Things that can't be un-heard

JediDude

Super Member
So what song / recording comes to mind that after you've heard it on a sufficiently detailed system, you hear something in the recording that you listen for every time you hear that music afterwards?

One that I noticed that I noticed is Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats: S.O.B. At about 2:50 in the song, in a pause in the song, I can hear him inhale before he starts singing again.
The interesting thing thing is, I'd heard the song many times on a couple of half-decent sounding car stereo systems (mine and a rental), and I never noticed that bit until I had the CD going in my HT system downstairs.
 
It's not something particularly difficult to hear, but I've noticed the chick at the end of Van Morrison's song Did Ye Get Healed? who asks the title question, comes through with greater resolution the better the system. I always listen for her.
 
Keith Jarrett. As much as I appreciate and enjoy his playing, his recordings always have him "humming" along with his tunes. It's a type of whiny humming that becomes unbearable after awhile. His "At the Deer Head Inn" recording is a prime example. Fantastic recording and performance by the whole group, but I can't get past that humming!
 
It's relatively easy to hear Glenn Gould humming along with many of his recordings. I dislike it just as much when Keith Jarrett does it.
OTOH:
George Benson does it frequently on many of his recordings and I don't mind his "humming".
 
The hiss of the master tapes when they switch on the amps for the cutting head. I can hear it on quite a number of LP's. You can hear it right after the needle drops in the lead groove and just before the music starts.
 
On The Beach Boys' "Wendy," someone coughs during the music bridge. This is very noticeable with headphones, but not necessarily in normal room listening.
 
Last edited:
The handiwork of mixers who didn't level the room before the recording session. Damn, sometimes level changes can be heard in the middle of the track. In some albums, the timber of the recording artist's voice is different from track to track. A mixers job is to go un-noticed. They are not artists.
 
It wasn't until recently that I realized exactly who it was singing backup on Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold". Now that I know it was Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor I can hear it pretty much on any system.
 
Things you can't un-hear? :biggrin:
rs-136849-a4b6f5b0e8e36b7180fdea278755bb4099099d14.jpg


Seriously, though, you can hear quite a bit of studio chatter and incidental noise with a good recording and a good set of speakers or (especially) headphones. For example, during the middle part of Yes - Roundabout, shortly before the vocals kick back in, you can hear a pair of high-pitched tones starting around the 5:20 mark. And about seven seconds into Led Zeppelin - The Crunge, after the drums and bass have started, you can hear something that sounds like Jimmy Page accidentally hitting a string about a bar or so before he actually starts playing his guitar riff.
-Adam
 
Keith Jarrett. As much as I appreciate and enjoy his playing, his recordings always have him "humming" along with his tunes. It's a type of whiny humming that becomes unbearable after awhile. His "At the Deer Head Inn" recording is a prime example. Fantastic recording and performance by the whole group, but I can't get past that humming!

This. Or Glen Gould doing it, or Oscar Peterson. For such musicians to 'hum/scat' out of tune seems odd.
 
Diana Krall - All For You: A Dedication to The Nat King Cole Trio

I can hear the moisture in her mouth. The sounds you hear when your lover whispers in your ear.
 
Back
Top Bottom