Back to the Beginning: Direction and Space microphone, which therefore means that such recordings cannot accurately represent what is heard by listeners in unamplified performances in natural acoustical spaces. Yet, they have been good enough approximations to give plea- sure to generations of listeners. The practical reality is that all recordings end up in a control room of some sort, where decisions are made about the blending of multiple microphone inputs, sweetening with judicious equalization, and enrichment with electroni- cally delayed sound. This is the second layer of art in recordings, added by some combination of recording engineers and performing artists. There are many written discussions of how to "monitor" the progress of recordings--some in books and many more in magazine articles. Opinions cover an enormous range. Many mixers choose monitor loudspeakers that add a desired quality to the sound, instead of using a neutral monitor and achieving the same desired quality through signal processing. This attitude, which seems to be depressingly common, leads nowhere, because only those who are listening through the same loudspeakers will be able to hear that desirable sound quality. A good, recent perspective on the topic can be found in Owsinski (1999), where comments from the author and 20 other recording mixers are assembled. They all care 15