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I had to pay close attention to peak recording levels. With a digital system, there is no way to recover information when it overloads. Ah, the joys of the
old days of magnetic tape.
Levels were set, the orchestra played. There were eight players on stage and with the Four Seasons, two different violinists took turns to perform two of the
seasons and stood center stage. One
of them swayed about one meter from side to side which I could easily hear. I make no apology for that because it actually adds to the
realism of the playback performance.
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Being a relatively low-output instrument, in an ideal world
the harpsichord could have done with its own microphone to help lift up its level. However, the joys of using just two
microphones meant that I needed no separate sound mixing desk. After all,
this whole adventure was about trying to make the purest possible recording.
In the professional recording world, many mics are used to increase the
separation between instruments. Then they get all mixed back together to 'create' the performance. Because of the very close microphone placements involved, one often needs electronic reverb to fake up ambiance which was lost when the mics were moved too close to the performers.
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The other problem with multi miking is that all surrounding instruments are picked
up by many microphones. This adds problems of compounded phase anomalies. Unfortunately very few venues with natural acoustics are available to
record in which do not suffer plane, train or automobile noise or an audience
that won't mutter, cough and shuffle. Hence the use of the artificial recording studio.
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Anyway, our audience came and the sight of half a sheep stuck on top
of a big black pole must have amazed them so much, they were actually very quiet.
The orchestra played beautifully, especially so when you consider that we had no
opportunity for multiple takes and editing. If you knew how many
edits take place in a typical orchestral recording, you would be astounded.
One of the best compliments came at the end of the concert. Some of
the members of the orchestra listened to our recording and expressed amazement over how good they sounded. They had always been told how bad the
acoustics in their church really were.
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Their manager has asked for a copy to broadcast our take on Italian radio. I thought it
might be fun to share with you three clips from the evening. Yes, the
quality of MP3 over the Internet is terrible but actually, it is worth to have a listen. I think that you'll experience more than a little flavor of the fun we
had that evening.
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When I got back to London, I plugged the AES/EBU output of the Nagra into the input
of my Soulution CD player which can directly replay a 24/192 data stream. The results? On that night in Venice, I felt I had died and gone to
Heaven. When playing back the recording, tears came to my eyes. Is it as good as the
original event? Not. But, it’s a major step closer. I hope to return soon and record the
orchestra again - but this time with the Blumlein technique for the ultimate A/B
demonstration. I cannot wait to return. The journey never ends...
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I have to thank several people without whom
the recording would not have been made. They include Neil McCormack of
Schoeps Microphones UK, George Thomsen of Prometheus Audio, Barrrie Hawes for
IT support, Francesca Lever our stills photographer, Françoise Valentine our producer
and interpreter, Paolo Cognolato the manager of the orchestra and the Interpretti Veneziani themselves.
Interesting Websites:
http://www.interpretiveneziani.com
http://www.schoeps.de/en/home
http://www.gearslutz.com
http://www.valentinefilms.com
The music clips: 1, 2, 3.
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hakancez @ gmail.com
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