CD Editing Sessions: Where the Magic Happens

James Ginsburg, Cedille Records producer,
demonstrates editing techniques.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit in on an editing session with Cedille Records’ producer James Ginsburg and engineer Bill Maylone. The session was a demo being held for Bonnie McGrath and Bruce Oltman, who were the winning bidders of an auction item at Cedille’s benefit gala last fall. Ever since I’ve begun having my works professionally recorded, I have been very curious about the editing stage of the CD-making process. In a typical recording session, musicians will lay down track after track of a section of music, then move on to the next section and repeat this arduous process. Ideally, the musicians will cover every bit of music two or more times in order to provide some choices on which bit to select for the final recording. But sometimes the musicians will, for various reasons, record a segment four to six (or more) times. Which has made me wonder for years – how do producers choose which passages to use, and how do engineers patch it all together?

Jim invited me to attend the editing session since the piece they were demonstrating for Bonnie and Bruce was my String Quartet No. 4: Illuminations, which was recently recorded by the Avalon String Quartet for the record label. Jim and Bill explained the process that they go through with each piece that they record. Jim first listens through all of the recorded audio tracks while studying the score, and starts to make choices of which tracks to use for each passage of music. He aims to find the most effective tracks – which has the best beat alignment, or a particularly effective crescendo, or a beautiful tone, and so on. He marks these tracks onto the musical score, so Bill can see where to make the cuts. Sometimes Jim will tinker with splicing the audio tracks in various spots to see if he can find a pleasing mix; if he finds one, he marks the score to let Bill know the edit has been done.

A page of my String Quartet No. 4: Illuminations,
marked up for edits

Once Bill receives Jim’s score, he goes to work splicing the various audio tracks together. Bill makes these splices meld seamlessly from one into another by fading one track out while another fades in (the length of the fade can be adjusted – this can be very short or more gradual). Volume can also be altered to some degree as well, depending on the microphone placement that Bill has given the performers (for instance, in my piece, particular chords played by the entire quartet can get a little boost). Bill creates a seamless transition from one track to another; when he is happy with the results, he repeats this process with the next edit. Once Bill has finished this process for the entire piece, he and Jim adjust the amount of reverb (or echo) and make other final adjustments before they send the audio track onto the composer and performers for their feedback (at which point, they may have to revisit old tracks and repeat this process again, although hopefully to a much lesser extent).

What became apparent over the course of the editing session is that Jim and Bill are just as much artists as those that they record. The work that they do is so specialized, and they both have developed a very finely honed set of skills. These skills allow them to patch tracks together (sometimes consisting of just a second or two of music!) while retaining the musicians’ nuanced gestures and the overall character of the music. They know their software inside and out (ProTools for recording the tracks, SoundBlade for editing and splicing the tracks together) and can coax these programs to produce beautiful results, much like a violinist shaping a melody. They also have lots of patience and focus. This work is highly repetitive in nature and requires one’s listening skills to remain sharp. Jim and Bill exhibit the same care and patience in the editing process as I have seen them exhibit many times in recording sessions. I was particularly impressed with how well Jim and Bill work together – they are a well-established team that has been together from the very first CD they recorded twenty-five years ago for what would eventually become Cedille Records. Their symbiotic working relationship clearly shows in the quality of the music they produce.

As a composer, getting my works professionally recorded is vital, as this is a way to have a polished and permanent audio representation of my music. My appreciation and respect for what Jim, Bill, and all recording producers and engineers do have greatly deepened after experiencing how detailed, painstaking, and thorough their process is. When Jim and Bill work their magic, they bring out the best from the musicians and recorded tracks, and they make my music shine.

From left to right, Cedille donors Bruce Oltman and Bonnie McGrath,
producer James Ginsburg, and engineer Bill Maylone.

Happy 25th Anniversary, Cedille Records!

Click here to watch a video of Cedille Records recording
artists talk about the impact Cedille has on their careers.

At this precarious moment in the music industry in which CD sales are globally declining, Chicago-based Cedille Records has not only beat the odds but is flourishing. From the expansion of the number of CDs produced each year, a growing roster of recording artists, and four Grammies for their eighth blackbird recordings, Cedille Records has proven itself a vibrant entity in the classical music world. This year, they celebrate their 25^th anniversary with an assortment of concerts and special events scattered throughout the 2014–2015 concert season.

