Jazz on 3 -- BBC Radio

[Remoteness]

We just received this email from Somethin' Else Producer, Joby Waldman.

The subject is about their BBC Radio 3 New York Jazz Special.

I plan to add our technical specs and some photos I took when very soon.

Here's what Joby had to say about the special...


Hi,

I've just finished condensing a week long NYC trip into a 90 minute radio show.

It goes out tonight on BBC Radio 3 at 2330 GMT and thereafter can be heard for the next 7 days via the website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzon3/

For fans of hard swinging post-bop there’s Joe Lovano in session with his quartet playing music from his Grammy nominated “Streams of Expression” suite.

For those seeking a captivating balance between form and freedom, struck by three elder statesmen of the music, there’s Trio 3 aka Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille and Oliver Lake.

If you’re an Electric Miles-ophile, there’s a workout of “Spanish Key” from Bitches Brew performed by Bob Belden’s Animation.

And for some genre defying new music we’ve the Digital Primitives with Assif Tsahar on reeds, Chad Taylor drums and Cooper Moore diddley bow and banjo.

We also take a tour of some of the less obvious venues which in their own way illuminate the direction of the industry at this time: John Zorn’s locust for the downtown avant-garde - The Stone; Wynton Marsalis’ high profile Jazz at Lincoln Center, and - part of what the New York Times is calling the “Brooklyn Jazz Renaissance” - The Tea Lounge in Park Slope.

To see some photos from our trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2385457...57594433270566.

For a blog: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jazz/

Thanks to all who helped make this happen - not least the afore-mentioned musicians, the skilled technicians at Aura Sonic LTD, my colleagues at Somethin' Else, Mrs Adams who taught me so much in Grade 3...

CD's on the way to all those who've asked.

Happy christmas!

Joby Waldman

Producer, Jazz on 3


Listen again: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzon3/

[blackwatch]

Nice Job Steve!

BBC is always top notch

[blackwatch]

was that the Royer 122V you put on Esperanza Spaulding upright?


How'd it come out?

[Remoteness]

I recorded the live concert performances from three different locations around NYC.

We had Digital Primatives from the Tea lounge in Brooklyn,
Bob Belden's Animation from Merkin Hall and,
Trio 3 from Saint Peter's Church...

James Farber captured the Joe Lovano studio session at Avatar in Studio C.

[matucha]

very nice

[Matt Pneumatic]

Way to go Steve! It's great to hear something recorded at Tea Lounge, right down the street from me on BBC 3!

Keep rockin'.

-matt

[Remoteness]

Yeah, I really liked the folks there. They were very open and extremely helpful to us.

We recorded Digital Primatives at the Tea Lounge.

Here are some shots of the space...


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[Remoteness]

A few more pictures for you -- Cooper Moore designed and built his own instruments.
That Bass thingy is awesome. He plays it like a piano!

[mortenbrekke]

Jazz on 3 is a great show. I envy you!
Morten

[Remoteness]

The Cable Run...

[Remoteness]

I'll be posting the Bob Belden's Animation and Trio 3 photo soon...

Any questions about the setup and such?

[David.H]

Thanks Steve for the excellent photos. It's nice to see how its done by professionals

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by David.H

Thanks Steve for the excellent photos. It's nice to see how its done by professionals

Dave,

It's my pleasure.

Here's a few pictures of the Bob Belden's Animation drum setup.

You got questions? I got answers...

Hopefully.




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[Remoteness]

...And now for a little bass rig action!



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[Remoteness]

What about the Keys?


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[Remoteness]

Just a couple of horn mics...



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[Remoteness]

DJ Logic was in the house!



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[Remoteness]

Wide angle shot of the Merkin Hall stage during rehearsal.



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[Remoteness]

I really like the sound of this space...

I would love to do more work at Merkin Hall in 2007.



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[Remoteness]

Bob Belden's Animation during rehearsal on show day.



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[Remoteness]

And another couple of shots of our XTA active splitter system.

This unit is can be linked to another XTA DS800 system to double the channel count via ELCO/EDAC 90 harnesses. You can use them as two individual 24 channel splitters with 32 tie lines each or they can be combined to handle 48 active splits with 8 tie lines in a more flexible package. When necessary, we add one (or both) of these systems to our 48 channel XTA system for 72 to 96 balanced circuits. Each XTA active splitter system has a UPS which when fully charged can run anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes or so without AC power.



