Recording Methods and Fidelity

[wwaldmanfan]

The only rock I hear today is the old rock chopped up into little pieces by "rappers" and glued back together on top of a drum machine back-beat, they call it sampling. They can't sing, they can't play any instruments, all they can do is steal others intellectual property and talk in a rhyme to that drum machine beat. Then they have this thing they still call Grammys and call these guys on stage and give them awards. I want to puke. I thought there were laws on that stuff?

 

And, it gets them elected into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame", too. LOL

[gmgraves]

Oh and ... just like all music is good (really), everyone has their own equipment that they enjoy. We are all on our own journey

 

 

I definitely agree that we are all on one own audio journey, and musical taste is one of the most personal choices one can make and brings with it among the most devicive of all human opinions.

[Sal1950]

This is a public forum, bub! You want to communicate with someone privately? Do so off-line.

 

Yap Yap Yap Yap, LOL

[semente]

I am trying to decide on a recording of Brahms' String Sextets and came upon a label I'd never heard of, MDG.

 

At their website they have the following information regarding their philosophy:

 

MDG - Our Sound Ideal

 

Sound Realism in Recording

"The recording of the sound produced in speaking or musical performance so as to be able to conserve it and to reproduce it at will is an idea that has long occupied the human mind. More magical approaches may initially have inspired the imagination, among them Giovanni della Porta's 1598 attempt to capture sound in lead pipes, but the progressive development of scientific thought led along a relatively straight path to the solution" (Riemann Musiklexikon).

Since the beginning of the electric recording era, the recording engineer in his role as a "sound director" has made it his business to meet the needs of composer, interpreter, and hearer. We all know what goes into a recording, but the criteria shaping the listening experience are another matter. And so we would like to take this opportunity to share with you our sound ideal.

 

Live Sound

In our view the ideal recording is one in which the music creates the spontaneous impression of a live concert performance and the special atmosphere going along with it. Since our recordings almost always feature human voices and/or classical instruments, which themselves were originally intended as imitations of the human voice, our sound ideal focuses on natural sound balance, the overall harmonious tonal blend, and the authentic reproduction of the individual sound of each instrument. Other important factors include a free and natural dynamic and the resolution of even the most nuanced lines of tension. The illusion of the live concert performance also depends a great deal on the "locatability" of the sound sources in space, and here the key terms are "freestanding," "three-dimensional," and "realistic."

 

Music's Place in Space

In order to convey the impression of sound realism, we at MDG rely on natural acoustics. In addition, we seek out a recording space to match the compositional style and interpreter in each and every performance. Once we are on location, we then determine the best placement of the musicians and instruments in the space at hand. The ideal placement not only enables us to produce the acoustically best recording but also inspires the musicians to give it their all and thus to guarantee you an enthralling listening experience. After all, if you were a musician, would you rather perform in the canned atmosphere of a recording studio or in a concert hall?

 

The Recording

Once questions of place and space have been resolved, the production of good sound then turns to microphones. Different types of microphones, each one with its own distinct sound qualities, are available and have to be brought into harmony with the sound of the instruments in the recording space. The placement of the microphones is also important for the natural production of sound; they have to be placed so as to bring out the proper nuances in a solo performance or to compensate with "cover-up" effects. The purist's ideal of only two microphones only rarely meets the complex demands of a recording with a number of different instruments. But no matter how many microphones are employed, the impression of natural sound is what counts, not how this live effect is produced. It is good enough if it sounds as if only two microphones were used. Without so-called corrective devices such as filters, limiters, equalizers, and artificial resonance, we collect the microwaves directly in a purist's dream of a mixer and pass on the stereo signal controlled by the electrostatic headphone linearly and unlimitedly to the analogue-digital converter in the pulse-code modulation storage unit. This guarantees the maintenance of even the finest nuances of sound. On the digital level, we edit the tape here at MDG on our own editor and without any modifying manipulations of the sound. This tape is produced into the compact disc for you hearers, and hopefully, to your great listening pleasure.

