Because today’s concert halls are voiced by conventions dating back more than a century, there is a real danger they will become museums of sound that are irrelevant to the binaural sound world that is the norm outside. Let me emphasise that I am not suggesting stacks of PA speakers at chamber music recitals or heavily compressed mixes for classical recordings. What I am saying is that some important sonic conventions have become anachronisms and need questioning.
via On An Overgrown Path: Beware of creating museums of sound.
I do remember when I was first becoming acquainted with live classical music (as an audience member, since I’ve often participated onstage in some form or another since childhood), and I was deeply surprised by how different my CDs sounded vs. what happened in the concert hall. I love it now, but if the preparation for new classical listeners is recorded music, then those first experiences will be jarring.
