Klarinet Archive - Posting 000194.txt from 1999/10

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] VPO at Carnegie Hall--Sound Explanations
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1999 20:23:40 -0400

As one of the extra
> clarinet
> players in the Strauss Elektra recording in March, 1956, and
> having observed
> the RCA equipment, the book description doesn't jib with what I saw. In
> addition to mike types and placement, perhaps comments could be
> made about
> what the mikes led to...there was at that time experimental use
> of very large
> "tape" which looked to be more like 35 mm film. Additionally,
> Mercury was
> out as Chicago's recording label when Kubelik left, circa 1951-2.

The tape you speak of is indeed 35 mm analog tape. It was one of many areas
that engineers were experimenting with. Mercury used these machines (I
believe it was an Ampex) for several of their recordings.

I would be interested in knowing exactly what you saw. There are not many
good accounts of how these sessions went on to tape. The things that are
definitely known include: usage of M49, M50, SM2 (a single-point stereo mic)
and U47 Neumann Microphones. usage of many of the RCA ribbon microphones.
stereo was in its infancy and stereo microphone techniques had not been
ironed out. One of the things that I have read is that each session was
handled in a different way. What I described was a general transition
between techniques as technology and the format matured. Decca had a
different way of recording. They pioneered the Decca Tree array (which is
what most symphonic film scores of today use as their main pick-up.

Neumann's tube microphones are widely regarded for their "sweet and warm"
sound. The characteristics of the M50 were such that at high frequencies it
is directional and at lower frequencies, it is not. This is why it is the
mic of choice for Decca Tree Arrays. The M49 is a multi-pattern microphone,
so the engineer can control exactly what it is to pick up. The U47 is
multi-position as well. If you saw a Tellefunken microphone, it very well
could have been a U47 (the Neumann and Telefunken differ in name only).
Telefunken worked with several companies on development of microphones and
preamps. The most notable are Schoeps (221B), Neumann (U47), and AKG
(C12-ELAM 251).

My mention of Mercury is more in reference to the Eastman Wind Ensemble,
Detroit symphony, and other recordings...

--Ben
Benjamin Maas
Freelance Clarinetist and Recording Engineer
Los Angeles, CA
benmaas@-----.com
http://www.fifthcircle.com

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