Criteria of Good Sound

1. Natural tone colors of the instruments (voices)

2. Natural room acoustics

3. Natural reproduction of the ensemble in breadth and depth

4. Natural balance between the instruments

5. Natural dynamics (differences in volume) of the instruments

6. Natural musical flow of the performance/reproduction

 

http://www.mdg.de/indexeng.htm

[semente]

And this:

 

The way of the Classical-CD

 

The Idea

Every CD production begins with an idea. "How would it be if ...? Shouldn't we try our hand at ...? Look what I've found!" Every new idea comes with an instant label: "no chance" (the money factor), "lunatic fringe" (but there might be something to it), and "go for it" (a must do). Then the research begins. Which compositions might make for a good match and an interesting program? We turn music dictionaries and work catalogues inside out and upside down and may begin to wish that composers of earlier centuries had known that today's CD would have a maximum playing time of about seventy minutes.

The first CD was the size of an LP and could store away ten to twelve hours of music. Herbert von Karajan was once asked to name what he considered to be the ideal playing time. He answered that the new disc generation should eliminate the need for us to get up and turn the record while listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. That would have been seventy-four minutes, by the way, in his interpretation. The newest CD generation, the DVD, again allows for ten to twelve hours of playing time. But have we now reached the ideal? Stay tuned for further developments.

The Time Factor

Composers of our century have sometimes clocked their works to playing time, but in our changing times what is modern today may be gone tomorrow. For example, Castelnuovo-Tedesco geared his 24 Caprichos de Goya op. 195 to the LP maximum of thirty-three minutes, dividing his guitar masterpiece into four self-contained units of some twenty minutes each for four LP sides. Today this is too much for one CD and pretty slim pickings for two. What to do? Include another work on the recording to fill in the time? We chose the more rigorous course and have let this magnificent guitar work stand alone on two CDs of about forty-four minutes each ( MDG 305 0725-2).To Record or not to Record

 

Musical quality is of course the most important factor - but not the only one - in our decisions for or against a particular recording prospect. How many times has it been recorded before? Does it or our new recording of it have anything to add to the repertoire? Do we really need the zillionth recording of that bestselling da-da-da-daa symphony? We also take a close look at the parts and the score. Not every new discovery is a neglected masterpiece, but our Catalogue certainly shows that there is more to musical excellence than just the standard concert fare.

From Vienna to Rio

We work closely together with the musicians in making our repertoire decisions. In fact, some of them have developed into musical archeologists in their quest for the musical unknown. The repertoire of our Exclusive Artists presents to you the buried treasures that they have unearthed in their busy and careful excavations and investigations in old libraries and collections. Do you happen to know where actually to find the music library of the Empress of Austria? Rio de Janeiro!

When a new work is discovered, it is usually anything but ready-to-play. A score with all the parts will have to be prepared, not least of all so that the Tonmeister can keep track of all the parts during the recording session. Recording a wind sextet with the first clarinet part and nothing else would be like one-handed juggling with six raw eggs. In other words, don't try it.

Quality Space

The choice of a proper recording space and the matching of instrumentation and room acoustics are also an important factors for us. Some music just needs its space to create the listening impression of big sound in a large hall. Recordings from the French romantic organ literature form one example here (Track No. 7: Widor, Toccata). The overwhelming size (120 meters long) of the Gothic cathedral of St. Ouen in Rouen .) not only supplies the original performance setting of Widor's music but also the original Aristide Cavaillé Coll organ for which he composed many of his organ symphonies. Chamber music calls for the utmost clarity and sound precision; the acoustics should be crisp but not too dry (Track No. 10: Schulhoff). We seek out blue-blooded secular space such as the Fürstliche Reitbahn in Arolsen or the Oranienburg Festival Hall in Nordkirchen as well as church sacred space (Track No. 6: Handel) to bring out the finest nuances of sound. Symphonic works require nothing less than an outstanding concert hall on the order of the Stadthalle in Wuppertal (Track No. 20: Reicha)

On Location

On our "on location" recordings acoustic factors not only enter into the sound picture but also form part of the interpretation. Even things like how long a musician should wait before coming in again after a General Pause are very much dependent on the room acoustics.

