There is one thing everyone is forgetting, 99% of the audience can see, and therefore providing there is a wall of Mono sound, the brain will take its positioning cues from the eyes, however if a blind person attends, then all they hear is a wall of sound, as there are No aural cues as to where the individual instruments are.
With an Arranger, All your audience are essentially blind, (There are no visual cues for the brain to assimilate) and therefore to give the impression of a live band the ear/brain needs the stereo effect to get the aural cues.
BTW if you have real brass instruments on the left and real strings on the right, then as you walk to the left the strings will get quieter, and vice versa, consequently unless you have a stereo speaker system, arranger playing just doesn’t sound real.
Another way to look at things

Bill

Gary,

There are midi files of my music on SVP World as well as YPKO, most with MP3, some done on the S900, and some on my old 3k(which I still have) and these were made using my "work" set-ups for panning...you visit there quite often...have a listen...play one through your L1...listen to how badly it handles the stereo piano...remember, I do all instrumental music, and the piano is a sound I use very often .

I am more than content with my system's performance in stereo...speakers are 8 feet apart for my usual setup, and I always fire off a midi file to do a sound check whilst walking around the room...it sounds great...I would never go back to mono.

Gary, and I should preface this by saying I mean this with the utmost respect, perhaps we hear things differently? Is your hearing equally the same for both ears, or do you have any kind of hearing impairment that may make things sound different?

I thought you mentioned (on another forum)that you had hearing issues...maybe that might make a difference in your perception?

Just a thought.

Again, I must stress, that I do not pan my instruments hard left or right, and in my musical situations, stereo has a much better sound than mono.

Gary, believe me, I tried the Bose L1 more than once, and for extended periods each time, and if it would have done for me what several people claim it does, I would have one...no kidding.

I thought the concept was promising, but unfortunately, to get it to sound remotely close to the stereo system I am using, I would need to buy two of them...much too much money for me....and way too much set-up hassles.

I'll be stickin' with stereo, thank you very much.

All the best,

Ian



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 10-27-2007).]

Ian,

My hearing impairment is from tinitus, which is a constant ringing sound. It has nothing to do with the volume or quality of sound heard in both ears. The tinitus damage was caused when I was an 18-year-old kid in the U.S. Navy. I was a first loader on a 3-inch 50 dual, anti-aircraft gun, slamming 60-pound shells into the revolving hopper of one of the barrels. When the gun went off the breech was just a couple feet from where we were positioned and the explosion was deafening. The same damage has been reported in the medical journals about youngsters who allowed themselves to be exposed to loud music at rock concerts. My ENT doctor told me that most folks over age 50 have tinitus to some degree, but we learn to compensate for it, often without knowing the malady is present.

Now, back to the Bose. I've always said that the Bose L1 is not for everyone. And, if you recall I said the Yamaha Grand Piano sounded somewhat thin because of its stereo sampling process. Because of this, I created, and later posted, a grand piano voice to be used with the Bose L1, and to date there have been several thousand downloads of that voice. It was the only voice that had those problems, and because we all tend to use the piano voice routinely, I created the voice in mono.

The other thing I have always contended with any sound system, stereo, mono, etc.. was to purchase it from a retailer that has a liberal return policy. Then, if you don't like what you hear, return it for a full refund. Some retailers want to issue you credit or charge a restocking fee for returned items, even it they are in orriginal packing and are in perfect (new) condition. The return policy with Bose is among the best--45 days--no questions asked, full refund.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary,

I was lucky...one of my band-mate's father was an "ear doctor", and I got into using earplugs at the outset of playing and consequently saved my hearing.

I tried your piano sound...good, if a bit on the strong side(loud) but still didn't sound exactly right to me.

Bose make a good product with the L1, I agree, but as you say, they aren't for everybody.

Ian

Russ, I was kind of referring to the Glenn Miller Orch. back when Glenn Miller WAS playing with them. Just a kind of comment on why anyone would WANT to use 4,500 watts on an acoustic big band... Glen played venues at least as big in his heyday, and somehow managed without a wall of PA, whether mono OR stereo!

I guess people nowadays just aren't prepared to shut up and listen to a performance until it is so loud they have no choice...

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Travlin' Easy

[This message has been edited by travlin'easy (edited 10-27-2007).]

Just because bands once used no sound reinforcement doesn't mean that they necessarily had a good balance between instruments. For example the electric guitar was invented for this very reason. For years guitar parts were drowned out by drums and horns but with acoustic guitars there was no solution to this. Guitar players simply had to accept they weren't going to be heard much in a big band environment. The electric guitar changed this and then Charlie Christian became a prominent guitar player in Benny Goodman's band. Until then the only way a solo guitar player could be heard was to play in the sort of lineup that wouldn't drown him out eg. Django Reinhardt who played just with other acoustic guitarists, violin and double bass. Also vocalists did use microphones and PA systems even back then.

But don't assume that just because bands years ago lacked sound reinforcement that everything was peachy. That wasn't necessarily the case. I really think that if Glenn was alive today he would choose to use some sort of reinforcement to fine tune the balance that he wanted to hear.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 10-28-2007).]

Every instrument in TODAY'S Glenn Miller Orchestra is mic'd! This includes the bass, piano, brass, and vocalists. And, if you look carefully at the photo, you'll see a mic sitting on a stand that is down low--that one was used for the instrumental solos--even back then.

Gary

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Travlin' Easy