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recording method vs sound reproduction


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As much as I wish more recordings were done simply, and the good sound comes from the good musicians in a good space that is not happening.

 

It is happening at PlayClassics.

 

All our recordings are made this way. In fact, we think this is the only way to go. But it was not easy. To get it right we had to rebuild our own studio from scratch. It was tough, and there were times when we thought we would not make it, but finally it all came together and the results are outstanding.

 

We have a web page where you can stream all our music for free, so you can hear it for yourself: PlayClassics, the art of true music

 

And if you want to test how our studio sounds against other major recording locations around the world you can take our blind test at our studio page: Musicstry Studios, discover the Truthful Recording Technology

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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But for normal acoustic music I greatly prefer what can be achieved with 2 microphones.

 

We think this is the best method, not just for the benefit of the listener, but for the performer too.

 

This is the only way artists can retain full control over the sound of their music, when done correctly it can create a direct link between artists and listener. Read hear for a better explanation: About - PlayClassics, the art of true music

 

It may seem that making a recording with only two mics would be a simple thing to do, but the truth is that this type of recording is technically the most challenging one. To get it right, problems have to be solved on the real world. It takes a lot of time before the actual recording event to get a right setup of the auditorium, and in most cases this just cannot be done.

 

Mario Martínez

PlayClassics, the art of true music

Musicstry Studios, discover the Truthful Recording Technology

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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try out track 12 Improvisation and Fugue. with 5 channel surround and equal loudness from your speakers there is sound coming from all speakers' date=' but the piano is in front of you. Yet a vast difference between surround and stereo.....

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Not all stereo recordings are equal.

 

Try out track 3 "Iberia. Book 1. 3 El corpus en Sevilla." Forget about how many channels/speakers and enjoy the Truthful Recording Technology.

 

Albéniz Iberia - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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I would happy to listen to those songs.

Is it actually possible to download them instead of streaming as my downloading pc is not my audio station? Are they only MP3 format? Thanks

 

 

I sent you a private message with a link to download the file.

 

The file I sent you is a 320kbps 48kHz LAME MP3 file. (24 MB)

 

To maintain the best audio quality these files are mastered for PlayClassics directly from the 24bit 96kHz studio files. The original file is 346,2MB in size.

 

Happy listening!

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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As a recording engineer who agrees with your methodology 100% and would LOVE to hear some of your stuff on 320 kbps Mp3, could you please send me a link to download at least the Albeniz Iberia​? Thank You.

 

 

Yes, of course. I just sent you a private message with the link to download the file.

 

Enjoy!

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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P.S.: I've just realised that you have a music player in your website; it looks interesting as a concept, I'll have a listen trough my main system.

 

 

Oh, I see you found the player :)

 

That little player is an interesting piece of software, it just needs to grow in content. I hope we can fill it with many great recordings in the years to come...

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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He has the mikes inside the piano. LOLOLOL

 

We use the same setup for every recording. It does not matter if it is just piano, or any other chamber music arrangement. We only use two mics and they are always placed on the same exact spot of our auditorium outside of the stage area. There is no mixing involved, left mic is left speaker and right mic is right speaker. We have obtained this sound by working the acoustics of the auditorium itself.

 

To see how this works for tenor and piano try out track 14 "Chitarrata abruzzese."

 

Songs of Paolo Tosti - PlayClassics, the art of true music

 

For soprano and piano you can try track 8 "Sliczny Chlopiec."

 

Chopin Polish Songs - PlayClassics, the art of true music

 

If you cannot stream it please tell me so. I will be happy to send you this samples.

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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I knew that those mikes couldn't have been inside the piano with those results!

 

Yes, there was no other way to go. Here are the reasons why we had to go this way. This is the explanation from About - PlayClassics, the art of true music

 

Artists spend their whole live working on their technique to produce variations in the sound of their instrument that may seem imperceptible but have a great impact on the musical message. Therefore, in order not to alter this message, it is essential that recordings preserve this sound intact.

 

Music is communication.

 

It is communication between the artist and the listener. The more obstacles there are between the artist and the listener the more the message will deform and the worse the communication will be.

 

The only factor that stands between the artist and the listener in a concert situation is the effect the hall produces on the sound of the instrument. But this effect occurs in real time and it is perceived by both parties allowing the artist to maintain control of the communication. A concert situation is therefore a favorable situation to produce music.

 

In the case of a commercial recording there are several factors that hinder communication.

