 3/16/2009, RichardBJohnson at comcast.net wrote: -------

>It has the acoustics of an ice-skating rink, hard concrete reflecting
>walls, and the sound of an enormous cave. There were two large horn
>clusters hoisted towards the ceiling connected to some gigantic power
>amplifiers which filled the cave with the acoustic power of a SR-71
>jet engine.

Some years ago New York held a party for the media and music 
celebrities to celebrate the return of the Grammys from Los Angeles. 
It started with a party at the Hard Rock Cafe and ended with a Paul 
Simon concert at Radio City. Simon had discovered a wonderful Black a 
cappella group named Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They first appeared 
with him on Graceland. Radio City has great acoustics for what it produces.

Not only was it set up for sound that would rival a concert on the 
Great Lawn at Central Park but they miked each singer separately, 
thus destroying the great harmony of the group. You could hear each 
singer individually. It was painfully loud and a terrible 
disappointment. Bad sound isn't new.

As far as I was concerned, Radio City needed no sound reinforcement at all.

Rich