Recording Hammer & Wire, Part 1
10/04/11 03:19
Long time, no
blog, I know. In short I spent a good portion of
the Summer months of 2011 completing work on
twelve new solo piano pieces. I thought it might
be interesting to document the production process
of this new recording project and post updates on
this blog. I’ll keep things moving, but I’ll also
try to include some technical details for those
of you who like to dig into the technology aspect
of all of this.
Let me just start by saying: I love these new pieces. I can’t wait for you to hear them!
How to record them, though? My first solo piano collection, Impromptu, was recorded using a “virtual” piano. This was a software instrument living inside a PC that I controlled using my Yamaha S90ES keyboard. It worked very well, and most listeners were never aware that the “piano” I used resided inside a computer hard drive. (Geek data: I used Tascam’s GigaStudio Bösendorfer 290 virtual piano for that project.)
However, I really want to use the real thing this time around. There is something so… I dunno, almost organic about wood, steel, wire and sound waves interacting inside a real piano that sounds so perfectly … imperfect. It’s those subtle imperfections that give each piano its own character and personality. This concept actually inspired the title of this new project: Hammer & Wire.
The problem is, recording a project like this on a real, quality instrument is easier said than done.
It can be tricky to find a large, well-maintained grand piano that is also available for extended recording sessions in or near Eugene, OR. There are many churches with large grands, but most of these are not taken care of. In fact, most are actually abused through aggressive playing, unstable humidity and temperature in their environments, and simple lack of maintenance. I have found one great piano at a local church, but the traffic noise from the campus intersection outside renders the location impossible to record in. Other churches wouldn’t dream of renting out their facility to a stranger who wants to take over their sanctuary for a couple weeks…
I investigated a wonderful, privately-owned piano in a quiet neighborhood that I would have been allowed to rent. The instrument had a gorgeous sound when recorded, but it badly needed regulation and some other work on the keyboard, which I really didn’t want to ask the owner to invest in (as she was quite happy with her lovely piano the way it was). Add to that a fairly steep rental fee, and my meager production budget would have been blown before I had even finished recording.
I went home and practiced for a while, and the proverbial light bulb went on: What about the little piano in my home studio?
More soon…
soli deo gloria
Let me just start by saying: I love these new pieces. I can’t wait for you to hear them!
How to record them, though? My first solo piano collection, Impromptu, was recorded using a “virtual” piano. This was a software instrument living inside a PC that I controlled using my Yamaha S90ES keyboard. It worked very well, and most listeners were never aware that the “piano” I used resided inside a computer hard drive. (Geek data: I used Tascam’s GigaStudio Bösendorfer 290 virtual piano for that project.)
However, I really want to use the real thing this time around. There is something so… I dunno, almost organic about wood, steel, wire and sound waves interacting inside a real piano that sounds so perfectly … imperfect. It’s those subtle imperfections that give each piano its own character and personality. This concept actually inspired the title of this new project: Hammer & Wire.
The problem is, recording a project like this on a real, quality instrument is easier said than done.
It can be tricky to find a large, well-maintained grand piano that is also available for extended recording sessions in or near Eugene, OR. There are many churches with large grands, but most of these are not taken care of. In fact, most are actually abused through aggressive playing, unstable humidity and temperature in their environments, and simple lack of maintenance. I have found one great piano at a local church, but the traffic noise from the campus intersection outside renders the location impossible to record in. Other churches wouldn’t dream of renting out their facility to a stranger who wants to take over their sanctuary for a couple weeks…
I investigated a wonderful, privately-owned piano in a quiet neighborhood that I would have been allowed to rent. The instrument had a gorgeous sound when recorded, but it badly needed regulation and some other work on the keyboard, which I really didn’t want to ask the owner to invest in (as she was quite happy with her lovely piano the way it was). Add to that a fairly steep rental fee, and my meager production budget would have been blown before I had even finished recording.
I went home and practiced for a while, and the proverbial light bulb went on: What about the little piano in my home studio?
More soon…
soli deo gloria