Have you ever wondered why old-time recordings sound so different?

The answer is that old microphones, recording media and speakers were not capable of capturing the sound accurately. Everything in ths system lacked the frequency range and the diffential loudness range of today's equipment.

There is a issue called clipping, for one. That is when the full sine wave can't be captued. The wave form reaches a certain loudness level and is cut short. It goes up and then is flat until the sound intensity falls back within the range of the microphone. The other issue is the ability of the system to capture the entire frequency range. It might be capable of capturing a range of 200-8000 Hz which gives the sound a "flat" or incomplete tonal range.

Today's recording microphones can pick up 60-24000 Hz and a very wide range of loudness levels. Everything else on the system is equally sensitive.

Even with all that, top recording artists have very customized microphones. They actually work with microphone engineers who tune the instruments to bring out the very best of their voices.

Every element of the recording is captured on separate tracks. Then, the artist and recording engineer go to a Mastering Engineer and they work together to combine all the separate elements into a single track that exhibits the sound they desire.

In many cases, if you listened to a singer and band working together without microphones and sound processing, you might nor recognize them. Once fully processed thy sound dramatically different and much better.

It can't be accomplished in every situation which is why many of them lip-sync on live TV shows and performances.

There are sublimital sound senses involving more than the hearing range of your ears. Your flesh and bones also add to sound perception. You are not aware of that sense but it is there, feeding info to your brain. It all adds to the feeling you get when you hear singers and music as well as every other accoustic perception.

Recording artists and engineers now understand that and formulate every element of their product to appeal to those extended senses.