# Clapping at the end of the music



## quietfire (Mar 13, 2017)

Does the audience clapping (or, worse, added clapping tracks) at the end of a classical music recording bother you?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

quietfire said:


> Does the audience clapping (or, worse, added clapping tracks) at the end of a classical music recording bother you?


Very much. I don't really like recordings of live performances that much. It's one thing to hear a soft cough here and there while attending as concert, but a recording is something I want to listen to over and over, and such extraneous sounds become extremely irritating when you have to hear them over and over. Thus, I prefer recordings to be quite "clean", but would never expect that level of perfection from a live performance.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Yeah. I don't need the applause at a work's end on my CDs.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Yes, it often bothers me. As I wrote in another thread, when I listen to music I often want to feel like I'm connecting directly with the composer. This is an illusion, because of course there are many other people (performers, audience members, sound engineers) involved in the experience of music-making. But it's an illusion that I cherish and the applause gets in the way of my fantasy!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

No, as long as it is at the end of the performance of a work, and not somewhere in between.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

It did bother me at one time, but I have grown accustomed to it. Generally, I prefer that it come after the music has entirely stopped, and with at least a momentary pause of silence. Now, when I hear it, I usually just bow slightly.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

And is in a separate track that I can skip.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

quietfire said:


> Does the audience clapping (or, worse, added clapping tracks) at the end of a classical music recording bother you?


No. I generally don't even notice it, because I'm usually clapping so loudly myself I drown out the recorded audience applause.

What bothers me is _no_ clapping. That could mean either the audience didn't appreciate the work ... or I didn't, if I'm not clapping either.

Face it, upon listening through a Furtwangler reading of the Beethoven Ninth such as the Vienna 31.05.1953 live performance with the Vienna Singacademy and the Vienna Philharmonic (available on an Archipel disc, ARPCD 0166), to then _not _hear a rousing round of applause from the audience seems a thing of obscenity.

I have long favored "live" recordings (a dumb term, actually; perhaps "recorded in front of a concert audience" is better, since all music is recorded "live" in one way or another, and by living musicians, even when in a studio) ... but there is often an ambience to live recordings (whether classical or jazz or rock) that adds something thrilling to the performance result. Whether it be coughing, doors slamming, drink glasses tinkling, or mobs of drug induced fans screaming or singing along, live interaction is wonderful, since music itself is seemingly performed for living hearers.

Besides, if clapping doesn't upset you in the concert hall, why would it upset you on a recording you listen to in your study?

Now, everyone ... clap loudly.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Must be a very bad recording then. 
Highly inappropriate.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

I love live recordings and applause at the end of a work does not worry me one bit, nor does a cough from the audience or in the case of a St Qt the odd scrape or squeak from a chair it all adds to the atmosphere, if you have any recordings of the Edinburgh Festival they are there in abundance.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Dan Ante said:


> I love live recordings and applause at the end of a work does not worry me one bit, nor does a cough from the audience or in the case of a St Qt the odd scrape or squeak from a chair it all adds to the atmosphere, if you have any recordings of the Edinburgh Festival they are there in abundance.


That's okay but not in the middle.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I have heard recordings of concerts that I have attended -- and imagining you're hearing yourself in the audience is wonderfully recursive.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

It's okay in the end, but coughing and other weird human noises irritate me.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

Lenny said:


> It's okay in the end, but coughing and other weird human noises irritate me.


Better not go to any live concerts then you will hate it.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

My local FM station has a blog on clapping (or not):

http://kusc.org/culture/staff/clap-not-clap-look-concert-hall-etiquette/


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Absolutely not! It interferes with my Clapper. Clap on...clap off...The Clapper! 



brianvds said:


> Very much. I don't really like recordings of live performances that much.


I'm not a fan of live recordings either. Sometimes it's unavoidable though if you have a preference for a certain performance. Seriously though, I'd prefer not to hear clapping at the end of the CD. It's rather weird to hear clapping on a recording. It's like those Flintstones cartoons that had a laugh track. Seriously? But, anyway, it's not something that bothers me that much.

What I'm really waiting for is a CD with a bunch of booing at the end. Now that would be something!


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

quietfire said:


> Does the audience clapping (or, worse, added clapping tracks) at the end of a classical music recording bother you?


No I clap along.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

Dan Ante said:


> Better not go to any live concerts then you will hate it.


I go regularly, and yes, it is annoying . But if the music is good, then it doesn't matter that much. But if I buy a record, I'd rather have it without noises.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

no problem for me


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## Magnum Miserium (Aug 15, 2016)

quietfire said:


> Does the audience clapping (or, worse, added clapping tracks) at the end of a classical music recording bother you?


