{"id":8710,"date":"2026-08-26T21:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T19:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/?p=8710"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:45:07","slug":"i-suoni-sono-importanti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/i-suoni-sono-importanti\/","title":{"rendered":"Sounds matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Just like words, sounds are important. I\u2019ve always cared about them. Sound quality has been a \u2018must\u2019 for me ever since I discovered hi-fi. I\u2019m not an expert audiophile, nor am I a sound technician or sound engineer. But I have developed a certain ear and a certain sensitivity to the quality of the sound source. I haven\u2019t listened to a great many hi-fi components, nor have I tried out various guitar amplifiers or guitars themselves. But even so, if something\u2019s not quite right, I can tell. Now, when it comes to the purity of an electric guitar\u2019s sound, there\u2019s plenty to discuss, given that we\u2019re often using overdrive \u2013 that is, distortion \u2013 so a few things need clarifying. But the quality of the audio experience is important to me, yet I see that people are losing both the need for it and the ability to notice it. Even in the world of live music.<\/p>\n

One of the concerts that meant the most to me was Bruce Springsteen\u2019s gig in June 1988 at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome. Among many other things, I was struck by the sheer power of the sound (even though I was far away, in the stands), which made listening to his live recordings on my home hi-fi system pale in comparison. I saw the Boss again at the Circo Massimo in May 2023, and the sound reached me from PA systems suspended from tall poles. It was awful. Bland. Unlistenable. The dynamics were flat. It was much better listening to him at home. A disgrace for such a major event. What has changed?<\/p>\n

I know nothing about Bruce Springsteen\u2019s set-up in 2023. But I recently found myself thinking back to that event whilst watching a group of friends playing live on stage in a small provincial village. They were brilliant, but the sound was appalling. Absurdly (or perhaps not), I\u2019m tempted to compare it to the sound at Springsteen\u2019s concert at the Circo Massimo: flat, lacking in dynamics, unengaging. But this got me thinking: there wasn\u2019t an amplifier on stage. Everything was \u2018direct into the mixing desk\u2019. A \u2018silent\u2019 stage, as is the fashion these days. It seems like progress, but is it? Today\u2019s digital systems are very advanced and can reproduce guitar effects very well. But it\u2019s one thing to simulate the response of a great amplifier \u2013 even excellently \u2013 and send it to the mixing desk, and then to the PA; it\u2019s quite another to have the real amplifier pumping air from above the stage (and even its sound, properly captured by an excellent microphone and sent to the mixing desk and the PA), is something else entirely.<\/p>\n

\"Accordo:

Nowadays, digital systems are very advanced and can reproduce guitar effects very well<\/p><\/div>\n

Are we talking about nuances? Perhaps, but I\u2019ve learnt \u2013 first from hi-fi and then from live music too \u2013 that every tiny detail contributes to the final sound: if you remove just one, it\u2019s almost imperceptible, but if you start cutting corners and glossing over various things, thinking they\u2019re imperceptible, in the end the result isn\u2019t the same. Digital technology is convenient for many reasons. But if everything is handled this way \u2013 perhaps even with expensive multi-effects units \u2013 and the quality of the PA system isn\u2019t up to scratch, the flatness becomes noticeable. Or perhaps \u2013 and this is the real problem \u2013 it\u2019s just me and a few others, who remember what the sound used to be like, who notice it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve taken great care in putting together an excellent hi-fi system because I care deeply about the sound quality of what I listen to. But these days, music is recorded with extremely high dynamic compression because that\u2019s how it\u2019s perceived as sounding best. Yet that\u2019s not the case at all. Perhaps it is for casual listening in the car and \u2013 lo and behold \u2013 on a mobile phone with earphones! How can you compare the musical capabilities of a pair of proper stereo speakers \u2013 or even headphones worthy of the name \u2013 with even the most expensive Apple earbuds? OK, if I want to listen whilst on the move, what\u2019s the point of comparing the sound to that of speakers? There used to be proper headphones, and, take my word for it, they were much better! Earbuds just don\u2019t stay in my ears; they fall out, they wobble around at the slightest movement \u2013 I could never go for a run with them. The way you move them in your ear changes the sound response. There\u2019s no consistent reference point. But most people seem to like them that way.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been conditioned to accept the poor sound quality coming from these earphones, televisions, mobile phones and computers. It\u2019s a bland sound, lacking in dynamics (after all, the recording is deliberately flattened during production), and it fails to engage. It\u2019s a sound that makes even live performances \u2013 which, personally, I find unlistenable, like the ones mentioned above \u2013 seem cool. I\u2019m complaining. Everyone around me is clapping, jumping about and seems to be having a good time \u2013 perhaps because they\u2019ve never heard the sound of a high-quality live performance. Few people know what each musical instrument is supposed to sound like (even few audiophiles). I\u2019d been given tickets to the 2023 Springsteen concert as a present. But I think about how much the people around me must have paid. If I\u2019d been in their shoes, I\u2019d have been furious; I\u2019d have felt ripped off. But they were all happy just to \u2018see\u2019 the Boss (on the giant screen) and to listen to him. Too bad that the sound of the PA system overhead was drowned out by the singing. How disgusting…<\/p>\n

