Contemporary classical recording

[ruipenha]

Is there anyone here that does contemporary classical music recording?

I'd be specially interested in discussing:

- recordings made with the composer and the relation established between the composer and audio engineer;

- creative approaches to recording: a bit as a second or third layer of interpretation/creation, as for works made for recording purposes only;

- recording techniques for mixed acoustic/electroacoustic works.

Best regards,

Rui

[T.RayBullard]

Several of us here do, probably the most experienced being "Plush", "legacy" and MBishopSFX. Watch their posts.

Originally Posted by ruipenha

Is there anyone here that does contemporary classical music recording?

I'd be specially interested in discussing:

- recordings made with the composer and the relation established between the composer and audio engineer;

- creative approaches to recording: a bit as a second or third layer of interpretation/creation, as for works made for recording purposes only;

- recording techniques for mixed acoustic/electroacoustic works.

Best regards,

Rui

[ruipenha]

I will...

I forgot one thing:

- Using the soundfield microphone or ambisonic's techniques.

I'm a composer/conductor and I've done some recordings of portuguese contemporary classical music. In the end, I had to also be the audio engineer (not that I dare to call myself that!) because there is no audio engineer here that has the ears and the skills for this kind of recording (you know... "I trashed that part because the 'cello was doing some kind of strange noise... we should do it again!" precisely the one time the 'cello player got it right!, etc. etc.)

So... I have formal training in music, but not in audio engineering, really an art of it's own. I've always been interested in audio technology and computers, mainly for electroacoustic music composition, now I really want to learn a lot more about recording, mixing and maybe even mastering techniques. Not that I want to quit being a composer (!), but knowledge never hurts...

Best regards

[matyas]

I do, although I'm not nearly as experienced as some of the guys here. However, I'm also a composer, and I love contemporary classical music. There are many schools of thought on how it should be recorded, just as there are many schools of composers out there. If I were recording a big neo-romantic orchestra piece, I'd approach it the same way as any other orchestral recording. However, many composers are informed by popular music, sometimes of a fairly non-mainstream sort, and want to have their music recorded in such a way. I did a piece a few months back (which I both wrote and recorded), for flute, violin, cello, and electronics, and I wanted it to "sound like a record" in the rock sense. We tracked to analog tape, and broke out some very colored preamps (a few tube pieces, some API), and some compressors like a Distressor, 1176, etc. I realized the synth tracks on my computer, but we re-amped them through guitar cabs and then miked them and recorded back on tape. Then I dumped the whole thing to digital so I could edit and mix in Samplitude. Obviously, that's one case, and I don't always work that way - only when the aesthetic of the piece requires it. I also have done plenty of recordings (of mine and other peoples' music) with just a stereo pair and no signal processing at all.
I think one thing to bear in mind with contemporary music as compared to the standard repertoire is that the dynamic range is often enormous. Many composers do not hesitate to write pppppp or ffffff and they usually mean it! Another consideration is that the range of tone colors is often also very great, and those fine timbral shadings are often very important as well. (This is true from the modern classics, like Derbussy or Webern or Ives to many composers writing today.)
In summary, I would say that if you have the option of consulting the composer, do so to get an idea of what the piece is supposed to sound like. For example, a minimalistic piece probably should sound very dry, but Feldman or French spectral music should sound very lush, perhaps with some nice natural reverb.

[fifthcircle]

I do a huge amount of work with composers... The key to working with them is to be able to communicate about what kind of sound they are looking for. Some works will sound great with minimal mic'ing, but others demand a huge setup.

I find that many works do require large setups because of the clarity of sound and the control demanded. Even when a work will balance acoustically, there is just a certain amount of clarity above that is demanded. In a session situation, I'll often have everything mic'd up. I'll always have room micing to help tie the sound together, but the main part of the sound will depend on those close mics.

Some composers have a technical knowledge and others don't. To know how to work with them really depends on knowing how to talk with them. Many composers I work with have a level of trust that if I suggest a creative way to present their music, they'll give me latitude to at least try it.

When it comes to electro-acoustic music, I only rule I have is that there are no rules. When it comes to live electronics, some pieces demand live processing when recording, others will get the process in post.

Oh well... a few rambling thoughts.

--Ben