Klarinet Archive - Posting 000819.txt from 1997/11

From: Detlef Kretschmer <detlef@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: Recording the Clarinet
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 10:38:23 -0500

>At 12:43 PM 11/21/97 -0500, Detlef Kretschmer wrote:
>>There is one point which, IMHO, is one of the major reasons for changes in
>>recording soud, i.e. the changed habits in setup. The best old recorings
>>were done either in a concert hall or a studio with similar acoustical
>>properties using only TWO microphones for the whole set-up, the best
>>companies using acually a dummy head with the microphones inside the
>>plastic ears (Deutsche Grammophon is one of them). The sound captured this
>>way is very different from the sound as captured by a microphone in front
>>of each instrument.
>
>This setup results in "binaural" recordings, designed to be listened to
>with headphones only. I understand such recordings are spectacular, but
>they are not widely available.
>

This is correct, however, they are still very good using speakers.
Obviously, you add the acoustics of your listening room to the sound, but
this you do with any type of recording. The only thing to do is make shure
the room has lots of soft upholstery and heavy curtains.
In addition, most people don't realise that the typical modern speaker adds
a lot of its own characteristics. Back in the 60's some companies made
speakers that were filled (behind the speaker chassis) with absorbant
material, heavily overdampening the system and thereby making the response
extremely flat. These were marvelous speakers, but they had to be BIG.

>
>The sound in the old set-up has gone through multiple
>>reflections and refractions, and after every reflection, the sound waves
>>have interfered with each other (believe me, the absorption characteristics
>>of the pant-bottoms of the bloke in front of you make more difference to
>>the sound than the material of your instrument). Looking at the two types
>>of recordings on an oscilloscope shows a drastic difference.
>>
>If you prefer the sound of "minimalist miking" (and I do), try recordings
>on the Telarc label. They typically use only two or three for a whole
>orchestra.
>

Is that still true?

>
>
>Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
>451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
>Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
>
>If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

Detlef Kretschmer
Dipl. Ing., DSc., Prof.
Dept. Mechanical Engineering
Laval University
Quebec, QC, Canada G1K 7P4

Voice (418) 656-5409
Fax (418) 656-7415