David Harbin wrote:

>I am fed up with hearing excellent performances ruined by poor sound
>engineering.  One of my chief gripes is the positioning of soloists
>so close that they could be playing underneath your nostrils.
>
>Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me?

This is probably most prevalent with *star* soloists where the thinking
of the record companies is that people are buying the disc to listen to
the *star*, so they place the soloist closer than the orchestra.

I don't care for that approach either since it does impact the integration
of the various performing elements.  It most bothers me with vocal soloists
where the recording is more a vehicle for the singer than an excellent
representation of the particular composition.

Don Satz
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