# Live music



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

What do you like to see? Do you go to concerts often? Do you prefer to stay at home and listen to recordings or watch videos of performances?

Personally I love to see music performed live. There is something about the real presence of the music and it's existence in the moment which fascinates me. However, I tend to prefer seeing a performance of something I've never heard before. For me it's like seeing a movie for the first time. Captivated by a development of pitch and rhythm unfamiliar to me and withut knowing where the music will go next is probably the real thrill in live performances for me.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

My preference to blare good classical music in my iPod classic or iPhone at the local library or supermarket and then I just sprawl out on the couch like a bearskin rug and relax.

Live music is wonderful and it captures my sense of living in the moment. However last time the Mozart piano concerto became Mozart piano and two cell phones concerto instead at the Utah Symphony.

I was considering adding a third cell phone so that it would be a quartet for the Mozart piece but considering that the output level of an iPhone 4 wasn't that high, I wasn't willing to risk it like Rage of a Lost Mentos.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I much prefer the comfort of my living room. If I really want to get into it, I sprawl on the floor between the speakers with a pillow and blanket, darkness or candles, essential oils wafting in the air and a pot of Tie Guan Yin. I revel in being able to enjoy the finest music there is without any fuss or bother or inconvenience, whenever it suits me.

Parking the car by a lakeside in the mountains and enjoying the sunset with the music on is also very pleasant.

Concerts are fine, too, but there is the expense (horrific!), the bother (parking, timing, crowds, etc.), and the lack of convenience (I can't take a break when I want, etc.). Still, I do enjoy them and would welcome complimentary admission tickets any time.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

I am neutral with regards to concerts. Usually I listen to music as I work or in uninterrupted solitude (which is rare). I don't care for crowds and the overall chaos of cities (though I do appreciate chaos in music). A well made recording is just as good, if not better, than a live performance — in my mind anyway.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Live has the best sound, plus I love watching the musicians. I also like being part of an audience, and seeing how others react. I'll accept performance imperfections that the studio would eliminate. 

But if you take cost and travel into consideration, I am very glad I have recordings.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

I, like others, enjoy attending live performances. The issue, however, is the other people. Obviously. The coughing, the random bottle or wrapper drop, the whispering child, the unintended applause, etc. Truly, you cannot control what other people do, and thus you are subject to their attitudes and tendencies. And often, people simply do not appreciate that others are also there listening to the performance.

Of course, this grievance of mine is only heightened because when I can listen to music alone -- at home or in my headphones traveling -- I am the one in control. I eliminate all outside disturbances. I do so with extreme prejudice.


Also, I noticed that when I attend live peformances, I don't even look at the performers. I often look up, around, down, or close my eyes. You can study an instrument or observe the quartet dynamics, for example, but generally, really, I am there to hear music, not necessarily watch it. Plus, you can't watch music.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Notwithstanding complaints about others' coughing, whispering, etc., I have to say, I love being part of an ovation at the end. That is so much more rewarding to me then being alone.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

There's No Place Like Home.


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

I love hearing the music live but the background noise, coughing, paper rustling, whispering etc, does get annoying. Especially during the slow movements.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I love going to classical concerts and most concerts I go to contain some music I've never heard before. But that doesn't mean I don't still want to hear music I'm already familiar with live. Even if I'm used to hearing the music through headphones, I always love to see what the music is like live. I've never thought "I'd rather just play it through headphones" afterwards. Hearing a piece I'm familiar with performed live usually causes me to appreciate that piece more


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## papsrus (Oct 7, 2014)

Live performances can be almost transcendent. Or they can be disappointing. It all depends.

I've attended wonderful live performances given by passionate musicians and appreciated by attentive audiences -- concerts where the music envelopes the audience and something special happens partly _because _there is an audience.

I've also attended perfunctory performances with restless, distracted audiences. Or maybe performances that could have been great, but the audience didn't invest itself in the experience the way the musicians might have been willing to, and maybe the musicians sensed that and the whole thing just sort of falls into a kind of perfunctory "lets get this over with" kind of thing. These are obviously disappointing.

While I'm not a concert veteran with hundreds of performances under my belt, I can say that for me it has been basically a 50-50 proposition. For every great experience there's likely going to be a dud, or at least something less than fully satisfying.

Given that live is always more exciting than recorded, I'll take that chance every time.

I think it also pays to select your seat with some forethought. Assess the venue, your excitement for the music that's going to be performed, etc. If you want an undisturbed, mostly full-blast experience from the orchestra, sit up front center. You won't notice the coughing from the balcony so much. (You get what you pay for, I suppose.)

Sitting at home with the volume cranked up is great, too. But live is something special (or can be).

:cheers:


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Live is simply not very loud. I suppose it depends on the orchestra but I have found our local orchestra to sound thin and barely audible. I don't listen to music in my iPod or at home at high volumes - say about the halfway mark. But this is enough to feel more immersed in the music than a live concert.

[Edit: I'm speaking of classical of course. Other genres are an entirely different matter.]


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

papsrus said:


> Live performances can be almost transcendent. Or they can be disappointing. It all depends.


You have nose for rooting out the essence of the matter.  (And a noble one it is.)


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'll take live, though, in Utah, there aren't many cutting edge performances. I have to rely on recordings to hear almost ANYthing out of the ordinary.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Weston said:


> Live is simply not very loud. I suppose it depends on the orchestra but I have found our local orchestra to sound thin and barely audible. I don't listen to music in my iPod or at home at high volumes - say about the halfway mark. But this is enough to feel more immersed in the music than a live concert.
> 
> [Edit: I'm speaking of classical of course. Other genres are an entirely different matter.]


The problem is most likely the acoustics. Your orchestra needs to find a better venue.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Weston said:


> Live is simply not very loud. I suppose it depends on the orchestra but I have found our local orchestra to sound thin and barely audible. I don't listen to music in my iPod or at home at high volumes - say about the halfway mark. But this is enough to feel more immersed in the music than a live concert.
> 
> [Edit: I'm speaking of classical of course. Other genres are an entirely different matter.]





Woodduck said:


> The problem is most likely the acoustics. Your orchestra needs to find a better venue.


Or hearing loss on the part of the listener.


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