Musicality: chasing the undefined?

[Analogous]

Some musings related to this topic…

Who's Right? Accuracy or Musicality

Many years ago, the now-defunct Life magazine ran a feature article about science and its sacred cows, in which a cartoon showed a huge inverted pyramid-shaped structure of great complexity, tapering downward to a single support at its base: a toothpick. The toothpick was labeled "basic...

www.stereophile.com

How Recordings Are Produced, and What It Means to Your Hi-Fi | The Ivory Tower

Hi-Fi news, gear reviews, and interviews

parttimeaudiophile.com

And Paul’s take and the discussion that follows are interesting too.

Musical meaning – PS Audio

www.psaudio.com

 

[arj]

Lows, Mids and Highs are possible if the frequency response curve good. I was referring to loudspeaker design only.

To play music, you need so much more.

So true.
I always find speakers which can make human vocals sound real to be naturally musical ( it possible that it may not go too high or low)
Just listening to a good recording of Jagjit singh, bhupinder, hariharan, Lata, Asha etc for indian music and of course so many equivalents in western like Louis Armstrong et al and if you can feel the realism it will be musical..may not have the best of extensions in either direction .

Of course it can be broken up into timbre ( ie all harmonics being reproduced), dynamics etc but all of us will recognise a close to natural reproduction voice and if it moves you then it will be musical.

 

[Bloom@83]

I always find speakers which can make human vocals sound real to be naturally musical ( it possible that it may not go too high or low)
Just listening to a good recording of Jagjit singh, bhupinder, hariharan, Lata, Asha etc for indian music and of course so many equivalents in western like Louis Armstrong et al and if you can feel the realism it will be musical..may not have the best of extensions in either direction .

There is another way that has been more effective for me.
Play various LPs of Lata from the forties , fifties , sixties , seventies and eighties from the best quality LPs you can lay your hands on (strictly no no to CDs or streaming ).

The subtle change in the pitch and texture of her voice between the decades is quite evident in a properly revealing system (even after making concession for fidelity of the recording technologies in forties and fifties ).

 

[arj]

There is another way that has been more effective for me.
Play various LPs of Lata from the forties , fifties , sixties , seventies and eighties from the best quality LPs you can lay your hands on (strictly no no to CDs or streaming ).

The subtle change in the pitch and texture of her voice between the decades is quite evident in a properly revealing system (even after making concession for fidelity of the recording technologies in forties and fifties ).

Of course I usually use LPs of lata from 603/70s but then not everyone listens to that music or has LPs.
A good recording of a CD (not Lata/Asha !) can also do that. I personally like to use Livingston Tyler "Isnt she lovely" the whistling sounds hauntingly natural in good systems irrespective of price.

 

[Bloom@83]

Of course I usually use LPs of lata from 603/70s but then not everyone listens to that music or has LPs.
A good recording of a CD (not Lata/Asha !) can also do that. I personally like to use Livingston Tyler "Isnt she lovely" the whistling sounds hauntingly natural in good systems irrespective of price.

Yes not everyone does , so I said it was effective for me.
My point was if One could discern the change in her vocal texture between the early decades , which a good setup should be able to do readily.

For western music , of late I prefer not go the route of the very well recorded vocal jazz / pop albums on either CDs or LPs.
I’d rather play albums that are musically great but sonically not so great , something like Clapton’s classic Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs or any of the numerous classic rock albums of the early sixties recorded in mono. My test is simple - is the sound making me stop analysing the setup and pulling me back into listening to the music or not ?
I don’t care two hoots about any audiophile jingoism.

 

[Subbu68]

Even if one went to live shows, you hear Asha, Yesudas, Sikkil, Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Cold Play all through mics, interconnects, mixers, amps, wires, speakers and the most important - power system with impedances damping the transients, dynamics

So with what to refer to when listening in the lowly DIY or uber expensive systems at home or anywhere else and how to define what you heard

 

[Analogous]

So, what is this “musical” sound or sensation that is rather elusive?

Are we satisfied with our understanding of this term, it’s usefulness or otherwise while describing performance of speakers and audio electronics?

 

[arj]

Even if one went to live shows, you hear Asha, Yesudas, Sikkil, Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Cold Play all through mics, interconnects, mixers, amps, wires, speakers and the most important - power system with impedances damping the transients, dynamics

So with what to refer to when listening in the lowly DIY or uber expensive systems at home or anywhere else and how to define what you heard

Exactly the "Live shows " has flowed in from the western music Opera hall concept, but these days everything is amplified and the sound curated by the sound engineer and perhaps sometimes the musicians are also involved

My reference for live has been during business travels in europe where you do get to hear unamplified music on streets and jazz bars but else it should feel "real"..live is a different matter

 

[Analogous]

Came across this interesting quote by Scott Hull (reviewer, Part time audiophile)

“ Writing about sound is like dancing about architecture.”

I am sure there are several other such expressions (grabbing water, smoke…?)

But without words how do we share our experiences, opinions, gyan and witticisms?

He goes on: “ I’ve always felt that there is something odd about most efforts to write about audio products. They make sound, after all, and capturing that in something other than sound is distancing. You end up either crafting a linguistic experience from whole cloth or end up a sculptor, gradually chipping away at this or that, leaving a pile of joy on the floor like shavings.”