AA3 Weeks 8 & 9 – Live Sound & Acoustics


What do you think the purpose of live recording is? Consider the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.

A live recording is very different to a studio recording in many ways. There is of course the obvious difference that a live recording is a recording of a live performance. Yes, a studio recording is also recording live musicians but rather than recording a band on a stage outside they’re sitting in a little booth in a treated room.

When you’re going to see a live act, what is the appeal to go see them live instead of sitting at home listening to the band on a CD? I think if you ask yourself this question the answer is very similar as to the difference between a live verses studio recording.

This is my answer: It’s just the vibe mate.

A live performance usually consists of a massive arena, thousands of screaming fans, a stage full of speakers and instruments. The band has a huge adrenalin rush and is overwhelmed by the huge crowd.

When they start performing their music, that is exactly what they’re doing. Performing, and this isn’t just musically. They are engaging the crowd and creating a vibe. A live recording captures the energy of the performer at that time. There may even be some bum notes in a guitar solo but if the recording is capturing an amazing atmosphere or mood then that’s a positive outcome.

The purpose of a studio recording is to capture the best take. The sound is supposable perfect, and whilst it does sound good it is just a different sound to a live recording. I’m not saying a studio recording lacks energy. I am just making a comparison between two different recording environments.

A studio is generally a nice, quiet atmosphere. You generally perform in a acoustically treated room that is very quiet. You can call on a cup of coffee whenever you feel like it. You generally can’t smoke or take drugs.

Now compare this setting to a mass of screaming, drunken fans. Smoking and drinking on stage. Blaring guitars cranked to the max and thunderous drums. Ear-piercing vocals in you’re face.

The band could be playing the exact same song but it will sound noticeably different. This is because a musician’s frame of mind is expressed through their performance and when you feel different, you play different.

Of course a jazz or classical performance may not have the same effect in terms of performers’ emotion state. But, there will always be that difference.

The advantages of a live recording is that you really do capture that performance. It is a real performance at that point in time. It may not be a perfect performance but at the end of the day no one performance ever is. Provided you have recorded it correctly, it will sound more real.

The disadvantages of a live recording is that it lakes the cleanness of a studio environment. A guitar solo in a studio environment could consist of a manifestation of many takes to make it sound perfect. It will be colored using effects to give it the perfect amount of delay or reverb. A vocal line could have warmth added to it or some pitch correction. Whatever the effect is, there are no limitations to how you can work with audio in a studio.

A studio recording is aimed at making a professional piece of music so that it can be commercially successful. It will always sound right if the engineer knows what he’s doing.



Where do you think the future of studio and venue acoustics lies? Consider the ideas of physical studio acoustics and virtual studio acoustics.

The future of acoustics lies in the growth of technology. We are at the point now where pretty much anything is possible in terms of music technology. I really don’t think there is much more we can learn about acoustics.

We can already measure wavelengths of sound sources and study the interaction of those waveforms in different surfaces. We already know how different surfaces interact with various waves types. We can calculate standing waves in any recording space and correct these problems. We know about resonance modes. We already know about bass traps, baffles, helmholtz resonators and many other forms of acoustic treatment. I think as technology grows we will be just better at measuring these principles.

It may be condescending to say there will definatly be no more advances. But when you consider the technology available to us now I just can’t think of where there is left to know. Perhaps in the future there will be better substances to use for acoustically treating room (e.g. instead of rockwall). But we do have better substances now, they just cost more.

The way I see it, the way in which we treat acoustics will just become easier and more convenient. That has been the trend for many technological advances.

In terms of software, I feel that software will continue to improve. Convolution reverbs will get better over time and continue to sound more real. I don’t know if it will ever sound as real as actual reverb but we are at the point now where it is pretty close.

Acoustic emulation in software can be very pleasing and is defiantly more convenient than using actual reverb. It is, of course, much cheaper too. Where I see the real advantages and advances is where reverbs in general are able to create an environment that is either impossible to record or doesn’t exist.

What does it sound like to sit in a room with 15 walls? Who knows. But, with the right algorithm you can generate the correct pre-delays & reverb times to replicate this environment. How much will it cost to build this? It’s not even worth considering.



don't you just love technology!


[1] David Grice. "Audio Arts: Semester 1 - Week 8/9 - Live Sound & Acoustics". Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 16th May 2008

[2] "KRK Systems Releases Ergo, Powerful Room Audio Correction System". 2008. http://www.krksys.com/news_pr011708.php (Accessed 22nd May 2008)

[3] Multimedia, IK. "Advanced Room Correction System - Chapter 1 - Arc Overview". 2008. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/arc/download/ARC-1.0-UsrMan-CD.pdf (Accessed 22nd May 2008)

[4] Stavrou, Michael Paul. "Stav's Word: Recording a Live Gig." Audio Technology.45: 64 - 66