AA Week 4 - Brass
Olle Schnipper plays a bizarre saxophone-like synthesizer from the 80s[1]
This week we had the opportunity to work with a brass player from the Elder Conservatorium, Kim Gluyas. Dragos and I worked as a team to set up a session for saxophone in the EMU space and began by testing the room's ambient response in various positions. We asked Kim to walk around the room while we listened for resonance. Once a position was determined, we set up a variety of mics to see which was best suited to the timbre of the sax Kim was using. Following are some examples of improvisation by Kim using different mics and placements.
Beta 52 0'36, 320kbps, Download
This microphone was intended to catch the resonance of the sax; we pointed the 52 into the lower region, beneath the bell of the instrument. Unfortunately the sound returned is a bit woofy.
Neumann KMi 0'36, 320 kbps, Download
This mic sounded the best in my own opinion. My reasoning? The frequency response of the Neumann KMi is comparatively the most accurate of the three. That's my reason.
Neumann U89 0'36, 320kbps, Download
Don't let my previous comments mislead you, this mic is quality. the sounds produced is warm, but may have been in an inferior position to the KMi. More experimentation is needed.
Mixed Excerpt 0'36, 320kbps Download
This is the Final Mix. I used multi band compression to boost the volume, whilst paying attention to the dynamics. I also added reverb, which in hindsight could have been used more subtly.
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[1] Music and Sound at the Banff Centre. "Audio News and Views." March 2006.
[2] David Grice. "Audio Arts: Semester 1, Week 4. Brass Recording." Lecture presented at EMU, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 20th March 2007.
posted by Daniel Murtagh @ 17:54
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