 

When recording, what the artist hears and controls is the effect the hall produces on the sound of the instrument, that is the sound he works with to communicate with whoever is listening, but this sound gets lost in space without reaching anybody's ears. What is picked up while the artist is playing is the sound registered by the microphones deliberately placed close to the instrument precisely to avoid picking up the sound of the hall. The color, balance and dynamic range of this two sounds (the one from the hall and the one from the take) are totally different, so while the artist delivers his controlled message, we pick up a different one that the artist does not control. In this first step the artist loses control with respect to the sound.

 

The takes to be used for the assembly of the work are chosen during editing. Normally the artist is not involved in the editing process. The decision about which takes will be chosen rests in the hands of others. But, how can you keep the integrity of the artist's message if the words are chosen by another person? In this second step the artist loses control with respect to the interpretation.

 

In most cases multiple microphones are used to record each instrument. During the mixing process the sound of these microphones is combined to create a stereo sound. This process can not recreate the balance and image that the artists produced while making the recording. Besides the artists were not aware of the effect this process was going to have so it would have been impossible for them to try to adapt to it. In this third step the artists lose control with respect to the balance and image between instruments.

 

All these losses of control represent a significant deterioration in the integrity of the message that reaches the listener, so we can say that commercial recording is an adverse situation to produce music.

 

The Truthful Recording Technology eliminates these barriers providing direct communication.

 

In our studios the recording hall is configured so that the sound of the hall is practically the same as the sound of the take. Also during recording when the artist listens to his takes what he hears is exactly the same sound the listener will hear allowing the artist to adapt maintaining full control of the sound aspect of the communication.

 

So far this situation is just as favorable to produce music as the concert situation. But furthermore, during the editing process, the artist is the only one responsible for choosing the takes and his judgment prevails over any other giving him total control over the interpretation too with what we are able to improve the concert situation where there is no possibility to repeat a passage to improve the message.

 

In addition, all recordings are made in exactly the same conditions. It's like listening to all these artists from the same chair of the same auditorium. This allows the listener to establish objective comparisons on the ability of artists based on the result of the different recordings.

 

The Truthful Recording Technology developed in our studios guarantees the integrity of the sound and the interpretation of the artist while giving the listener total control over everything he listens to. Therefore we can say that recording with this technology provides the ideal situation to produce true music.

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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But why don't you offer your recordings as DOWNLOADS ??? And as masterfile downloads???

 

Thank you very much for your feedback. We would love to offer these masterfiles to the public. We just need a little more time to figure out the best way to do it.

 

In the meantime, please go ahead and download this 24 bit 96 kHz version of the Albéniz "Iberia. Book 1. 3 El corpus en Sevilla." (346,2 MB)

http://www.playclassics.com/PlayClassics2496.wav.zip

Everybody is welcome to download the file :)

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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I have to take your word about the acoustics of the venue since I haven't been there. But I can safely say that tonally and timbrally this is very much as I know a good piano sounds in a smallish a bit dryish acoustic.

 

Thank you very much for listening!

 

We are dedicated to chamber music. We are purposely recording this music in a way that resembles its original setup. Our auditorium is a small hall, much the size of the palace chambers used to perform chamber music back in the XIX century.

 

This type of space (when treated correctly) provides a much warmer more intimate sound experience. The instruments are in the middle of the room and people are seating all around them. The sound is direct (you are very close to the instruments), yet there is a bit of reverb from the room (but never quite as much as you would have in a large hall)

 

The artist is Luis Grané. You can read the full booklet of the album here:

Albniz Iberia - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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  • 3 weeks later...
To me it seems as if you are wasting a lot of the advantage of your approach by actually not offering the recordings in the highest possible quality the resolution they were orginally recorded at!

 

We have been working on a solution, and this is what we have come up with:

 

if you help us fund an album, you will be able to download the MP3 files and the Original Masters (wav 24bit 96kHz) directly from our web site.

 

All you have to do is:

- Enter the album's page.

- Choose a donation amount.

- You will be taken to PayPal to process the donation.

- PayPal will take you back to the album and you will be able to download both the mp3 files and the Original Masters (they are both zip downloads)

 

You can donate from as little as 6€. Please choose whatever amount you think is fair.

 

If you do donate 18€ or more you will be included on the album's Sponsors List.

 

We hope you find this solution useful. If you have any questions or issues please send me a PM.

 

Thank you all very much! We would love to hear your feedback :)

 

Debussy Prludes. Book 1 - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Chopin Polish Songs - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Albniz Iberia - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Songs of Paolo Tosti - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Cabrera plays Debussy - PlayClassics, the art of true music

Mario Martínez

Recording Engineer and Music Producer

Play Classics, classical music at its best

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