bluemoonaudiotechnology.com Year 2013 - Live Hard Disk Recording and Editing

Year 2013 – Live Hard Disk Recording and Editing

PRIMAVERAUDIO

SALA SOPHOS – MAX RESEARCH

Recondiing Set: Computer Asus – AD Converter Motu 828 – Analog mix Mackie

It was a great emotion the one I felt in PrimaveraAudio during the concert of Maestro Andrea Cortesi , violinist of international fame who performed some classical pieces and not only, passing from Bach to Arvo Part up to Astor Piazzola. Thirty minutes of execution spaced out by anecdotes, technical considerations on execution , references to authors, etc made that moment really pleasant. The capabilities of the executor stroke the participants, giving precious moments.

The curriculum of M ° Cortesi

The skill of Maestro Cortesi is unquestionable. His collaborations goes from contemporary composers among which Philip Glass, Ennio Morricone, Michael Nyman, Giovanni Sollima and Luis Bacalov to the ones with a lot of orchestras, as a first side violin, playing with solists and directors such as E.Morricone, Yo-Yo Ma, R.Muti, J.Rachlin, S.Accardo, F.Petracchi, S.Rigacci, D.Pontes, K.Ricciarelli, B.Canino, M.Vayrynen, L. Piovano and E.Segre. A versatile musician with forays of every kind, he took part in concerts, tours and several productions of record company owners concerning classical and contemporary music, jazz and international pop, together with artists such as Fabrizio Bosso, Dianne Reeves, Caetano Veloso, Ornella Vanoni, Celentano, Giorgia, Fiorella Mannoia, Laura Pausini, Antonella Ruggiero, Renzo Arbore, Gino Paoli, Norah Jones, Andrea Bocelli, Pooh, Mario Biondi, Sting, and with composers such as A.Guerra, P.Vessicchio, R.Serio, M.De Sica, P.Silvestri e F.Frizzi. In particular, in the pop music, he had collaborations in string quartet formation with the singer Giorgia for the recording of the first MTV Italian Unplugged , followed by two long Italian tournèe and the participation in the Italian tour 2010 by Fiorella Mannoia form which the DVD live “Il tempo e l’Armonia” was born.

Live mixing

The most touching part ,and for we audiophilists considered very interesting, came later, when Massimo Piantini, record company owner and sound technician of high skills and extraordinary sensitiveness as well as a close friend of Maestro Cortesi, executed on live the editing phase explaining to the public why he decided to take this way, passing from the audio need to the achievement of an excellent qualitative level. The technical choices have been explained starting from the repeat one which included the use of two microphones for the executor, other two for the ambience close to the musician and finally other two microphones for the reverberation of the sound in the ambience. This setting has allowed to take over a quantity of sound, direct and reverberated , to be properly mixed during the editing. Before operating the level of traces, according to the accrued experience, the technician has anticipated what we should have waited for, with the musician close to the listening point and a reverberation influenced by the absorbing characteristics of the repeat place.

How to choose the right “soundstage”

By consulting with the executor, Piantini has carried out acoustic choices: the research for the best ambience sensation and the levelling of the traces with the surrounding reverberation, confirming the prediction of a close sound, caused by the sound difficulties of the hall. This has been shown on a big screen trace by trace with a precise work of unquestionable patience, in order to allow the public to take part to it since it had occupied all the available seats and filled the other spaces standing up.

Editing

As it is clear, during the execution there was a holy silence in the hall; but even during the editing phase the public was astonished, by showing a strong interest that the event was able to arise. After some technical rehearsals, the final product has shown a reproduction close to the original one that was listened a while before , but this result has been possible thanks to the technician’s examination who was in mutual symbiosis with the artist.

Finally they had some pieces listened by the record company owner Piantini who was working together with Maestro Cortesi in a record titled Lontanissimo, besides leaving some notes on the new record which is about to exit titled La Macchina del Tempo that the violinist has realized in collaboration with the pianist Marco Venturi, where you will find some plays by Beethoven and Schnittke.

Final considerations

The extraordinariness of this experience is due to the fact that all you have listened to and seen, has happened through a file. Audio files, in their traces, has imprinted the musical message produced by the artist and appropriated by the sound technician. Thanks to the files it was possible to realize “on live” the editing phase and the acoustic adjustment” and always thanks to the files , we audiophilists could enjoy the highest quality of that exciting event. We have understood that the CD is only the down product of the king product that is the file. This was also useful to demonstrate how the files are the future we lovers of the audio reproduction should aim at. The highest quality and unquestionable functionality are the two characterizing elements of the new and well-known methodology of Hi Fi listening.