I decided to listen to some live music after several, several years.
First, I chose to attend Hariprasad Chaurasia’s recital. It was really great – the maestro’s music was divine, as always.
But…
There was this nagging whooshing sound of air (or should I say wind) along with the sound of the flute. I could not figure out if it was because of the amplifier system, or because the microphones were placed too close to the mouth of the maestro or just that – that is how the flute sounds !!
I get the feeling that the microphone should have been placed somewhere along the mid part of the flute or near the end of the flute that is away from the mouth. Then the tonal quality of the sound would have been better. Probably because the microphone was too close to the mouth, it was capturing the sound of the air/wind from the mouth of the maestro directly rather than the sound from the flute – the sound that we are not supposed to hear, and normally we don’t.
I enjoy music, but do not understand music. Maybe this proves that I do not understand.
But I did really enjoy his recital.
Next I chose Sivamani. His percussion the next day was fantastic – as expected. Though personally I would have liked a little more of natural music and less of electronics/ synthesized stuff, still it was enjoyable. It was odd listening to uncharacteristic sound from a mineral water bottle and a briefcase !
Listening to live music is really great.
