PlayClassics master file giveaway for CA members

[Mario Martinez]

We will be happy to send a Gift Code to all CA members who would be willing to try the Truthful Recording Technology sound on their systems.

 

Just send us a PM with the album of your choice and we will send you a Gift Code to download the full dynamic range 24bit 96kHz Truthful Master.

 

All we want in exchange is to get as much feedback as possible. It would be great if we could get your testimonials to include them on our web page.

 

PlayClassics, the art of true music

[Mario Martinez]

Thank you so much Tony for your generous testimonial. I really appreciate it. We will sure be using this on our web page. This is really helpful for us. Thanks!

[Mario Martinez]

Thank you for your words and for taking the time to listen, it really means a lot to us.

[Mario Martinez]

I have been asked about how we are doing this. Here is the explanation from Musicstry Studios, discover the Truthful Recording Technology

 

All our recordings are made using the Truthful Recording Technology developed in our studios. For the first time in recording history, the use of this technology guarantees the integrity of the sound and the interpretation of the artist. At the same time this technology places the listener on the same spot of our auditorium for every recording giving him total control over everything he listens to.

 

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 exactly the same as the sound of the take. Also during recording when the artist is listening to his takes what he hears is 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.

[/Quote]

[Mario Martinez]

Thanks, I just saw that

[Mario Martinez]

May be we can make this more dynamic...

 

The OP said "Just send us a PM with the album of your choice" but if you send us a PM then other people cannot see what is going on.

 

Wouldn't it be better to post your choices directly on the thread so everybody can see what everybody else is getting? I would still be sending you the codes on a PM.

 

Please go ahead and pick your album: so far we have given out 35 codes. 16 for Albéniz Iberia. 9 for Cabrera plays Debussy. 7 for Debussy Préludes. 2 for Chopin Polish Songs and 1 for Songs of Paolo Tosti.

[Mario Martinez]

Thanks John, I just sent you the code, hope you like it...

[Mario Martinez]

ok, I just sent them all!! enjoy

[Mario Martinez]

Yes, of course, the offer will be open until everyone gets a code.

 

We have given out 52 codes so far Thank you all for listening this is great feedback we are already using it on our web page!

[Mario Martinez]

Thank you for your wonderful feedback! It is a real pleasure to be able to share this music with you all.

 

We have given out 62 codes so far: 32 for Albéniz Iberia, 12 for Debussy Préludes Book 1, 10 for Cabrera plays Debussy, 5 for Songs of Paolo Tosti, 3 for Chopin Polish Songs.

 

In addition to the testimonials we have also received some donations; I want to tell you I am really grateful for that too.

 

Should you have any questions about the recordings, the web page, ...anything, please do ask, I will be happy to answer all your questions

[Mario Martinez]

My only other observation was that on my rig the volume was noticeably lower compared to most other recordings

 

Hi Jonathan,

 

Here is why:

 

The Truthful Masters do not have any dynamic range compression. They do have a little less volume but they have the full dynamic range of the performance and the pure sound of the take.

 

We also offer Normalized MP3 files. These MP3 files do sound as loud as you would expect but they do have a little bit of dynamic range compression.

 

We offer both files for this particular reason.

 

The Truthful Masters are best for critical listening on audiophile systems. You may have to bring up the level 7dB or 8dB more than usual but you will get the sound as pure as it gets.

 

The MP3 files are a trade off, you can enjoy them on small systems or louder environments but they do have the drawbacks of dynamic range compression.

[Mario Martinez]

I'm guessing that it was made with 2 mics placed just outside the footprint of an open grand.

 

Hi David,

 

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.

 

This is an accurate picture of our setup. It might not be pretty, but the measurements are correct. The person at the bottom of the picture represents the actual position of the mics. They really are outside of the stage area, and they are sitting at that same spot for all five albums.

