The Specifics of Critical Listening in the Art of Sound Recording

The purpose of the article is to identify and characterise the features of critical listening as a strategy for evaluating an audio signal in the context of the art of sound recording. To provide the overall view and understanding of the research issues, the method of generalization and systematization of scientific knowledge on the phenomenon of sound in musicology was applied, as well as analytical and synthetic methods, method of musicological analysis, typological and system-structural, which have helped to organise the information, study the sound and music and the variety of elements, determine the place of critical listening in the art of sound recording, etc. The specifics of critical listening is investigated and systematic methods for identifying, evaluating and forming artistic elements of sound recording are analysed; four components of sound quality evaluation are identified and characterised – spectral content, musical context, dynamic context and dynamics in critical listening evaluation. Conclusions. The art of sound recording is implemented through the listening skills, in order to recognize nuances and create professional high-quality recordings, as well as the ability to use the recording process and technical equipment to create sound with artistic sensuality. Critical listening involves the sound quality evaluation to determine its characteristics following the context or to identify any undesired sounds or characteristics that affect the conceptualization of a piece of music as a single entity