What Kinds of Musical Gestures Work Well For Loudspeakers, and What Kinds of Gestures Don’t?
A.

What Is Idiomatic for single loudspeakers (mono)?	What Is NOT Idiomatic for single loudspeakers (mono)?
Simple sound sources	Complex sources (i.e. many sound sources in a space)
Simple acoustics	Complex acoustics
Simple doublings	Complex textures, doublings, polyphony
Single miking techniques (i.e. "acoustic mixing")	Complex mic arrays in a common space, especially with cross-talk
Consonant music	Dissonant music
Music with clear upper spectrum definition	Music lacking upper spectrum, or with rich mid and upper-bass harmonic content.
Music with moderate crest factors.	Music with extreme crest factors (very high or very low).
"Dry" sounds	"Wet" sounds

B.

What Is Idiomatic for Stereo and Multichannel	What Is NOT Idiomatic for Stereo and Multichannel
Simple arrays of instruments	Complex arrays of instruments in blend
Use of time-domain localization	Use of amplitude cues for precise localization
"Phantom LF" vs. "Discrete HF"	Complex stereophony/blends of multiple stereo and mono recordings from a single space
Spectral Management	Complex ambiences and reverberance, particularly with excessive mid and LF content.
Spatial Distribution
Simple stereo/mc Ambience
Simple stereo/mc Reverberance
"Acoustic mixing" via minimalist stereo and multichannel miking techniques

Tables 2A and 2B.Musical Gestures and recording techniques that are comparatively idiomatic (column 1) and not idiomatic (column 2) for single loudspeakers (A) and loudspeaker arrays (B).

Many desirable techniques for stereophony are quite undesirable for mono. The problem areas that arise when summing stereophonic signals into monaural ones can be characterized as:

• Changes in level
• Changes in timbre
• Changes in reverberance.

These changes occur due to destructive interference in summation to mono. Time and amplitude difference cues become timbral cues and interference patterns when summed in the drive mechanism for loudspeakers. Therefore, such practices are often suppressed, even though they are idiomatic in stereophony. This is simply in anticipation of the multiple possible modes of playback.

“Musical Instrument Quality” or “Museum-Quality” Loudspeakers:

Music instrument quality loudspeakers are loudspeakers that are equivalent to fine musical instruments in design, function, build quality and appearance. They are appropriate for the playback of music in small concert and recital halls, museums, galleries, etc, as well as private homes.

Such loudspeakers must have

• excellent sonic performance, which can be characterized as:
• excellent spectral and timbral range, envelope and dynamic flexibility (i.e. “tonal quality”),
• excellent linearity over their dynamic range, and
• ability to reasonably “evoke,” if not replicate, the sound pressure levels obtained by source ensembles;
• excellent acoustical interaction with the playback room, which can be characterized as:
• integration into the playback space for management of low frequency response issues, and
• excellent frontal and horizontal power response at high frequencies, to maintain the spectral quality of phantom images and environments, and to enhance the quality and stability of position of such images and sense of phantom environment;
• “fine quality” appearance. The loudspeaker that would be a fine musical instrument must have the same attention paid to its appearance and build quality as any fine acoustical instrument.

When embracing this worldview, we need to recognize that the loudspeaker is NOT a generic black box, but a singular and distinctive musical instrument (think of “loudspeaker as concert grand piano”), and that the sound quality we perceive comes PRIMARILY from the loudspeaker and via the room, not from the quality of its supporting electronics. Selection of an appropriate loudspeaker becomes the primary musical quality decision for enjoying loudspeaker music.