 

[Mario Martinez]

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)

 

We need a piano to play chamber music without overriding the other instruments. We tried several pianos on our hall to try to find one with just the right amount of power. A full size grand and two 7 foot pianos. Full size grands are way to powerful for this kind of setup. Of the two 7 foot pianos, we chose the more powerful one plus we liked the tone better

 

So this is it:

 

The piano is a 7 foot Yamaha (25 years old)

The mics are 11'6" away from the piano (ORTF setup)

[Mario Martinez]

Here is another update to see how we are doing so far: we have given out 77 Gift Codes, 41 for Albéniz Iberia, 14 for Cabrera plays Debussy, 12 for Debussy Préludes, 6 for Chopin Polish Songs and 4 for Songs of Paolo Tosti.

 

Again, I would like to thank those of you who have donated to download another album. I have been asked about the donation buttons: you can donate whichever amount you think is fair, it does not matter if you donate 6, 10, 14 or 18 you will be able to download the same files.

 

Someone has asked me if we have considered using this technology to record other genders like Jazz. We have tried it with Flamenco. We recorded some straight takes and it worked just the same. I cannot see a reason why it would not work with Jazz.

 

If someone is interested on listening to these flamenco files please tell me so. I will be happy to send them to you. May be we could convince them to record a whole album !

[Mario Martinez]

Ok, I just sent them all...

 

When you listen to these flamenco samples please keep in mind that we were just trying things out, we were not trying to record an album. These are just straight takes (live) with no editing whatsoever.

[Mario Martinez]

Here is the picture so you know where the singer and the guitar were placed on the stage. Everything else is exactly the same as for all the other recordings. Same mic position, same levels, same acoustics, ...the only different thing is the instruments and their placement on the stage.

 

 

[Mario Martinez]

Whatever you were doing, it sounds amazing. Who are the artists?

 

Thanks !!

 

The singer is Amalia Andújar Gallego.

The guitarist is Antonio Carrion.

[Mario Martinez]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments! Everybody is welcome to download these flamenco files. I am going to need the feedback to convince them to make an album

 

As for the albums; we have given out 82 codes so far. Does anybody know how many members does CA have?

[Mario Martinez]

Why not jazz recordings?

 

We have not had the chance to try everything yet. Besides the Classical, we have only been able to try the Flamenco, but I sure would like to try some Jazz too...

[Mario Martinez]

I don't know whether you choose the artists, they choose you, or both, but someone chose well, because the performance is beautiful.

 

Thanks Jud, it actually works both ways.

 

I know my way around classical (I once was a classical pianist myself) but if we start doing other genders I am going to have to ask for suggestions or maybe I should make a poll "Who do you think the next artist should be?" and I will try to convince them to make an album with us

[Mario Martinez]

These masters do not have any dynamic range compression. As a matter of fact, they do not have anything at all

 

That is what we are trying to say when we explain the Truthful Recording Technology on our web page: Musicstry Studios, discover the Truthful Recording Technology

 

In our studios the recording hall is configured so that the sound of the hall is exactly the same as the sound of the take. [/Quote]

 

We do not do anything to the sound after it has been captured by the microphones. We have built our sound quality by working the acoustics of the hall itself. This is the single most important aspect of our technology. That is what makes it truthful !

[Mario Martinez]

Thank you all for taking the time to listen to these albums. It is really rewarding to read so many wonderful comments. This is great feedback, we have already incorporated a lot of your testimonials to our web page.

 

So far we have given out 90 codes: 47 for Albéniz Iberia, 18 for Cabrera plays Debussy, 14 for Debussy Préludes, 7 for Chopin Polish Songs and 4 for Songs of Paolo Tosti.

 

As for the flamenco samples, we have only given out 9. We would like everybody to have these too. I think it is really revealing to hear how the guitar sounds compared to the piano knowing that it was recorded the exact same way.

[Mario Martinez]

Thanks Andy, one Iberia coming up, would you like the flamenco samples on the side?

[Mario Martinez]

Thanks Andy! I just sent them to you. Enjoy!

[Mario Martinez]

Yes, of course, the offer is up until we give a code to every member.

 

...I am thinking by the time we do that there will probably be new members on the forum, and we should give them a code too, so that kind of makes it more like a life time offer, but I am ok with that as long as you all are