In contrast, classical music recorded in the studio is "canned," set in unreal space: an unsatisfactory solution shortchanging the musicians and the listeners. The music is cold and distant and lacks genuineness and spontaneous verve.

In our recordings we aim at reproducing the room acoustics or atmosphere so as to make the musicians feel at home and to include the listener in the unfolding musical process.

By Night

Natural acoustics may make for beautiful listening, but the producer who would capture them has to be willing to put up with his share of difficulties. An aged radiator may begin auditioning for a percussion part, baroque window panes are no match for postmodern traffic noise, and then some tourists come knocking at the door, "Oh, sorry, we thought this was a concert." The night hours are often the best time for a little background peace and quiet and inspired performances from our musicians in the foreground - and from a certain nightingale who once set out to outdo the flute melodies in Bach's solo sonata.

Sound Transport

Since we go "on the road" to make our recordings, we have what we need ready and packed for the next production: carefully selected Microphones, state-of-the-art analog-digital Sound Transducers, digital Recording Devices, Amplifiers, Listening Monitors, and Headphones along with supports, electric cables, a couple of hours of tape, a well-sharpened pencil, a tuning fork, and scores. All these technological gadgets are set up in an adjoining room not sharing in the acoustics of the recording space but linked to it by talkback so that we Tonmeister may focus on controlling the quality of the recording and communicate with the musicians.

We're on

After the musicians have been assigned their proper places in the recording space, the microphones are set up so as to establish a perfect balance between direct sound and room ambiance. All the corrections in fine matters of sound are made with microphones. MDG does not use sound filters or artificial resonance, and it goes without saying that dynamic limiters are taboo. Instead we rely on a carefully selected assortment of professional capacitor microphones representing different sound qualities. Sound differences do not exist only between the different Microphone Types but also between microphones developed by the top Manufacturers in the field (Bruel & Kjaer, Neumann, Schoeps, Sennheiser), and choosing between these differences is what makes the trademark "MDG microphone sound focus" possible in the first place.

After a general warm-up, the instruments are tuned, the chairs are put in their proper places, the last scores are numbered ("Where did my pencil go?"), and the first recording session begins with a trial run-through, usually of the whole of the first movement. The musicians then have the opportunity to listen to the recording, and they do so with great anticipation, "Here it is, the sneak preview of our new CD!" The Tonmeister is interested first and foremost in sound-engineering fine points such as balance (the relation of the individual parts to each other and to the overall room ambiance). It is his task to determine whether a certain instrument is really too close or too distant in the sound picture or whether the instrumentalist may have performed too loudly or too softly, perhaps because the ensemble as a whole has not yet accustomed itself to the acoustics of the recording space. Or maybe there is an octave in the Concerto Grand Piano that is not yet in perfect tune. In this case a piano tuner (who also serves as a page tuner when required) is standing by to make the necessary adjustments.

Audio Impressions

The Tonmeister then takes time to listen to the spontaneous judgments of the musicians. "My instrument sounds brilliant but dull, do you know what I mean?...It's close up but distant too...I'm happy with my part, but you're all too loud." And these seeming contradictions do indeed coexist. Audio Impressions are not that easy to describe and by no means uniform, even among ensemble members who have been working together for years! And so we talk things out and play back the trial recording a second time.

Stage Center

By the time the first official recording session begins, everything - the distance between the instruments and the main and room microphones and the levels on the mixer panel - are in perfect order. The total production period may last three to five days, and during this time no changes are made, this in the interest of preserving the natural sound balance.

