Klarinet Archive - Posting 000477.txt from 1999/10

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Funny Nielsen recording
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 18:40:54 -0400

> Having said this I think you would agree that Gould used the
> studio in a far
> more creative way than 99% of the recordings sound from the
> 1980's and 90's.
> The process of editing to look for a definitive performance actually kills
> the creative process because it naturally breaks the flow of expectation
> between one note and the next no matter how sensitively it is done.
>

Not necessarily.... What I have been trying to say over the past several
weeks of posts about recording is that the process is not perfect. When you
step into the studio, you need to make a product that is commercially
viable. Since the advent of tape based recording, splicing has been
possible. As a result, the general audience's acceptance of mistakes has
been pretty low. Most "live" performance recordings these days are edited.

I don't want be an arrogant snot, but with a statement like the one above,
you obviously have no idea what is possible on today's editing workstations.
Today we have the capability of editing with the accuracy of 1 sample. That
means 1/44,100 second (with new technology, now 1/96,000 sec.) We can
manipulate sound in ways that you wouldn't be able to dream of.

> > As a musician and recording engineer, I am a firm believer in editing.
> > However, when I run a session, I like to take complete takes
> and use that
> > for most of the final edits. Anything not covered in complete
> takes gets
> > fixed, but usually in chunks large enough to keep musical continuity.
>
> Good policy if you want a flawless product but how much better would the
> result be with a fine performance with a few blips. What is your view of
> recording? Is it to try to capture the performance or produce a flawless
> product?

Once again, I don't want to burst your bubble, but this flawless product is
what is required in this day and age. I don't believe in 1,000 edit per
piece projects. If you can't play it, don't record it. If the performer is
good enough to give a convincing performance, it WILL come through on the
CD. The bad recordings I have made haven't been because of the technical
side of things, but because of a substandard performance. With good
musicians, it always shows through regardless of what is happening behind
the glass.

> >
> > One last bit of editing lore... M. Pollini's recording of the Chopin
> > Etudes. Op. 10. #1 is rumored to have about 1,000 edits in it.
> For those
> > of you who don't know the piece, it equates to one edit every 3 notes.
> With
> > today's digital technologies, it is not only possible, but standard and
> > you'd never know...
>
> Bet you I would!
>

Comments like this are totally un-needed. When I edit a project, *I*
wouldn't be able to tell that it has been edited. AND I DID IT!!!! I can
look at the little edit panel on the workstation and see the little lines
indicating edits, but when I have done my job well, you can't hear it. Not
even on headphones. I have, at times, spliced inside a note, I have even
spliced inside words (in a spoken word recording), and many other places.

Granted, there are a lot of bad engineers and bad editors working out there.
Engineering is just like playing.... There are good engineers and bad ones.
Just as all of you out there on this list don't play in the Chicago
Symphony, not all engineers are good enough to work for Deuche Grammophon,
Telarc, or Dorian. As an engineer, I am appalled at the quality of many of
the recordings out there. I have head CDs with massive clipping on it (so
bad I had to return it as it was unlistenable), CDs with splices that can be
heard. (most often in a reverb trail) The point here is that with good
performers and engineering, you'd never know the difference.

--Ben

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

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