Recording Process
Recording Studio: March 2017.
Over January and February 2017, I carried out some initial sound tests with my rough recordings whilst waiting for the project stone to be finished. This gave me an opportunity
to think about my compositional process and also research the virtual version. In order to create a virtual sampled stone, I first had to capture every nuance of the instrument’s sound using a number of different microphones positions. These audio samples were then mapped and key grouped into the Native Instruments Kontakt player. This was a very time-consuming process and special attention was needed to capture a really detailed recording. Logistically, it made sense to make the recording in Germany as transportation of the stone is difficult. I hired a soundproof studio at the State College of Music, Trossingen, for two days which included a Pro Tools engineer. It was very useful having someone in the gallery tracking the takes whilst I sat in the studio with Hannes.
Sound Stone Recording: image source: Steven Halliday
This was going to be the first time I have ever recorded a sound stone in a studio and unfortunately, there is no available literature on the process. My main question is, what microphones should I use? I have access to condensers, ribbons, dynamics, stereo, multi -patterned and even contact mics. All of these have their own strengths and weaknesses
and all work well in different situations. Small diaphragm, dynamic microphones are great for capturing the high end of acoustic guitars whilst multi patterned cardioids produce a really detailed stereo field.
I conducted some frequency analysis of my rough recordings (figure 1) and the results showed that my project stone has an increased amount of mid and lower mid. This would suggest that these frequencies are predominantly "the sound" of my stone. Ribbon microphones will work really well with these frequencies because they emphasise the warm low-mids whilst gently rolling off the top end. This will be important because harsh top end frequencies have been cited when recording other friction idiophones like the Glass Harp and Glass Armonica.
Figure 2: Microphone set up from above
After some trial and error, I decided on three Shure,KSM 353's surrounding the stone. (figure 2) This gave me a really detailed recording and isolated the left, right, and center (mono) channels. I also had one KSM 353 reversed to capture the sound of the room (fig 1) and a mounted AKG, C411 contact mic inside the wooden resonator box, this was great for capturing all the low-end rumble. In all the previous sound stone recordings I have heard
they have been a wash with reverb, whether this was real room ambience or post production effects, it's sound has always felt
a bit too reverby and distant to me. For this recording, I wanted to capture the stone as clean and close as possible, this will later allow me to preserve more of the details and manipulate the amount of reverb afterwards.
Figure 1: Frequency analysis of the studio recordings
Setting up the studio: Video by Steven Halliday