This month, I am featuring two blog posts that I wrote back in
2006-2007, long before I began www.composerinklings.com. My very first blog post
dates from Oct. 21, 2006; I was invited by Cedille Records president James
Ginsburg to write an entry for his column on the (now defunct)
ChicagoClassicalMusic.org website. I had just experienced my very first
recording session. It was with the Biava Quartet; they were recording my second
string quartet for Cedille Records. When re-reading the blog post below, I get a kick reading how exuberant I was to
be in those recording sessions! I remember feeling like a kid in a candy store.
Honestly, I still feel get a bit of that feeling whenever I step into a recording
session. I've added commentary on my earlier thoughts in brackets.
On October 9th and 10th,
Jim Ginsburg invited the Biava Quartet and I out to the WFMT studio to record
my String Quartet No. 2: Demons and Angels. This piece is being included
on an upcoming CD for Cedille Records. The CD, entitled Composers in the Loft, features five composers who
have had works performed on Fredda Hyman’s Music
in the Loft chamber series. I have
previously had a few works recorded professionally, but I’ve never been able to
be present in such a session. For the Biava too (comprised of violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Jacob Braun), this
professional recording session was a first. Jim asked me to write a blog entry
about the recording experience, which I decided to do as a top ten list of my
observations. Here they are, in no particular order:
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| Cedille Records' CD, containing the Biava Quartet's recording sessions for my String Quartet No. 2: Demons and Angels |
2. Two
peas in a pod. Jim Ginsburg and Bill Maylone worked together like a
well-oiled machine – easy to tell these two have been doing recording sessions
for a long, long time (seeing such expertise at work makes any newbie feel like
you’re in good hands). And they also gave my ears a real challenge. What do I
mean by this? Read on…
3. Teaching
your old ears new tricks, or at least how to listen like a CD
producer/engineer. In a live performance, I’m concerned about hearing the
big picture – long lines, overall shaping of phrases, etc. But in a recording
session, the focus is on vertical listening. Did everyone’s downbeat line up?
How’s the tuning in beat 2? Whose bow hit the music stand? Who is breathing
loudly? And so on. Stuff I would never even pay attention to in a live
performance, since the piece is unfolding linearly, suddenly became
ultra-important. Which leads to…
4. The
balancing act. The main issue with recording a piece is finding the balance
between the work’s overall musical shape and the moment-by-moment accuracy. A
process emerged: the Biava would record each movement in a single take. Then
they’d join us in the recording booth, and everyone dissected the take while
listening to the playback. These full takes helped give Jim and Bill a chance
to hear how the Biava shaped the material (in addition, Jim had meticulously
studied the entire score beforehand). Then the nitty-gritty work began – the
Biava would record each movement in short blocks, sometimes 5-10 times each,
before moving onto the next block. I
have to admit to feeling dazed by the end of the process, and I think the Biava
shared a bit of the same feeling – we knew everything got recorded, but how
will Jim and Bill sift through the assortment of the magical moments and
perfect tunings to fit all the short blocks into a cohesive movement with the
same mood as what you get in a single take? From what I experienced in the
recording booth, as well as from the quality of Cedille’s catalog, Jim and Bill
are experts solving this dilemma in a most artistic manner. They’ll find that
balance.
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| The Biava Quartet |
5. The
awe-inspiring endurance of 20-somethings. The Biava played each day for
about 4 hours total, going over two and a half hours before a lunch break, and
without a single request to sit down and rest. By the way, everyone but Jacob
stood for the entire recording session – they’re more comfortable performing this
way, and it certainly works well for their sound. I’d like to think I had this
much energy when I was 25.
6. Who’s
the pickiest of them all? No matter how much I thought I, or one of the
recording team, was being picky about a pitch or passage, the Biava would step
up their self-criticism when something wasn’t to their liking. Didn’t matter
how many times they’ve already played a passage, or how tired they might be
getting. Austin, Hyunsu, Mary, and Jacob were very, very demanding on
themselves. Which definitely made them hungry for…
7. Lunch!
Stopping to reload everyone’s energy in the WFMT cafeteria was a must,
particularly when the cafeteria stocks tasty double chocolate chip cookies
(true on the first day, but not the second).
8. Coffee!
Not everyone drank the stuff, but Austin found a machine in the cafeteria which
supplied something better than I thought should be coming out of a machine.
9. What
a composer can do in the recording booth? At first, I felt a bit useless in
the booth – the Biava was exerting tons of energy in the studio, Jim and Bill
were busy with the recording machines and taking notes, and all I had to do was
listen, score and notepad in hand. It
didn’t take long to figure out that’s exactly the best way to be useful for all
of us. It certainly helped when I developed some shorthand scribbles to take
note of spots that worked well or needed to be touched up. Which leads me to my
final item…
10. Enjoying the moment. Every now and then,
I’d take a mental step out of the session and appreciate what was going on –
all these people are here because they believe in what I wrote. Pretty amazing. But better not to enjoy the
moment for too long, else I’d not be doing the heavy duty listening to keep up
with Jim, Bill, and the Biava!
Now that the session is over, Jim and Bill go
to work on all those hours of tape. The Biava and I will eagerly await getting
CDs in the mail for us all to proof, and which will be a testament to the
amazing sessions we had in early October. My most heartfelt thanks go to Jim,
Bill, Austin, Hyunsu, Mary, Jacob, for all of their work to bring the piece
alive, and of course to Fredda Hyman, for without her series to bring us all
together, we never would have all found each other.
