Sorry, GfS, I suspect you know a studio in this context is not a place to study. But nice try.

I suspect you also know that studios are equipped with progressively more devices to change the sound 'artists" create, and that these devices are improving in fidelity and range all the time, such that, for instance, in such a studio--perhaps just with a synthesizer--you can create the sound of a clarinet, with excellent fidelity and a range exceeding that of the target instrument. And you can extend a person's vocal range 'on record' beyond the true range.

This is not good for the employment of instrumentalists--nor for music itself.

There is no comparison between earlier primitive techniques such as Spector's Wall of Sound and what studios can do these days, much as you want to lump all progress in sound recording together--gee, I wonder why you want to do this.

And a lot of music does not need the treatment available--which does not stop engineers from adding extraneous bells and whistles, in a bid by companies to win the approval of a jaded public.    Classical music recordings sometimes--not often-- have too much echo, for instance.    And Irish music is certainly strong enough to stand on its own without the "atmospherics" provided in the studio or with electronic "enhancement" devices--as in your Example 2.


Commercial rap is, it turns out, not strong enough without technological assist--which says worlds about its value. Not even to speak about its usual subject matter--which as I've noted, plays into the hands of the NRA.   And any reasonable person--perhaps that excludes you--should not be in favor of this.