I've posted several times the processing I use, based on the recommendation of my sound engineer uncle. I apply an "inverted smile" EQ and if I am recording in my small office, I add a small amount of reverb (if I am alone in the house and can record in the big living room the reverb is not necessary). The "inverted smile" corrects for inadequacies in the response of the mic. I was once recorded with a $15,000 mic and that led me to believe that cheaper mic+EQ is very close to the reality captured by the expensive mic and therefore that the EQ isn't "cheating". In my most recent recording, using a superior mic (but not in the thousands of dollars) I thought the sound was much better and only the tiniest adjustment (taking down the highest and lowest bands in the EQ) was needed:
[1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2w15WCzoWY Danny (not a "lute hero" but a regular "y-tuber") On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 5:00 PM, wikla <[2][email protected]> wrote: Well, my new "y-tubings" of very variable quality certainly cannot hide anything! ;-) The Zoom O3 hears everything and I play in very dry acoustics... Is it really true that people "y-tubing" - and especially our "lute heroes" making CD's - really add artificial reverb and other machine generated effects to their canned performances? Perhaps that explains something? Just a thought... ;-) Arto On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:50:47 -0400, "Roman Turovsky" <[3][email protected]> wrote: > But the reverb hides the imperfections so effectively.................. > RT > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[4][email protected]> > To: <[5][email protected]>; <[6][email protected]> > Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 10:46 PM > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Modern lute recordings > > > Ned, > > You're not alone at all. I'm in complete agreement with you. It seems > to me that the ideal place to record a lute of all instruments, is a > controlled environment like a recording studio where a touch of reverb can > be added if wanted. The long decay of a cavernous cathedral might feel > good > for the player, but its a very un-HIP place to find a solo lute. I would > love to turn down the reverb on nearly all my recordings. > > Chris > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, [7][email protected] <[8][email protected]> wrote: > >> From: [9][email protected] <[10][email protected]> >> Subject: [LUTE] Modern lute recordings >> To: [11][email protected] >> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 9:10 PM >> Looking on youtube >> for a video of the Earl of Essex Galliard the other >> night, I came across one by Elizabeth >> Brown. A fine player, but sounds >> I never heard from a lute live. I >> wondered what her recording engineer >> was thinking. But then I remembered >> that "her" sound was not >> completely unlike what I hear on many >> lute CDs, and it occurs to me >> that today's recording engineers >> generally have an odd concept of what >> a lute should sound like. >> Primarily, they seem to think it should >> sound BIG and with the oodles of reverb - >> as if heard from many feet >> away in a large and empty >> catherdral. Harmonia Mundi records Paul >> O'Dette this way, as do ECM and Naxos >> Nigel North, Naive Hopkinson >> Smith, and (not as exaggeratedly) >> Hyperion Elizabeth Kenny. >> >> >> >> Going into my vinyl collection I found >> that in the past, both Nonesuch >> and Astree did a much more natural job >> with Paul O'Dette, Edition Open >> Window is wonderful with Jurgen >> Hubscher (and Alfred Gross), and Decca >> always gave Joe Iadone and Chris Williams >> a natural sound. >> >> >> >> So, my appeal is to recording engineers: >> go into a medium size - or >> even fairly large - room with a lutenist >> sometime and listen to the >> sound he/she produces. Then >> forget recording in churches or >> cathedrals and by all means leave all >> electronic 'enhanements' out of >> the recording chain. >> >> >> >> Am I alone in this view? >> >> >> >> Ned >> >> -- >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> [12]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > [13]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2w15WCzoWY 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. mailto:[email protected] 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. mailto:[email protected] 8. mailto:[email protected] 9. mailto:[email protected] 10. mailto:[email protected] 11. mailto:[email protected] 12. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 13. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