\"John

That Marshall amps wall really isn\u2019t needed any more these days, but you do need at least a combo or a tried-and-tested pair of speakers + quality cabinet (without having to spend as much as the ones in the picture), properly miked up…<\/p><\/div>\n

The rush towards digital on the one hand, and the flattening of dynamic range on the other, are getting us used to a bland sound, which we perceive as good. For the most part, we don\u2019t care, because we don\u2019t know what we\u2019re missing out on. We\u2019re interested in listening to our favourite artists, even on a mobile phone that sounds worse than a little 1970s radio. We\u2019re even convinced it\u2019s high-tech, but how could the tiny speakers crammed into a slim mobile phone or a large but flat, ultra-high-resolution modern TV screen possibly reproduce a good music signal properly? They simply can\u2019t. So even the music signal \u2013 the record or file we\u2019re listening to \u2013 is flattened right from the moment it\u2019s created. What does it matter? It doesn\u2019t bother anyone anyway. But it bothers me, and quite a lot!<\/p>\n

I tried plugging straight into the mixer myself, at least in the rehearsal room. Sometimes it seemed to be enough, but in the long run I got frustrated and went back to using the amp. Perhaps my amp sim was too cheap, but to be honest I don\u2019t think I\u2019d have been satisfied even with an expensive one. I admit that another hurdle for me is simply not wanting to spend my free time configuring software, given that I do it for a living. If I worked in music, my approach would probably be different and I\u2019d have no choice but to use digital technology as well. The convenience is obvious: you can carry a little box with you \u2013 perhaps even on a plane in your hand luggage \u2013 containing all your pre-configured sounds, including modelled amps (if you\u2019ve got expensive, top-quality ones, you can emulate them and don\u2019t have to worry about the costs and risks of transporting them). In short, put like that, it\u2019s priceless. You arrive at the studio and everything\u2019s ready in a little box. You have to go and play abroad and you don\u2019t have to lug a mountain of gear around or pay a service to rent equipment that isn\u2019t yours. I understand how incredibly useful it is. But if things aren\u2019t done very well, the live quality isn\u2019t the same \u2013 that\u2019s just the way it is…<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, very few of us are sensitive to this issue, and the industry follows the crowd. I\u2019d fallen into the trap of convenience a bit. It lasted a week; I sold the \u2018magic box\u2019 and am buying back the pedals I\u2019d sold, having thought I\u2019d switch to digital like so many others. Then I saw my friends\u2019 gig, which was completely flat due to the lack of sound, and I said to myself: never in a million years! I\u2019ll keep my amp, turn the volume up \u2013 if you like, I\u2019ll even put a microphone in front of it (a decent one, mind you) and send it to the mixer. The PA system might be rubbish, but my sound has to come through properly; I don\u2019t care about anything else and I don\u2019t want a silent stage \u2013 that\u2019s not rock. It\u2019s the antithesis of rock. These days, everyone wants to be a polished, tech-savvy professional. But rock \u2013 and blues, too \u2013 are anything but perfect. They\u2019re about disruption, getting the crowd going, and sweeping you away. Forget all those perfect little effects, all those high-tech in-ear monitors, everything perfect, not a single mistake, not a single flaw \u2013 but something’s missing. And I know what it is\u2026<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s carry on like this, let\u2019s keep hurting ourselves…<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8718,"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8710\/revisions\/8718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pasqualerobustini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}