Thanks to Legacy (Silas) for an awesome session!

[bove]

I had the pleasure to meet two of our fellow forum members recently! It was a recording session for a full orchestra videogame score, recorded at Clinton Studios in NYC. Silas was engineering the session, and did a fantastic job. Everything was nice and smooth... really well organized. We couldn't have asked for an easier performance environment. (I was playing tuba and cimbasso in the orchestra.)

I thought I would post a public: “Job well done!”

Things are always hectic at the beginning of a session such as this, but during a break, we had the opportunity to chat for a bit. Silas also played a few clips for me, and from what I heard, it sounds fantastic.

There were lots of microphones and gear everywhere that I'm sure everyone would find interesting, but unfortunately I was focused on playing so I have nothing to report about that.

There was also another nice guy there named Charlie, working for Clinton, who introduced himself as a forum member.

It's nice to meet our friendly forum members in person!

[Legacy]

Hi Andy!

What a surprise to see your post! It was good to meet you as well. You sounded great - very cool to find a fellow slut who can play.

Charlie Post, who you met, was actually part of my team. He's a very good NYC based engineer who spends summers recording at Tanglewood (poor sucker). I also asked Doron Schachter to help out for the day.

From Clinton were Bryan Smith (Clinton's great staff engineer, PT Op) and Tony (tireless assistant).

I had never seen a cimbasso before. It looks a little like a VERY large trombone that had a sort of Frankenstein accident - sounds very cool:

Cimbasso - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This was the orchestral portion of the score for an Electronic Arts' game. It was written by Please Music Works - Mikael Karlsson and Tobias Wagner. The game is being developed by DICE. One of the fun things about these games is that the composers are always pushing some boundary musically as they are also 'new music' composers. They are given a long leash by Stefen Strandberg from DICE so all are on board for some unusual sounds.

I'll try to post some pics if I find some that are clear. We shot video so there should be something. We start mixing tomorrow.

A few details for anyone who may care:

I used a modified decca tree of DPA 4006tls (no balls and wider spaced than Decca) and Neumann KM 131 flanks. There were then spot mics everywhere as the score requires some unusual balances - supernatural flexibility. Vln sections 1 and 2 got Royer SF2s, VLAs had a beautiful RCA 77 (ribbons were very kindly lent to me by grammy winning classical producer Adam Abeshouse who has one of the nicest mic collections in the area in terms of quality and quantity), celli had a U67 from Clinton, basses had DPA 4011s miced as a section.
Winds got a mixture of Crowley and Tripp Prosceniums (flutes), a Neumann 131 for oboe, Royer SF2 for Eng Horn and U87s for bass clar and bassoons.
Brass spots were more RCA 77s (tpts), Coles 4038s (bones), fet47s for Horns and for Andy.

Our concertmaster had some concerto style solo cues and we used one of Clinton's M49s - a really beautiful sounding one. Man, I want a pair of 49s...

Everything went into my Millennia or GML pres, then into my snake and directly into PT. FWIW, Clinton has a Mogami snake in A that can directly carry 8 ch into the control room so you can bypass the tie lines and patch bay in many cases if you want.

If the mixes sound decent I may post some of the work in progress.

I only wish there was more sessions like this in NYC. With the caliber of musicians we have in this town its a shame there isn't more game / film work.

Best Wishes,
Silas

[charlienyc]

what a fantastic session that was! i was on a high from it for a few days. it was a very right combination of talents and i feel privileged to have been part of it.

thanks for the mention Andy! you're not the only one who thought i worked for Clinton anywho, it was great meeting you, and i hope we cross paths again soon.

Silas, thanks for your kind words (...of all the things you could say about me haha), the heads up, and for another great session!

cheers,
-c

[Remoteness]

Very cool!

I love hearing about this sort of stuff.

Hey, I'm sure we all would love to see a few pictures.
Please post them when you get a chance.

[Don S]

Another thumbsup for Silas. I've never had the pleasure of seeing him in action, but his recordings are some of my reference recordings. It's comforting to see an example of a "great guy" making it our business. He's truely one of the the most humbled and professional people out there. Please post some samples!

[RobAnderson]

thumbsup +2 for Silas and Charlie

I have had the pleasure of "seeing them in action." Great engineers and great guys.

[charlienyc]

thanks Rob!
likewise
cheers,
-c

[Legacy]

Many thanks for the kind words. You guys made my day! Checks in the mail....

I've contacted the composers to see if we can post some pics. Unfortunately audio excerpts are covered under their non-disclosure agreement.

Rob - it was great to work with you as well. Your detailed prep work and skills on the ground saved the day especially since the hall's staff was 'less than forthcoming'.

-Silas

[Remoteness]

It's true, Robert Anderson is a great asset to any one's crew or production venture.

I'll take two of him any day. ;-)

[macula]

I was very glad to discover this thread as it gives me the opportunity to thank Silas publicly for being an extremely generous, friendly and knowledgeable advisor in my first insecure explorations of recording technology in the home studio.

Yannis

thumbsup

[RobAnderson]

Thanks for the kind words guys