Partita #3 (Preludio) in E Major by J.S. Bach - Alex DePue, violin
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- čas přidán 12. 10. 2020
- Here we have my only take on this Preludio, Bach's infamous first movement from his Partita #3 in E Major. The microphone is off-camera, as I'm more mic'ing the room, and not so much the violin. Everything is quiet (rare these days! lol) and I got into the mood last night, so let it rip.
The Manley Gold Reference mic sends the raw signal straight on into the vintage Avalon Tube Preamp... a true luxury, both of those items, for processing what has been, up until this point, an entirely analog production.
However, from here, the signal path does take a turn, right on into the digital age of today, but we're doing so through use of the most sensitive processor available in recording world, the Apollo 16 digital interface. The Apollo takes the analog signal and interprets into something the computer (iMac Pro) can read.
From there, the Apollo is set up to beam that same signal directly into a live track, found within a new session via Pro Tools (my DAW). With a few plugins on that track, and I do mean a few... like, three, we then have this sound heard in the new video. I believe... it is my OPINION... that recordings, and the process needed to accomplish professional sounding recordings, is best realized for the solo violin, using exactly this combination of studio-geek luxuries. They are truly better than whatever one might deem today's "industry standard".
For those of you paying attention, the three plugins I use are:
1) EQ - a seven-band equalization plug where I do use a hi-pass filter, a bump (around 4dB) at 250 Hz, with a nice smile carved into the sonic spectrum from 1000 - 4 kHz, and that's it, really. The violin (1910 Ernst Kessler (Berlin), includes a fantastic high-end shine from the e-string. Sometimes I find it important to just be aware of how much of that gets picked up by the Manley, and often find need for attenuating the top end of the spectrum... just the slightest rolloff from 5 - 17 kHz. That much should make ANY fiddle sound pretty darn good, no matter what mic... and no matter be it live or in studio, this is a pretty solid plan. God forbid ya find yourself at the mercy of a "sound tech", having to explain these moves? Don't let that be you. Travel with your own equipment, and adjust your tone prior to sending your signal anywhere else (FOH, or monitors). I highly recommend the LR Baggs eq pedal, specifically designed with acoustic instruments in mind. I go nowhere without it.
2) Compression - just enough to flick the visual meter... hopefully not enough to even hear, but it IS there, and really, this matter is one of the reasons as to why anyone goes to a professional recording studio in the first place. This brings your softer passages UP in volume, and your louder sounds, DOWN in volume, thus "compressed". With an effort toward preserving whatever dynamics are included within any performance, I choose to use compression, especially for solo violin, with a large amount of discretion! Its equivalent, in the real world, could be... maybe... makeup. No makeup? Bland, maybe boring... a bit homely looking. lol And then TOO MUCH makeup? Instant whore. So... use your ears. If you're hearing your own innately performed dynamics disappearing as you listen? That is the first symptom from having too much compression.
3) Reverb - nothing fancy. I use a preset, actually, found within the "stock reverbs" within Pro Tools, called "Performance Hall" (the verb itself is called, "Real Verb Pro"), and then adjust the mix volume of the effect, always DOWN from where it began automatically, toward something sensible. Sometimes, the atmosphere one can SEE while enjoying a video of this nature, does not match the sound we're hearing. Such is the case, here! lol
But I invite you to close your eyes, and instead, envision the player (in this case it is me) standing on a stage, with the more correct environment (a concert hall), and I will bet that your perception of what that sounds like, WILL indeed match perfectly!
Happy listening! Use this information to begin forming for yourself what will be YOUR studio sound! I look forward to hearing about your triumphs within the comment section, below.
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Alex DePue's original arrangement of viral video mashup Owner of a Lonely Heart / Smooth Criminal S H E E T M U S I C ➔ alexdepue.com/product/owner-o...
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spontaneousrecords.com - Hudba
Yes!!!!! Keep it up!
😍😍😍
Beautifully done Alex. It's been a very stressful, hectic day. I needed this momentary repose to show up in my in box just when it did. A fresh breeze. Medicine. Seriously, you have no idea. My mind is healed. OK. Here we go, back at it!!!! Thank you so much!!
same here
I just read your description! WOW! Well done!!!! As an official graduate of the BGSU recording studio (OK, just 1 class), I approve of this message!! Fantastic!! Great set-up! It does capture a truly crisp, real, authentic live sound. Nice, careful well thought out choices!!
Thanks for such a thoughtful reply. Glad you enjoyed it! Go BGSU!
Brilliant Alex!
Thanks, Shimmy! How ya doin?!