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Recording/soundstage as part of the composition

post #1 of 19
6/24/11 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 

Since the great forms of chamber music began, soundstage became part of the composition. But in more recent years, perhaps the initiator being Stockhausen, soundstage has been used more exhaustively as a form of expression by artists, as well as the way the music sounds.

I know this is not news, bands like Pink Floyd made good use of this on many recordings.

 

I'd like for you to post examples you consider good of this sorts of music. I'll try to explain it better. If you listen to some Queen songs, The millionaire waltz for example, you'll hear that at a moment the guitar pans from right to left and then to the right again.But it doesn't add much to the music, it's just a "funny" bit. In Hunter by Björk however (and other songs by her), the soundstage is an organic part of the composition. This is what I'm looking for.

To give a different example, not about soundstage; you could hear to Lazing on a sunday afternoon also by Queen, in which the voice has been made to sound so as a form of expression.

Well I hope what I wrote is understandable, it was hard for me to explain it to myself.

 

One good example of what I'm looking for would be Ende Neu, by Einsturzende Neubauten. I love the way a pencil seems to be writing on your head on Die explosion im festspielhaus, or the sounds in the beginning of Der schacht von babel. Some songs by Dead can dance would serve as examples too.


Edited by TheUbiquitous - 6/29/11 at 12:22pm
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post #2 of 19
6/24/11 at 9:26am
Most people use the term soundstage interchangeably with stereo placement, but they are two different things. Soundstage refers to recreating a natural spread of instruments in space. A good speaker system will allow you to close your eyes and point at each musician's position. Stereo placement is an artificially created aural space designed in the mix from a multichannel source. Ambiences can open or close, instruments can pan from one side to the other, and spacial relationships can shift and change constantly.

A great example of soundstage is Georg Solit's Ring cycle. They placed two microphones in front of a stage and divided the floor into a grid marked with numbers. As the singers performed, they moved from point to point according to the blocking instructions on their music. It resulted in an amazingly natural sounding presentation.
Edited by bigshot - 6/24/11 at 9:27am
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post #3 of 19
6/24/11 at 9:37am
Thread Starter 

I'll look for that, but what I meant then was stereo placement.

Thanks for the correction!

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post #4 of 19
6/24/11 at 10:20am

While not a recording I did attend a show of Amon Tobin years ago that was a DJ set that was mixed in multichannel. There is a binaural piece from Carla Scaletti linked to on his page at the moment. While quite possibly not the style of music you like flying lotus seems to like to screw around with stereo and sound stage quite a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Edited by JadeEast - 6/24/11 at 10:39am
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post #5 of 19
6/26/11 at 5:56am
Thread Starter 

Has anyone heard  and maybe liked Ende Neu? I thought it was a very interestingly sounding record.

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post #6 of 19
6/29/11 at 12:14pm
Thread Starter 

Mmm I guess not. Maybe I was unclear frown.gif

just a little bump biggrin.gif

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post #7 of 19
7/2/11 at 4:34pm
Thread Starter 

rebump

 

Anyone heard anything by Hildegard Westerkamp? I've just been listening to Into India and its quiet interesting. Not what I meant on the first post though.

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post #8 of 19
7/3/11 at 5:05pm

I can't think of too many examples, but I did want to give you props for "Ende Neu," that is a fantastic album biggrin.gif   I don't think I'd ever listened to it on good headphones (haven't put it on in a while), I'll have to do that.

 

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is some of the tracks on Secret Chiefs 3's "Xaphan" album... they have very noticeable stereo placement on some of the instruments. Like your Bjork example, although maybe not quite as obvious...

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post #9 of 19
7/4/11 at 6:12am
Thread Starter 

Thanks! I'll try these secret chiefs, I didn't know them.

 

You have to try Ende Neu with good headphones! there are a few amazing parts!

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post #10 of 19
7/5/11 at 9:02am

If you like experimental/sound-effecty kind of stuff (like the Ende Neu pencil), check out John Zorn's Dictee/Liber Novus. It is very very interesting to listen to on headphones, although it is surely not everyone's cup of tea. It plays with stereo placement a bit, I remember one time I was listening to it and something in the recording took me by surprise and I was physically cowering in fear on my livingroom couch because I felt like I'd been surrounded by people suddenly due to the way the vocals were layered and located. I am really jumpy about sudden noises in general, though... tongue.gif

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post #11 of 19
7/6/11 at 1:02pm
i love Bjork for testing soundstage of speakers. also you do not need surround sound or multi-channel system to experience a ''rear'' and ''side'' soundstage as well. good speaker set-up with close to correct room acoustics will offer you a full 360 degree stereo image in music. i can't list stuff on top of my head on artists but i have experience not only acoustical/classical music with great soundstage capabilities but lot of electronic music from different genres can have some very impressive soundstage. like for example, Bjork ''All is full of love'' you can hear sounds all around you and near the end of the track hear her voice pan from left to right,right to left behind your head.
Edited by RexAeterna - 7/6/11 at 1:06pm
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post #12 of 19
7/6/11 at 1:45pm

From a quick Youtube listen to the 2 songs you use as examples, they seem to be binaural recordings, at least the parts you mention.  There are many threads on binaural albums.

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post #13 of 19
7/6/11 at 10:29pm

Doesn't sound like binaural recording to me at all, not to mention how impractical that would be - I doubt Bjork had two musicians on either side of a dummy head alternating beats to make it sound like it was bouncing back and forth, or running around the room to make it sound like her voice is moving back and forth. It's just panning and other effects that they can engineer into the recording to make it seem like the sound is coming from a certain place.

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post #14 of 19
7/7/11 at 6:15am
Thread Starter 

I've looked for some information but haven't found anything about the recordings being binaural, and from listening I don't think they are, but I could be wrong.

 

RexAeterna: I love the way "All is full of love" sounds, it's a great song!

 

Sarah: I've placed your recomendations on my list, when I have a chance to listen, I'll comment!

 

And a little bump: Anyone heard anything by Hildegard Westerkamp? I guess it can hardly be called music, I know many who don't consider it so, but it's still an interesting listen!

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post #15 of 19
7/7/11 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah View Post

Doesn't sound like binaural recording to me at all, not to mention how impractical that would be - I doubt Bjork had two musicians on either side of a dummy head alternating beats to make it sound like it was bouncing back and forth, or running around the room to make it sound like her voice is moving back and forth. It's just panning and other effects that they can engineer into the recording to make it seem like the sound is coming from a certain place.



I meant the OPs examples, not Rex's.  The pencil especially sounds like a binaural recording.  The percussion may or may not be but it would be easy enough to arrange percussion around a head.

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