On Jul 26, 2006, at 1:25 PM, John Howell wrote:
German recording engineers could all read score and instead of saying something like "something didn't sound right just before the repeat" they'd say "there was an Ab instead of an A natural on the 3rd beat of measure 49"!
That has been my experience working in Germany and in Holland, but it still leaves many questions unresolved vis-a-vis esthetics and balance. I wrote a short solo for the lead trumpet player in the Metropole Orchestra, marked it mf, and it was beautifully played and in just the right proportion in the performance - coming from the back of the band with a little distance to the sound. It was just as I imagined it would be. But the recording engineers "corrected" the balance so that the solo sounds up front and pretty loud, taking away the intended effect. Stuff like that happens all the time, score reading engineers or not.
All too often, the engineer has the last word, and I find in my own case, that learning to hear the balance in a mixing session is quite a different exercise than hearing it from the poduim. It takes me many times through before I even get close to a recorded balance that simulates the effect I believe I am getting in a performance, where there are spatial and visual cues that add a lot to the experience.
My 2C. Chuck
John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Chuck Israels 230 North Garden Terrace Bellingham, WA 98225-5836 phone (360) 671-3402 fax (360) 676-6055 www.chuckisraels.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