It is then that the Score comes to occupy the focus of the Tonmeister's work. He has to know it down to the very last detail. There is more to a Tonmeister's work that just eliminating background noise, dynamic imbalance, and intonation turbulences. Like the conductor on stage, he is also there to encourage the musicians to give it their all and to conjure up the atmosphere of an unforgettable concert evening for the listener.

Cut and Paste

A CD recording is the product of the musical dialogue during the recording sessions and the careful selection of the right Takes in the final montage of the Master Tape. The sessions yield from eight to twelve hours of tape material for each CD. Now the Tonmeister is faced with the task of making a Cut List on the basis of the precise entries in his score. The master tape gradually takes shape on the Editor in the form of the best musical combination of the best takes. The various cuts are matched to produce a first-class listening experience without resorting to technological tricks to change the character of the original performance.

The same goal set for the recording as a whole is also set for the Musical Editing.

Systems Analysis

MDG has two systems for musical editing at its disposal. The Sony system employs longitudinal recording. This means that the takes are copied cut-for-cut from the player to the recorder in "real time." The master tape is produced on the recorder. The advantage: the editing can be done directly from the recording tapes. The disadvantage: later changes are time-consuming because they have to be made in real time.

The Sonic Solutions system works with hard discs on which all the takes have to be stored before the editing process proper can begin. The advantage: each cut can be changed afterward. The disadvantage: the time it takes to load and unload the system. The exabyte loads and stores in double real time and can also be accepted as a digital master from the CD manufacturer.

All the P's and Q's

The finished result of the editing process is presented to the musicians, who may request another version of this of that passage. Once the final musical corrections have been made on the Master Tape, a Tape Check is made. The master tape is examined for electronic errors, and a printed control sheet lists in minute detail all the levels in the automatic Error Correction.

Then it is time for the PQ Data. The track numbers indicating the beginning and ending of all the movements are assigned to the tape, and sometimes index markings are included for the easier location of subdivisions such the variations in a variation work or the trio section of a minuet. A total program time is assigned to the CD. This information offers important orientation for the listener at home. One more listening check, and then the master tape is sent out to be transferred.

Printed Matter

While the master tape is being finished, work gets underway on the booklet accompanying each and every CD. A cover illustration appropriate for the music has to be located, a title is chosen for the CD, and a graphic artist presents a sketch for the title page.

Our musicological assistant is in charge of the introductory text to the works, checks quotations and opus numbers (numbers are much more error-prone than letters!), makes translation assignments, telephones for missing musicians' biographies, and in the midst of all of this hopes to keep the names and the photo faces straight and to meet all special requests.

Musical and technical data are printed on the "inlay card," the last page of the CD packaging with its list of movement titles, playing times, artists, and sponsors. Have we left anything out? Oh yes, the label for the printed side of the CD.

Going to Market

The master tape and the films are sent to the neighboring town of Gütersloh to be pressed and printed, respectively. Our tried-and-true partner Sonopress, a Bertelsmann subsidiary, has been located there for more than twenty years. It is now high time to inform our Sales Partners that the new recording will soon be ready for release on the market. Copies for the press are packed and sent off, and advertisements are placed in international music journals. We read every magazine and every journal that we can get our hands on and are always on the lookout for expert advice and objective criticism. And again and again the MDG listening audience has encouraged and stimulated us to continue on our recording path. And then the process begins all over again...with a new idea.

[Jay-dub]

I am trying to decide on a recording of Brahms' String Sextets and came upon a label I'd never heard of, MDG.

 

 

I'm a fan of the Leipzig Quartet's recordings on MDG. Seen the group live two or three times. I wouldn't describe the sound from that label as better or worse than other labels, though. Sometimes it's excellent, sometimes there are little problems. In the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, I thought the clarinet was balanced too loud. I've got their recording of Sextet #1 but not #2, and can thoroughly recommend it. Another recording I can recommend for the Sextets is L'Archibudelli (Anner Bylsma's period-instrument group).

[semente]

Thanks, that's very helpful.

 

R