Before I begin let me say this is not a criticism of recording and audio engineers of any sort. I think they do a great job of handling us musicians! Also, this post is from the point of view of a classical musician, although I'm sure some of the points are applicable to all sorts of music genres.
Why do we need to record?
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The act of making recordings is an essential part of the modern musician's work toolset. When times were simpler, musicians didn't travel far from their home base of fans and supporters (generally a patron of some sort if you were lucky). Thus, it was easy to assess a musician based upon their reputation and the recomendations of a trusted advisor. Even better, you could just go and listen to them!
These days, music is a commodity. You need to sell yourself to promotors and concert organisers to get concerts. You need to stand out in the crowd of countless other musicians,ensembles and groups. A recording acts as calling card, like a musician's business card. It is an sample of your work and gives the organiser some idea of what to expect if he employs you.
Herein lies the problem, when the recording becomes as important or, in some cases, more important than the act of live performance. No other profession tries to sell their business cards as a side venture to their main profession!
For the consumer of music, a recording is infinitely more enticing than a live concert. It is forever in your possession, it is cheaper and it is there on demand. However, there are many things that you might not be aware of.
It's FAKE!
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Unless you have a live and unedited recording you are essentially buying a fake experience. The recording that you have bought is likely to have been edited and altered to an inch of it's life, in the pursuit of artistic perfection. The recording that you have bought, might not be a real representation of the artist. These days, it is possible alter recordings to fix pitch, tone, timing and pretty much everything that you want to. Of course, it helps to havae a good starting point for the editing, but given enough money and motivation anything is possible!
Thus, we have extreme situations of groups that are completely unable to sound anywhere close to the impression that the recording gives. Hundreds of edits in a track is not impossible, if you heared this sort of gorup live, you are likely to be heavily dissappointed. Is this fraud or at the very least, a denial of artistic integrity? Does anyone care?
We also have situations where the marketing of the product (an artist) completely takes over the actual artist venture itself. There are many popular singers that actually can't sing to save their lives, but they look good on videos and they have a marketing machine in place. Recording is a way to cover up the slight problem of lack of musical talent, even their live performances can be mimed to a track in the interests of making it sound better.
Is it good for the musician?
We tend to focus on the top end, where the sale of CDs and other recordings are a large revenue stream for the artist. But in general, live performances and concerts is where the musician will earn the most of their income. If people start to buy CDs instead of supporting their musicians by going to concerts then the pool of artists will wither away and die, except for those that are backed by a large marketing support.
The prevelance of recordings is also detrimental to the training of the next generation of musicians. They are being held up to an impossible ideal, where the technical perfection of the recorded performer is the goal to aspire to. Thus, the training of the musician begins to focus more upon the technical development (which is also neccesary) at the detriment of the musical communication and fantasy (which is more important).
Why do we do this?
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Musicians are creatives. Creatives pursue artistic perfection. Modern recording gives us the opportunity to create the ideal interpretation of a piece of work. This is a noble goal, however, when does the pursuit of perfection become more important than the integrety of the artist and the real goals of music. Like all noble ideals, there is a point where the balance goes awry and the end result is something that has betrayed your original vision.
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What is music?
Music, like all performance arts, is emphemeral. This means that it exists only in the time that is performed, unlike paintings and photos which are recorded for all time. Music is also the act of communication between the musician and listener, different emotions and thoughts are evoked depending on the state of mind of both parties. I believe that this is music, not the idea of locking up the perfect most ideal interpretation of a work in a cage for eternity.
Think about a really meaningful conversation or interaction that you had with someone. Think of the thoughts and emotions that you had. Would the conversation/interaction continue to have the same impact if you recorded/videoed it and re-lived it over and over whilst you were doing the dishes or folding the clothes?
Conclusion
Recordings are the necessary evil for the musician. I wish there was a way to certify live undedited recordings to differentiate them from the edited Frankinsteins that have flooded the market. Something like a organic/free range sticker that could give the consumer confidence that the recording was not conceived in an artificial way.
However, would a consumer want to own a recording that was "blemished". Would the freezing in time of a "meaningful" performance hold any meaning anyway?
Perhaps the best solution is for the consumer to be educated about the unreality of recordings, and for them to go and support their local live performances, be that in any field of music (classical/folk/rock/jazz/punk/rap....). And to stay away from the money making machines that masquerade as music.
Do you have any thoughts about this?
Is there something I've missed?
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