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Originally Posted by seanmccoy  Are you saying the studio mentioned by Orchestra.net is the lousy sounding room?
I'd prefer not to have to there for the session, but would if necessary. I'll check into Seattle for sure, and I've also heard some good things about the Utah Symphony doing this sort of thing. Thanks for all the info. |
Yeah, that's the one I think...Smecky is pretty horrible. It's just not designed for it. If there is another room it might well be better, but it depends how large you're going. They also record in the Rudolphinum which is absolutely lovely I've heard, but you have to book a LONG way in advance, it's rarely available, and it's expensive. Apart from that, just great!
The air con has to be turned off every time to start a take. Maybe string tracking might be okay, but forget about any band where the room tone is paramount eg. woods/brass with strings. I really enjoyed Bratislava though. City is pretty fun too...and very cheap. It's worth making the trip if you can get a flight cheap (one flies to Vienna and then usually they can arrange for a pickup there, as the city is a drive across the border).
Utah's not bad, I've heard. Never recorded with orchestra there.
Wherever you go, have to second getting an experienced engineer and making sure you have lots of mic options isn't a bad idea juuuuuust in case. Worth paying the extra for sure. And if you do europe book more time than you need...you're going to want it, even with great performances, mostly for room noises as these old soviet rooms don't half creeeeeak and make little crackling noises. The headphones can be a bit dodgy sometimes too, so you need someone experienced in riding clicks if you're using them otherwise reverb tails such as they are....bleh.
Also Seattle in the middle of summer can have a similar problem...they tend to record at Bastyr, this chapel in a university which doesn't sound bad, but it has stained glass windows. One project we had unbearable clicking noises as soon as the sunlight hit the glass...every second or so, an audible click that sounded just like a word clock cable had come loose...but generally I've enjoyed working up there. It IS a little more expensive than europe or utah etc. though.