Cedille has recorded my works on seven CDs with a host of talented ensembles and individuals including the Lincoln Trio, Chicago a cappella, Grant Park Chorus, Gaudete Brass, mezzo-soprano Buffy Baggott, pianist Kuang-Hao Huang, and the (now defunct) Biava Quartet. Cedille recorded the first ever all-Garrop chamber CD titled In Eleanor’s Words: Music of Stacy Garrop. Cedille is currently recording my fourth string quartet with the Avalon Quartet (who are new to the label), as well as producing an all-Garrop orchestral CD featuring the Chicago College of Performing Arts Orchestra (also new to the label).

What makes Cedille so special? I find there are several aspects:

With flutist and fellow Cedille recording artist

Eugenia Moliner at Soirée Cedille

• James Ginsburg, president of Cedille Records, made it the company’s mission to mainly focus on Chicago area musicians and composers. The company often records pieces they consider under-represented. They occasionally work with ensembles that are from outside the area (always in projects with a Chicago connection), but for the most part, Mr. Ginsburg has carefully cultivated a diverse group of Chicago artists that offer a great amount of variety to his label.  I find that this Chicago-based focus encourages Cedille’s artists to collaborate with each other on potential CD projects.

• Cedille helps artists develop their careers over time. Some artists are regulars on the label – violinists Rachel Barton Pine and Jennifer Koh, eighth blackbird, and the Pacifica Quartet are all in this category – and have created an assortment of CDs that explore an astoundingly diverse range. For instance, when Ms. Pine was pregnant, she was inspired to research and record lullabies; when the Pacifica Quartet proposed to record Shostakovich’s fifteen string quartets, they wanted to add a piece of Shostakovich’s contemporaries onto every CD in this multi-CD project. While Mr. Ginsburg doesn’t accept all projects that artists propose, he carefully chooses those that have something unique to offer both the label and its audiences. Cedille furthers its commitment to artists by never removing recordings from its catalog.

• Cedille allows its artists to be extremely involved in just about every aspect of a project. Suggesting repertoire, actively participating in the recording sessions (while this is obvious for performers, it isn’t necessarily so for composers), proofing the recordings before they go on the market, even ideas for covers and liner notes – Cedille is open to it all. This, for me, is unprecedented access to the shaping of the project that allows me to be an essential part of the process.

• The company actively promotes its products. Cedille’s distribution is handled by Naxos of America in the Western Hemisphere and by major independent distributors in international markets elsewhere. Cedille regularly purchases advertising in Fanfare magazine (on the back cover, which gives their products a lot of exposure), as well as sends information about new releases, plus the CDs themselves, to hundreds of music critics, writers, press outlets, and classical radio stations in the U.S. and internationally. As a result of these strong promotional efforts, new CDs are regularly reviewed by a number of publications and critics (I received seven for my In Eleanor’s Words CD) and aired coast-to-coast on classical radio.

Rachel Barton Pine and Wendy Warner

perform at Soirée Cedille

Without Cedille Records, my career wouldn’t be nearly as far along as it is. Cedille has given me a voice and a market to hear it. Their amazing producers and engineers craft high-quality products, which provides the classical music world with fantastic representations of how my music sounds in the hands and voices of talented performers. These CDs have led to numerous performances of my music around the country, as well as commissions for new works and the expansion of my fan base. Thank you Cedille Records for everything you do on behalf of Chicago artists!  Happy 25^th Anniversary, and may the next twenty-five years be just as fruitful as your first.

Collaborative Composing with a Music Enthusiast

With Bonnie McGrath and our pencil sketch
of Bruce's Theme.

Last fall, James Ginsburg (the president of Cedille Records) asked if I’d be willing to offer a composition lesson as an auction item for a Cedille Records benefit event. The purpose of the lesson would be to help someone with presumably minimal musical training to compose a short piece of music. I’d done something similar a few years ago; as part of a residence with the Albany Symphony, I helped forty middle school students write short musical numbers for an oratorio about Henry Hudson. I hadn't tried this with an adult before. Helping a donor compose a short piece in a single composing session was an intriguing idea, so I readily agreed to Jim’s request. Jim listed the composition lesson in the auction, and Bonnie McGrath was the winning bidder. Bonnie is an award-winning journalist, columnist, blogger, and lawyer. She also has a deep and enthusiastic appreciation for music; we are constantly running into each other at various events around Chicago. 

