Creative Audio Processing
02 - Stereo Image Analysis Criteria

 

 

 

 

We'll stay in the field of classical music recording for the moment. We've stated in chapter 01 that result is the only important thing, and realism is not so important. So, result should be "good", but what does that mean, "good" ? Let's see what is "good" when recording classical music. We'll provide a list of objective criteria that can help judging and defining a recorded sound scene. The following list may not be exhaustive, but it gives a good idea of the issue. - Transparency Listeners are under the impression of seeing, or hearing, the instruments without any veil between them and the instruments - Definition (linked to transparency) The instruments are clearly defined. Every detail can be precisely heard. - Acoustic ambience The instruments sound like they are in a realistic space, not in terms of room acoustics, but in terms of ambient noise. There is natural ambient noise everywhere, so it has to be of good quality. It has to define the space without being a nuisance. - Panning You don't want to hear all the instruments in the middle. One instrument slightly on the right, the other slightly on the left, another one way on the right... This gives interest to the sound scene - Width (linked to panning, but not necessarily - also linked to acoustic ambience) The subjective impression of width - it can be given by instruments that are for instance panned, or it can be the ambience which is perceived as wide. - Depth You don't want everything on the same plan : the scene is more interesting if it's two dimensional, and deep as well as wide. Basically, in means not everything on the same plan. - Relief (depth organisation - linked with depth) It is a good thing if the recording has depth, but it is even better if the different plans are nicely organized and well defined. You can hear a solo instrument right up front, a small group of other instruments just behind, another group even more behind and on the left... that's nice.