Classical Musicians: Planning a Recording?by Marnie Hall, Repertoire In the old days when we had many stores than carried recordings, some labels and distributors urged us to record only one or two composers, since record stores didn'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. Some Recording Tips Before recording, number all the bars at the beginning of each line of the score and in the parts, 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. It helps to have someone slate each take with numbers that can be heard in post production when you choose the takes you want to use. 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 sound recordist sets levels for these passages before the actual recording begins. The louder the recording, the greater the resolution of the digital bits, so record just loud enough that you don't distort. Classical recordings are sometimes still made into stereo as they're recorded, so little can be done with balance once the recording is made if that is the case. If you are recording in an auditorium or ambient space, it is especially important to listen for ambience, or space around the recording, (i.e., closeness vs. distance for the listener/mics), for brightness/dullness, dynamic range and balance. 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 (which changes the prominence of some frequencies at the expense of others) or reverb to the recording unless you approve! Unless you need to EQ for one or more musicians to improve the sound of that person or persons, these things should be done in post production, not at the session. Beware of post production people who want to "normalize" everything, meaning that they want to change the levels so they are the loudest for each movement. You want dynamic contrast and want some movements and pieces softer than others! 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. Recording techniques have changed since then, but you may find some of the information helpful. Marnie Hall |