No. Now on a related subject, seeing this thread title made me think: man, it's got to be WEIRD to be in the audience at the moment when the musicians finish a performance of Steve Reich's "Clapping Music"


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

In general, clapping doesn't bother me. There are instances where it enhances the recording. 

I just heard a recording of Karel Ancerl conducting Martinu's 5th symphony. At the end, there is this thunderous applause, which shocked me, because I didn't know it was live. It actually made a greater impression, because it sounded this good without any studio edits. 

Another live recording which is impressive is the end of Benjamin Zander's recording of Mahler's 9th. It dies away so quietly that when it ends, there is complete silence for something like 30 seconds. It's like the audience was so in the moment, it forgot to clap.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

No, but it doesn't need to go on very long....a judicious _fadeout_ can be rather effective...


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Manxfeeder said:


> I just heard a recording of Karel Ancerl conducting Martinu's 5th symphony. At the end, there is this thunderous applause, which shocked me, because I didn't know it was live. It actually made a greater impression, because it sounded this good without any studio edits.


Just because a recording is live does not mean that it is unedited or a straight through performance though. That may not be the case with the Ancerl recording, but I know I have some live recordings where the recording was cobbled together with performances over a three day stretch or whatever. I guess they just splice in the best parts of each day's performances. For all we know, the applause at the end of a Brahms symphony, for example, may have been spliced in from a J. Strauss concert recording!


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

If a recording is labelled as live then I expect the audience to applaud, so I know they didn't leave before the performance ended. Generally I prefer recordings without an audience, but some live recordings have an 'atmosphere' you can't get with ordinary recordings. Like Sol Gabetta playing Elgar's Sospiri (see below). An audience can sometimes bring out a great performance from the players. Be warned though, that this performance below has some real coughing crimes throughout...like the one between the harp intro and Gabetta's first note! Must be a dusty hall...


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Lenny said:


> It's okay in the end, but coughing and other weird human noises irritate me.


I would suspect, then, that attending "live" concerts is not an enjoyable experience for you?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

SONNET CLV said:


> I have long favored "live" recordings (a dumb term, actually; perhaps "recorded in front of a concert audience" is better,


Yes, but it's too long, hence we use the less accurate but shorter term. We're all lazy. 



> Besides, if clapping doesn't upset you in the concert hall, why would it upset you on a recording you listen to in your study?


I find that the thing that gets to me in such recordings is that the little extraneous noises are exactly the same every time, and on repeated listening it begins to get on my nerves.



Klassik said:


> What I'm really waiting for is a CD with a bunch of booing at the end. Now that would be something!


Yeah, I'll make an exception to my usual preferences: I'd love to have a recording of the first performance of Rite of Spring.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

But do you clap at the end of this?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Klassik said:


> Just because a recording is live does not mean that it is unedited or a straight through performance though. That may not be the case with the Ancerl recording, but I know I have some live recordings where the recording was cobbled together with performances over a three day stretch or whatever. I guess they just splice in the best parts of each day's performances. For all we know, the applause at the end of a Brahms symphony, for example, may have been spliced in from a J. Strauss concert recording!


Yes! True! I have quite a few "live" performances that are blended together from at least two concert performances.

"Live" does NOT mean unedited!!!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

jegreenwood said:


> But do you clap at the end of this?


The things one sees on this forum, thanks for sharing.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

SONNET CLV said:


> I would suspect, then, that attending "live" concerts is not an enjoyable experience for you?


In the very beginning, if the music is subtle I get annoyed, but usually the music takes over and then it doesn't matter any more.


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## Miggypiggy (Jul 10, 2015)

Heck148 said:


> No, but it doesn't need to go on very long....a judicious _fadeout_ can be rather effective...


Hear, hear! I don't own a pair of good head/earphones so sometimes I don't realise when I'm listening to a live performance recording on Spotify. The applause helps me figure that out, 5 seconds of it or so before a fade-out works well. 30 seconds, on the other hand....


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

I am a big fan of Keith Jarrett's solo work. The vast majority of these are live albums. I guess Keith likes the applause, because the applause on these records is mixed quite a bit louder than the music, and goes on for quite some time. At the end of a piece, it's a mad dash to the volume control or the next track button. I don't get this.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

quietfire said:


> Does the audience clapping (or, worse, added clapping tracks) at the end of a classical music recording bother you?


It used to when I was younger. Hated, absolutely hated it. Now, I don't mind it at all. Now, as to why I've evolved, I have no idea!


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I enjoy recordings of live performances, with the occasional background sounds and a clatter of applause at the end. Ideally, the applause is allowed to peak then faded out. There is something good about having witnessed a genuine exchange between composer, performers and audience, which a studio recording cannot give for all its superior sound quality.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Quick, everyone start clapping! Thunderous applause! Perhaps if we all work together we can manage to drown this out....


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

After ever third bar is ok with me..........


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