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[phil.]

Great Steve.....thanks for that!
Really good insight into how you approached this gig. thumbsup

On the picture of the auditorium it looks like a mic is suspended from the ceiling.....did you use it at all in combination with your stage mics?

Phil.

[Remoteness]

Phil,

No, thank you.

Yes, they had Schoeps microphones suspended from the ceiling and I planned to use them when we did the location scout, but I changed my mind because of the very short setup time we had, the instrumentation and the potentially very loud stage volume.

Those mics go directly to the facility's recording room capturing each performance for archival purposes. If I wanted to use them we would have had to run long arse sub snakes to their recording room input panel back stage near stage right.

I felt it wasn't worth the extra hassle. If we had more time I would have grabbed those beautiful mics and mix them in with my stage mics. The sound check was at 6PM or so and we were not allowed access to the building until after 5PM. We got there at 2PM and started our setup completely backwards. My team off loaded the truck and setup the CRM before the cables were completely run. Then they attached the cables to the truck and ran and place the extra bundles near the cable entry point. Once we were allowed access to the building, they motored and got the feeder cable run to the basement and the A/V snakes run to the stage. By the time I tied into the power and powered up the truck the crew already started to setup the stage. My crew was so on top of it that we had sometime to get a bite to eat before the sound check / rehearsal.

A similar thing happened to us during the live New Year’s Eve 2006 broadcast we did for NPR/WBGO from Tonic in NYC, but it wasn't by design I’m afraid...

I'll start a thread about the pros and cons of the serious insanity that occurred before and after the live Nation wide broadcast and performance. It was over the top!

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by mortenbrekke

Jazz on 3 is a great show. I envy you!
Morten

The folks that produce this show on "Jazz on 3" were very cool to us.
The Somethin' Else Production boys got it goin' on!

Very friendly and completely professional under all conditions.

Now, that's the true sign of what it takes to be professional.

thumbsup

[jdmmobile]

so i am joining in with the praise. i haven't heard the recording, but i assume it is rocking...well jazzy. over the weekend in a session we played with the TLM-103 mic'ing the rear capture. nice! i don't personally own any of those mic's but for studio sessions find this to be a fun position to get a room shot that is unique.

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by jdmmobile

so i am joining in with the praise. i haven't heard the recording, but i assume it is rocking...well jazzy. over the weekend in a session we played with the TLM-103 mic'ing the rear capture. nice! i don't personally own any of those mic's but for studio sessions find this to be a fun position to get a room shot that is unique.

Jim,

Thanks bro!

I got a quick question for you:
Did you setup the TLM103 for rear room tone for drums or the whole band?

A lot of folks on GS dog that mic and I never understood that.
I own 14 of them and I seem to make them work for me.
IMO, maybe it's about mic placement and how you positioning them than the mic (any mic for that matter) itself.

[Ibvee]

+1 for the words of praise.

Have you got some pictures and information about the control truck (I assume), the recorders, and maybe your crew at work?

Thanks for sharing!

[phil.]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Phil,

Those mics go directly to the facility's recording room capturing each performance for archival purposes. If I wanted to use them we would have had to run long arse sub snakes to their recording room input panel back stage near stage right.

Thanks Steve,

I am always amazed about the Halls and their customer service here in Japan. Ceiling mic (tsuri) outs always seem to be where you want them and if not they will get them there....amazing! Gotta love the way those guys take care! thumbsup

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by Ibvee

+1 for the words of praise.

Have you got some pictures and information about the control truck (I assume), the recorders, and maybe your crew at work?

Thanks for sharing!

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the setup and none of The Bread Mobile during these dates, but here's a few shots of what I did take...

In these shots you will find Kaz Noda and Robert Carvell. Adam Kushner was setting up truck when I took these photos.

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[Remoteness]

Bob Belden's Animation:

Here you will find Gil from Merkin Hall at the FOH board.

Robert Carvell is at our active splitter

And Rob and Randy Taber are standing behind the SL audiences mics and remote PTZ camera