The goal of every Soundkeeper Recording is to bring the listener to the performance, to create the feeling the listener is in the presence of the musicians, in the space where the performance actually took place.
Our experience has taught us traditional recording studios are better suited to a different type of recording philosophy than the one we employ. We prefer instead to use spaces in which the performance would best be heard by interested listeners and where in fact, the musicians actually perform their best.
Modern recording studios and techniques offer musicians unique options they would not otherwise have. The common practice of multi-tracking involves placing one or more microphones close to each instrument, recording each to its own track on a multi-track recorder and often, separating the players with barriers. This allows the recording engineer to adjust the sound of each instrument individually and to change the musical balance after the performance has occurred. Later on, during the “mix down”, all the individual tracks are combined into a stereo (or surround) mix to be used on the final record.
read more
The goal of every Soundkeeper Recording is to bring the listener to the performance, to create the feeling the listener is in the presence of the musicians, in the space where the performance actually took place.
Our experience has taught us traditional recording studios are better suited to a different type of recording philosophy than the one we employ. We prefer instead to use spaces in which the performance would best be heard by interested listeners and where in fact, the musicians actually perform their best.
Modern recording studios and techniques offer musicians unique options they would not otherwise have. The common practice of multi-tracking involves placing one or more microphones close to each instrument, recording each to its own track on a multi-track recorder and often, separating the players with barriers. This allows the recording engineer to adjust the sound of each instrument individually and to change the musical balance after the performance has occurred. Later on, during the “mix down”, all the individual tracks are combined into a stereo (or surround) mix to be used on the final record.
Multi-tracking allows the players the room to “fix” something they've played whether a single note, a musical section or their entire part. It also allows for “overdubs” where additional parts can be added to the original performance. In this way, a single player can play more than one instrument, a single vocalist can sing more than one vocal part and musicians that are not present at the original performance can add their parts later on. There is no argument against the convenience modern recording studios and techniques offer and there is a long legacy of magical recordings that could not have been created any other way.
In contrast however, when a group of players get together to make some music, live, in real time, the sounds they create are very different from those the same players would create in a recording studio. A live performance, whether in front of an audience or for the players themselves, involves direct communication between the musicians as they play. Each player influences the others and there is an electricity in the air, a frisson, created by their interaction. Without the barriers that separate the players in a studio and without the “safety” of being able to fix parts after the performance and without an engineer to adjust musical balances, the energy of the performance takes on a very different character. Now the players are listening more intently to each other since they alone will determine how they balance against each other. Now the “ensemble” is at its most real; all the players are creating music at the same time, together.
Soundkeeper Recordings are made with all the musicians playing live, in real time. The musicians determine the musical balances and musical dynamics. They are recorded directly to stereo. There are no overdubs. There are no mixes. We call it “recording without a net”. The prime interest is in capturing the feel of the performance, the excitement and emotion that make the music what it is. This is preferred over a note perfect performance with less feel. If the feel is there and the players agree, we consider it a “take”.
show less
