Surveying the soundscape.(Movie Store)(music in Paris)

Audio, ETC: In the introductory days of audio componentry and the search for quality in reproduced music at home, Edward Tatnall Canby wrote a series of columns on the topic for The Saturday Review. These columns, and related commentary by C.G. Burke and Irving Kolodin, appeared in book form in 1952 as The Saturday Review Home Book of Recorded Music and Sound Reproduction. I recently spotted a copy on eBay and placed a winning bid.

Canby's section is "The Record from Studio to Store." It includes a wonderfully evocative history of analog recording from Edison's experimental tinfoil wrap to the LP and tape era. He points out the problems of monaural recording, the potential benefits of binaural reproduction, and even manages to throw in the word "stereo" now and then.

What shines through the entire section is Canby's concern for musicality and many of his commentaries are as pointed today as they were more than 50 years ago. Here's one that I found particularly telling. I've condensed it a bit and changed some specific references to the then current hardware to more general terminology. Canby's message, I believe, remains intact.

"There are ways of listening to recorded music that involve quite different values from 'live' listening. Never, then, confuse recorded performance with 'live.' Open your mental ears to the a recording's own values, without prejudice. Search, not for a 'concert hall' sound, not to convert your living room into a spacious auditorium such as it obviously can never be; but knowing that the recording is basically an ingenious trompe-l'oreille, a fooling-of-the-ear, give it aid in its own terms."

Oui Paris!: Paris deserves to be known by its "City of Light" sobriquet. It shines on sunny days and sparkles on crisp, clear nights. Even when the sky is clouded over, it has an intrinsic glow. I was very late in finding this out for myself, but recently I've basked in the city's light on a couple of occasions. During both visits, I felt that "City of Music" would be an equally apt description for Paris, but an impossible one for a reason I'll take up later.

There are concerts, recitals, shows, and operas in concert halls, clubs, and cathedrals. Clubs feature music of every description. Musicians and performers show up in market areas, subways, and along any streets where crowds of strolling Parisians and tourists might gather.

Small, spare CD and DVD shops populate every Parisian shopping district. These typically display rack after rack of interesting compilations of vintage pop, jazz, ethnic, international, and classical performances at bargain prices. And in many of them, the prices go down as you buy more. Figure the equivalent of $5 a disc, possibly less.