Bonnie and I met for two hours in early December. After mulling over various instrumental possibilities, we agreed on composing a piece for piano. Then we got down to business. As Bonnie experienced firsthand, the basis of composing is to choose a concept for the piece, then make a series of decisions that support this concept. Bonnie wanted to write a piece for her fiancé Bruce, who enjoys the music of Philip Glass. We sat down at the piano, and I played several Glass-like musical gestures until Bonnie heard one that she liked. We had our concept; now we had to figure out what to do with it. I played through several possible harmonic progressions until Bonnie found one especially appealing, and we made this the basis of the entire work. We then experimented with melodic shape, various accompaniments, and phrasing. We also explored how to build tension, when to relax that tension, and what role dynamics and range play in the context of the piece as a whole. We ended our composition by using material found earlier in the piece to give the piece greater cohesion. Finally, we made sure that everything we wrote down would be playable by Bonnie herself. Over the course of the two hours, Bonnie decided that not only would she would dedicate the piece to her fiancé, but that she would also premiere the piece for him herself.

After our meeting, I entered the piece into a music notation program (we had used pencil and paper during our composing session) and gave Bonnie several bound copies along with our pencil and paper sketch. I also gave her a CD recording of the piece played by my husband, pianist Joe Francavilla, so that she could study his performance as she learned it (to listen to Joe’s recording, click here).  After much hard work and secretive practicing, Bonnie gave the premiere of Bruce’s Theme on Valentine’s Day for a very surprised and happy Bruce.

Writing a piece with someone not familiar with the composing process was just as fascinating for me as it was for Bonnie. She learned about the various musical parameters that go into creating a new piece, as well as the vast number of decisions a composer makes to shape every aspect of a piece. I was surprised to learn just how many choices I make at every step in the composition process, even in a one-minute piece! It was refreshing to see this process through someone else’s eyes. This was a mutually beneficial and fun collaboration for both Bonnie and me. On a personal note, I was thrilled to be a part of such a unique experience for Bonnie, and happy that she took this opportunity to turn the entire adventure into something very meaningful in her life. 

Your Personal Mission Statement

It helps a business define its core purpose and goals. It is the guiding principle of an organization. What is it?  A mission statement.  Businesses typically have these to delineate their range of activities as well as to guide future decisions.  You can usually find an organization’s mission statements on its website listed under their “About” or “Mission” header.

What does a mission statement have to do with being a composer or musician?  Everything!  Just like an organization, we too have activities that comprise our core purpose (be it composing or music-making), as well as goals for our future (such as composing an opera or winning an audition for a professional orchestra).  And similar to companies, we should have a mission statement to keep us focused on our current activities while also taking steps now to ensure the realization of our future goals.

The first step to writing your personal mission statement is to research how companies write theirs.  What kind of activities does each organization cover?  How general or specific do they get in defining these activities?  Here are three great examples of mission statements from Chicago organizations, each of which has approached their statement in a slightly different manner (click on each header to view their webpages):

Chicago a cappella

“Chicago a cappella is a creative enterprise devoted to furthering the art of singing together without instruments.”  Chicago a cappella follows this with their ensemble biography.

Fifth House Ensemble

“Fifth House Ensemble taps the collaborative spirit of chamber music to create engaging performances and interactive educational programs, forging meaningful partnerships with unexpected venues, artists of other disciplines, educational institutions, and audiences of every type.”  Fifth House then lists their five core values that support their mission statement.

Cedille Records

“Cedille Chicago is dedicated to producing classical recordings of the highest quality featuring outstanding musicians from Chicago. Our purpose is to enhance the world’s catalog of recorded music by exploring new and under-represented compositions and documenting important interpretations of standard repertoire. The extensive dissemination of these recordings is designed to bring these artists to a worldwide audience, thus enhancing their reputations and careers, and to benefit as great a listening public as possible.”  Notice how Cedille’s mission statement starts with a broad sentence, then fleshes out its mission in the second and third sentences.  Cedille follows this with a section on their history.

Once you’ve researched a few organizations, make a list of what kind(s) of music you’re creating and/or performing, as well as the your range of musical activities.  Add your goals to this list, both short- and long-term (think of this in terms of projects that you want to do in the next 12 months, in the next 5 years, and in your lifetime).  Now that you’ve got a list, figure out what are the most salient details that comprise what you do and use these to craft your mission statement. Revisit your mission statement every so often to see if you still agree with it; tweak it as your goals shift over the course of your career.

Your personal mission statement is something that you can keep private, or can be incorporated in part or full into your official biography that you post on your website, in concert programs, etc. Ultimately, think of your personal mission statement as a rudder that can help navigate the course of your musical career, keeping you focused on your short- and long-term goals as you go.