Harpsichord duet recordings

[d_fu]

Just a quick report about the recordings in May...

They were done in a private place with an enormous collection of historic harpsichords (some of which are in a museum in Hamburg). The instruments chosen for the recording were two Kirckmans from 1700something... Repertoire included Bach (JS, CPE, WF) and Krebs.

After having to set up faster than I had hoped (one instrument had to be brought from the museum due to some misunderstanding), I ended up with a setup of two omni pairs and one spot on each harpsichord.
A main pair of KM131 with diffraction spheres (SBK 131), a pair of AKG 460 (Jim-Williams-modded) with CK62 DF for extra ambience and a Beyer MC 803 spot each. The AKG 414s in the pictures were not used, mostly because they sometimes picked up some bass resonance/thumping from the floor or whatever (didn't have them in elastic mounts, damn)... Apart from that, they sounded nice. Highs were reduced a bit on the spots.

Used a MADI setup, recording at 88.2k. The monitor speakers are my good old Genelec 1019A, unfortunately one of them distorts a bit... Data recorded amounts to over 50 GB.

More details if anyone's interested...
Further pics and audio clips separately.

[d_fu]

More pics. The harpsichord in the background is an amazing-sounding Ruckers, wish there had been time to record some of this...

[d_fu]

More pics and audio.

Krebs
CPE Bach


___

[boojum]

That is a super opportunity to record. You are very lucky. Do you record direct to a computer or do you use other hardware? You are so lucky to have such opportunities, but I am sure you also worked for them.

Please keep posting for those of us trying to learn acoustic recording.

Cheers

[resound]

Man, I would hate to be the person responsible for keeping everything there in tune!

No time for a proper listen, but on MacBook speakers it sounds quite nice. Congrats!

[Remoteness]

Wow, awesome gig!
Great pictures!

[mrsteaks]

Daniel, thanks to you for sharing the photos and "snippets" with us! What a treat. I'd love to hear the high res versions of those clips.

As Steve said, awesome job!

Cheers!

~~~~Mark S.
Pretty Good Recordings

[Recording David]

Thanks for these Daniel - nicely recorded! Did you need to delay the spots at all or were they near enough to the mains for this not to be an issue?

BTW I'm sure you know this already and have an edit for it but there is a really loud page turn at the end of the CPE Bach clip!!

[Omicron_9]

Fantastic pics and music. Sorry if I missed this, but what were the pres?

Regards,
-0.9

[d_fu]

Thanks for the comments.
Spots are not delayed. Might try it out before the final mixdown.
Preamp is a Micstasy

Originally Posted by Recording David

BTW I'm sure you know this already and have an edit for it but there is a really loud page turn at the end of the CPE Bach clip!!

Somehow, I don't find it very loud and not even disturbing... Almost part of the music... Will discuss it with the musicians again, but AFAIR, they don't mind it, either...

What about your own harpsichord recording project?

[Recording David]

Originally Posted by d_fu

What about your own harpsichord recording project?

This is still on hold at the moment, unfortunately! It's definitely still happening, just don't have a firm date for this as the soloist is a very busy guy.

I've recently got a pair of Royer R-121 - I'm very tempted to try these out over my Schoeps - I have a feeling they may be just right for this project.

[pkautzsch]

That's a beautiful sound, and it really shows the different characters of the two instruments in a great way (and that's not always the case in multiple-harpsi recordings!). Great! And a beautiful room too. Thanks for sharing this, Daniel!
However, I must second the criticism about that page turning in CPE, and I also hear it in Krebs. It does give a "live concert" atmosphere, but I think it's too obvious.
SBK's are a good thing, aren't they. They smoothen out the reverb a bit and give that small amount of focus one often needs.
Will these recordings be published?

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by pkautzsch

However, I must second the criticism about that page turning in CPE, and I also hear it in Krebs. It does give a "live concert" atmosphere, but I think it's too obvious.

"Obvious" in what way? I hardly notice it and certainly don't find it disturbing, it's just part of the playing, like the sound of an organ's stops. Where is it in the Krebs...?

Will these recordings be published?

In one way or another, yes. Once we have a finished product (fully edited CD version), we will again present it to a CD label that has shown some interest, but I don't know whether they will actually do it. If not, the two musicians may just produce it on their own, and I'll be in it, too, somehow.

If you (or anyone else) are interested in a copy, PM me.


Daniel

[matucha]

very nice... I like the room and I like certain roughness of it, it makes it very naturalistic and raw in a good way. I just turned the volume up and enjoyed the bigness

[pkautzsch]

Originally Posted by d_fu

"Obvious" in what way? I hardly notice it and certainly don't find it disturbing, it's just part of the playing, like the sound of an organ's stops. Where is it in the Krebs...?

I do find it slightly disturbing, or should I say, uncommon.
But maybe we all have just gotten too used to that "clinical" kind of recordings without such noises. In a concert it wouldn't disturb at all.
In Krebs, it's at about 1:02 at the end of the first part.

Just listened on REALLY crappy headphones, and still it sounds great. PM being sent.

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by pkautzsch

In Krebs, it's at about 1:02 at the end of the first part.

I never noticed it until you told me where it was...

[resound]

Originally Posted by d_fu

I never noticed it until you told me where it was...

I'm not sure I would find it too objectionable. The mechanics of the instruments themselves make a good deal of noise which the ear is accustomed to. While listening at a general "background music" level, I did not even notice the page turn sound. It's only when I had the volume up and full, critical attention on the recording did I notice it. It's always nice to fix things, but this certainly is within the realm of acceptability, is it not?