rcd@opus.UUCP (07/03/84)
The periodical IAR (International Audio Review) has been mentioned a couple
of times in recent postings. I'd like to know a little more about it
(opinions welcome) and I'd also like to share one anecdote about it.
A while back I went searching for an "audiophile" recording of particular
percussion music called "Dafos" (with umlauted a) by Reference Recordings.
In the process of getting ordering info, I got a reprint from them of a
review of Dafos by IAR. I found it to be a most astonishing review, in the
following sense:
They went on at great length about the quality of the recording, techniques
used, ambience, effects of the recording location, mastering, pressing,
etc. The recording engineer was mentioned a number of times. Very little
was said about the music, less about the instruments, and ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING about the musicians. In an article of some 2,000 words, not one of
the musicians was named even once. It's not like they're small-time,
either--Mickey Hart, Airto Moreira, and Flora Purim, among others. And
it's not like they're just using standard run-of-the-mill instruments.
(Have YOU ever seen a berimbau?)
It's risky to jump to conclusions on a sample size of 1, but I have to
venture a guess that IAR is much more wrapped up in technology-for-its-
own-sake than in technology-for-accurate-musical-reproduction.
--
Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086
...Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity.