Today, the Munich Philharmonic gave me the opportunity to continue my research on the reproduction of the sound experience inside the orchestra. They allowed me to sit right in their midst during the rehearsal. Great fun: besides Gustav Holst’s “The Planets”, John Williams “Star Wars” was on the programme. It was conducted by Krzysztof Urbański.
My conclusion: There is not a single recording in the whole history that does justice to the actual physical experience in the orchestra. It is impressive, exciting, hysterical and overwhelming.
As a test, I have made recordings with the Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset, which combines standard earphones with two microphones positioned at the ears, thus enabling binaural recordings. Listen to the video with headphones! Otherwise, the effect will not work.
To my surprise, this video is able to convey something of the aforementioned overwhelming effect, which is certainly also due to the sometimes overdriven microphones. These nice but unprofessional microphones just can’t handle the sound pressure. Besides that charming flaw, you can clearly hear the spatial events around you.
