Classical Musicians: Planning a Recording?

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Some labels and distributors will urge you to record only one or two composers, since record stores don't know where to put the recordings otherwise. Leonarda's collections have always sold better than single composers, however. A single composer is fine if you are recording someone like Beethoven AND you are one of the most famous musicians in the world. If you are relatively unknown, you will be better off featuring some recording premieres and sticking to a specific genre (this can be one or more instruments with or without with various other instruments (i.e. guess artists). Furthermore, if you work with living composers, you may find additional financial support. Themes are important too. Many people will buy recordings that have a concept, whether it be genre, time period, gender, ethnicity, or whatever.

Are you looking for a Record Label,
or do you want to Distribute your own Recording?

These two options should not be exclusive, to my way of thinking. Individual artists can now sell to Amazon, CDBaby and others, so why pay thousands of dollars to a record label that keeps all or most of the revenues? In defense of the labels, I can tell you trying to sell classical recordings is a money-losing venture. For artists, however, being able to recoup even a small part of their investment, should their recording be self-financed, can be a real boon. If you own your recordings, you can sell them at concerts, to Amazon, etc., but if you have a record label or independent consultant that will work with you, you can have the best of both worlds: your CD will be distributed more widely, a label will give you more credibility, and you won't have to do all the work. In addition, a label may be able to find you licensing deals.

Some Recording Tips

Since I don't know what experience you've had in making a recording, I'll include a few recording tips here. For the best results, classical recordings should be made in a concert hall, church, synagogue, or auditorium that has gorgeous acoustics and is quiet. Check for traffic and airplaine noise, hums from lights, noise when it rains, the heating system, children's recess time, even locust and cricket noises. You may need to turn off the heat when you record.

You'll also need a playback room that should sound like someone's living room, and speakers as well as headphones. If there's too much reverb in the playback room, one can overcompensate and make the recording too dry. Headphones are often best for determining room noises from blowers, etc. before the session begins. If you're going out of town to record, try to get an advance recording by the engineer made in the actual place your recording will take place, with the same type of ensemble if possible.

Before recording, number all the bars at the beginning of each line of the score, since working with letters is too cumbersome when making notes. The producer should have this score at the session. Producers generally prefer working in sections unless a piece is very short, and even then, they may want to do patch takes to cover certain spots. Recording in sections makes it easier to keep track of what went well and what didn't, and when listening to all the takes after the recording, it is also easier to compare takes. Be sure to have someone slate each take with numbers that can be heard in post production.

Find some places where the tempo changes and places that are easy to splice (rests, sudden loud chords, places where loud instruments do not sustain, and for solo piano, places not in the middle of a pedal) and plan your session accordingly. Always record PAST the place where you want to edit out (stop) and begin several bars BEFORE the place you want to edit in (begin) when you do patches for notes or passages that haven't been covered (i.e., recorded successfully). (BE SURE to start several bars before the edit point, because the sound of the notes before the splice will carry into the the note after the splice, and it also often takes people a few bars to get going tempo-wise.) Be absolutely quiet for 6 seconds or so after the end of a piece unless you want to play the downbeat of the next movement with just the right time between movements. Editing out noises and determining the amount of time between movements takes time in post production, so do everyone a favor here.

Find some of the loudest places you will be recording, and make sure the engineer sets levels for these passages before the session starts. The louder the recording, the greater the resolution of the digital bits, so record just loud enough that you don't distort. Listen for ambience, or space around the recording, for brightness/dullness, dynamic range and balance. Classical recordings are still often made into stereo as they're recorded, so little can be done with balance once the recording is made. If there are curtains at the back of the stage or in the hall, start with them open, but close them partially or all the way if you need to. Your position on the stage also makes a difference. The back may act as a sounding board, but sometimes you want to be at the front of the stage; each space is different. Have the engineer or producer walk around in the hall as you quickly try a few positions. This is extremely important for placing microphones.

If the microphones are too close, the dynamic range will be too extreme. Mics placed too far back will lose high frequencies, but room mics that capture the space are fine, just so long as you have other mics that are closer. You'll find that people who record popular music have completely different mic placement techniques, so beware! Don't put a mic directly under the piano or put mics on violins. On the other hand, you might want a mic in front of a cello, and have wood or a wooden podium available for the cellist. Don't let the engineer use a limiter, and tell him/her not to add EQ or reverb to the recording unless you approve. Unless you need to EQ (change the prominence of some frequencies at the expense of others) a single musician to improve the sound of that person, these things should be done in post production, not at the session! One hopes no changes will be needed; that is one reason why we record in ambient spaces.

You'll find more RECORDING TIPS in an article I wrote published in paperback by Pendragon Press in 2000: Reflections on American Music: The Twentieth Century and The New Millennium, CMS (College Music Society) Monographs and Bibliographies in American Music, No. 16; James R. Heintz and Michael Saffle, Co-Editors.

Creating More Tracks for Licensed Digital Downloads

According to all the experts, all music will eventually be distributed through a virtual digital library, and CDs and "hard media" will fall by the wayside.

Do you have a Master Tape that needs paired up with other works
or
Are you Planning a New Recording?

Whatever your needs, if you'd like more information, please contact me. Thanks.

Marnie Hall
info@leonarda.com
Telephone +1-212-666-7697
New York, New York

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