What is all that “tune” fuss about?

[beck]

Thinking long and hard about what tuneful means to me I have ended up with the following:

I do not know much about what exactly is being captured by the microphones in the studio and what in the end can be delivered to me listening in front of my system.
What I do know is that If I made a visit to a studio before the recording was made I would be able to play together with the musicians live in a way where I could relate to rythm and pitch as I always do when playing live.
That feeling and situation is the one that I am seeking at home when listening to my system. Some time ago I made a recording where I played along with my system.
Standing to the left side with my back turned on the ipad I made a small clarinet part that is not on the record. The clarinet sounds kind of covered by a blanket all in the effort not to intrude to much on the recording (Paul McCartney “Kisses On The Bottom” all analog recording).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ydmo1u9ah1vy ... 9.mov?dl=0

The day I get the exact same feeling playing together with a recording as when playing live my job is done! :-)

[Charlie1]

Very cool :)

[lejonklou]

Impressive, beck!

[ThomasOK]

Indeed a very cool recording and clarinet part! I have to say that even if I hadn't been told that the clarinet was added live I believe I would have noticed. There is a different, more real quality to it than to the rest of the song. The day you get the exact same feeling playing with your system as live I'll have to look into duplicating your system.

[beck]

The day you get the exact same feeling playing with your system as live I'll have to look into duplicating your system.

Well, hope is eternal but I can live with less. :-)

[matthias]

beck,
lovely, I like this instrument.

Matt

[beck]

Thank you Charlie1, Lejonklou, ThomasOK and Matthias for the kind words. They are appreciated.

My main reason for writing was to make yet another attempt at explaining (to those who need it) what the “tune” fuss is about. Hopefully it is helpful.

[Discodave]

Can't listen atm but what an excellent idea! A very unique measuring benchmark not available to most of us (no doubt due to no live experience and musical playing).

However, I'm not sure I understand with relation to tunedem as I thought that only related to "following the tune". Given this I would have thought that would depend entirely on your own playing along, your timing, interplay with the recorded musicians.

It seems this measure is based on the realness of the sound, integrity of the live playing and therefore overall engagement in the music. While I understand these aspects to be components of tunedem is your measure adding a different piece to overall evaluation?

[lejonklou]

However, I'm not sure I understand with relation to tunedem as I thought that only related to "following the tune".

I don't either, but I don't think that was beck's intention. He refers to "tuneful", not to a method for comparing the musical quality of A versus B.

[beck]

It is (as far as I know) my personal interpretation of “tuneful” and it includes a focus on the harmonic structure, pitch and interplay between notes. If I can blend in with music played via my system using my skills as a musician I find the reproduction “tuneful”.
With most systems and recordings this is quite hard to get right because the internal structure of the music signal has been compromised on its way from studio to listener. It is not hard as such to play along but it is hard to get into the same kind of sound invironment where instruments blend together in a lifelike manner.

[Discodave]

That's spot on, just clarifying my own understanding. As said I think it to be a wonderful experiment. Perhaps it is something that could be considered at the design and evaluation stage of new equipment by manufacturers? Or maybe not, I don't know the ins and outs of the process.

What is your system at present that you played along with Beck?

Ta

[beck]

It is old Linn stuff that can be seen in the video clip. Sondek 1990, cirkus, ekos1, klyde, lingo 1, old 1.7m armcable into Linto. Linto connected directly into early lk100 via a selected pair of linn black interconnects. Old K400 linn speaker cable bi-wire into Espeks.

[Discodave]

Sounds lovely, many thanks.

LK100 was my 1st ever Linn piece. Still have it. Can't think of better value in their range (s/h), bar perhaps the AV5103 :)

[Lego]

Nice playing Beck...you sounded the most tuneful :0) ..I never understood why the Klyde was never rated ,it was one of my favourite cartridges ..The k100 could sound great one day , terrible the next in my setup depending whether the transformer was humming or not

[beck]

Thank you Lego.

I have nigh any problems with hum from my lk100. I think it might have something to do with the filters I use in the AC path (not directly connected to it).
As I have never really had an interest in the “sound” as such from my system but have always craved what can make me react emotionally the Klyde has been lovely.

Talking to Charlie1 last weekend I realised that is what I do: observe how I react emotionally to what I hear. I find it so much more important than judging how the treble or bass sounds. I cannot live with a system that does not come close to real life when we talk about how I connect with the music in the above experiment.

One observation during my “working with setup” period has been that as long as my system was not in place analog recordings did not stand out as much as they do now. Now they really come to life.
When comparing recordings now I can hear the change in quality as the mastertapes gets smaller and simple recordings using tube gear (like the above) really hit me the “right” way.