Live-Album
A live album is a music album (for example, an audio CD ) that is played with recorded music from performances or concerts. Today, the live albums are increasingly being replaced by video DVDs.
Types and processing
A live album can originate from a single concert, sometimes there are also recordings of various performances of a tour. The production of the recordings is very costly because of the acoustics and dynamics on the ground, not least because an attempt is made to convey to the listener to feel as if he himself were there. Very often, concert recordings - subsequently heavily edited and thus the concert situation might be altered - on the essential mix of shots out. So singing or instruments to be added by overdubs, improved or removed, recorded applause from tape or shortened songs or removed entirely. Therefore the concert no longer give the most live recordings in its original form. The reason is to be found under certain circumstances, the fact that in pure studio albums - the opposite of a live album - the full range of audio effects available and thus a level of perfection is reached, the in live performance impossible or difficult can be reproduced. This was, for example, the Beatles one of the reasons, according to August 29, 1966 ( San Francisco, Candlestick Park ) no longer perform live, because the set up by music producer George Martin, experimental sound art on the stage could not be traced.
In addition to these official, professionally recorded concerts, there are so-called bootlegs that were unnoticed and illegally recorded by a concert-goer or a sound engineer and then moved into sales as illegal. They often have an inferior sound quality, but are sometimes traded because of their low volume printing as collectors' items.
Live recordings in pop and jazz
Usually live albums of concerts of rock and pop musicians are produced. Even in jazz live albums are not uncommon. The best-selling live album is, the Guinness Book of World Records 2002 show, Double Live by Garth Brooks in November 1998. Were alone in the United States 29 million units sold. But dive into the list of best-selling LPs on very few live albums. In Rolling Stone 's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time are just 18 albums to live LPs. The highest -placed, Live at the Apollo by James Brown ( January 1963 ), appeared here only on rank 25.
Special form
A special form of the live recording Live is the so-called Unplugged concert, which was very popular in the field of pop music in the 1990s. Also, this concert is recorded live, the musicians avail themselves of but only acoustic instruments (eg classical guitar ) and waive electrically amplified elements such as distorted guitar amplifier. The instruments are only removed electric and played back through speakers in order to present it to a wider audience can.
Most artists frequently perform in concerts, in order to present themselves to their fans. In addition, concerts offer a significant source of revenue for the artist. Official live recordings of the concerts are used firstly to improve the plate revenues and round on the other hand the image of otherwise presenting themselves with studio recordings from artists.