Rachel Podger live stream from Wigmore Hall.........

[MrGongGong]

Interesting.
I didn't realize that it was called Bechstein Hall until 1917. Did it have to undergo a name change as an attempt to remove any Teutonic associations during WWI?

Yup

[Beresford]

https://www.researchgate.net/publica..._Refurbishment

Fascinating consultants report all about the acoustics of the hall - reverb time 1.5 seconds. It says nothing about the sound as recorded and broadcast, which to my ears had a reverb of about 0.2 seconds - good for a piano with a sustain pedal, but not so good for the shimmering tones of a baroque violin. The hall geometry is "revered by international audiences and musicians alike". So a lovely intimate space for recitals and chamber music, but perhaps not the venue of choice for recording?

(I am happy to be corrected)

[MrGongGong]

Fascinating consultants report all about the acoustics of the hall - reverb time 1.5 seconds. It says nothing about the sound as recorded and broadcast, which to my ears had a reverb of about 0.2 seconds - good for a piano with a sustain pedal, but not so good for the shimmering tones of a baroque violin. The hall geometry is "revered by international audiences and musicians alike". So a lovely intimate space for recitals and chamber music, bur perhaps not the venue of choice for recording?

(I am happy to be corrected)

Youtube stream ?
Compression and the rest.... nothing "wrong" with the acoustics at the Wigmore Hall nor the rather nice Schoeps microphones they have hanging from the ceiling

[ardcarp]

There must be a better chamber music venue in London, for acoustics.

The Wigmore (alias Bechstein Hall) is sometimes regarded by small vocal ensembles as rather hard work, as singers do like a bit (a lot?) of natural reverb. I've personally also thought that the unacc violin and cello sonatas/partitas sound 'better' if played for example in a cathedral-type acoustic. For solo piano, string quartets, etc, the Wigmore is probably ideal for clarity.

PS I shall not quickly forget a Stven Isserlis recital of the above in a cathedral. I was sitting out of sight of him, but the 'implied harmony' of Bach could not have been better captured.

[Beresford]

Youtube stream ?
Compression and the rest.... nothing "wrong" with the acoustics at the Wigmore Hall nor the rather nice Schoeps microphones they have hanging from the ceiling

Could the absence of a spot mic affect the perceived instrument resonance in the broadcast? The BBC seem to use one when there is a soloist (not pianist), judging by a few of the rehearsal pictures in the iplayer listings, but none were present on the Wigmore video stream. Sorry to keep on about it, but I am intrigued as to why the broadcast sound was "a bit dead". It could be that Rachel Podger was having a sub-optimal day. I have heard her on other YouTube videos where the instrument resonance was clear.

[MrGongGong]

Could the absence of a spot mic affect the perceived instrument resonance in the broadcast? The BBC seem to use one when there is a soloist (not pianist), judging by a few of the rehearsal pictures in the iplayer listings, but none were present on the Wigmore video stream. Sorry to keep on about it, but I am intrigued as to why the broadcast sound was "a bit dead". It could be that Rachel Podger was having a sub-optimal day. I have heard her on other YouTube videos where the instrument resonance was clear.

I don't think one can make any judgement about audio from a Youtube clip regardless of what you are listening on.
I've just been finding some things to play to students, i'm listening through a mixture of Genelec 8010's (via a Focusrite interface) and Bayer DT250's and youtube doesn't sound very good to me at all. It could be an issue with phase in the way it's compressed for broadcast ? (a guess)

[Ein Heldenleben]

I listened to a bit of this on the Wigmore Hall web feed just now but I think what I’m hearing is a YouTube recording . It is heavily compressed - the giveaways are the overly loud page turns and applause - but the compression also affects the violin sound. Compression can introduce harmonic distortion and that’s not good . Strings do not respond well to compression . I recently heard the live stream of a superb Schubert piano recital from the hall . This had nothing like the same level of compression. Again compression on piano sounds fine for Elton John but doesn’t work for Schubert .

[richardfinegold]

I bailed after a few minutes of listening, finding the sound difficult to take, so I am feeling somewhat vindicated that my impression wasn’t an outlier.

[Beresford]

Thanks to contributors - I now understand more about the Wigmore broadcast sound quality.

It makes me wonder if that is why AllofBach record solo Bach violin in a former power station, to increase the resonance so much that subsequent compression doesn't destroy it.

[ardcarp]

I don't think Youtube needs an apologist (!) but I'd just say that its sound quality is much better than it used to be; and the pic actually synchs with the sound too.
Possibly the best 'live streaming' I've heard was the Leeds Piano Competition given to us [free] by Medici TV.

[Beresford]

Fascinating consultants report all about the acoustics of the hall - reverb time 1.5 seconds. It says nothing about the sound as recorded and broadcast, which to my ears had a reverb of about 0.2 seconds - good for a piano with a sustain pedal, but not so good for the shimmering tones of a baroque violin. The hall geometry is "revered by international audiences and musicians alike". So a lovely intimate space for recitals and chamber music, but perhaps not the venue of choice for recording?

(I am happy to be corrected)

Lockdown follow up: It's interesting to hear the acoustics of the Wigmore Hall without an audience - sounds very good to me, if less atmospheric.

[ardcarp]

Roddy Williams gave a live lieder recital from the Wigmore today. Acoustic sounded very good to me on my basic stereo system.
(Not really an early music post...except that in the past EM groups, especially with vocal ensembles, have not sounded great in the Wig with an audience soaking up the reverb.)