Music For Palaces

 

Back in 2001 flutist Paul Horn released an album recorded in the Taj Mahal. When he was interviewed by NPR the interviewer asked, "How is this different from all the other thousands of new age recordings?" "It has a sense of place", he said. 

If you don't know the context that which it was recorded in India, you wouldn't know the difference. A stereo recording obviously captures an immersive environment such as the Taj Mahal: You have to physically be in the space to get the full impact of this kind of work. This is the type of piece that makes a recording superfluous.

An interesting play on words for Music For Places would be Music For Palaces. Sometimes music requires a place and recordings can provide that by padding the music in some way with the use of some kind of an effect or reverb. Otherwise it's just too flat and reverb is a way to not only add a space but it also decorates the music and creates a production "look", as there would be a "look" or color space applied to a film in post-production. 

 

4/7/2021