[John Atkinson[_2_]]

On Jan 25, 11:56 pm, "Soundhaspriority" wrote:
John, I've just been listening to your recording, "Rendevous", recorded
Salina, Kansas. Willing or not, you've been my recording mentor, and this
particular one answered a question burning in my mind:

snip

I put the CD on without reading the liner notes first, and my first
impression was of a marvelously discrete, yet coherent soundstage,
and I wondered, as I usually do, where you got the acoustics.

Thank you Bob. Yes the soundstage is artificial, but it does
reflect what you would have heard at the sessions.

1. For the final image, you chose to put the vibes on the left, the sax in
the center, and the drums as a rather diffuse background that might be
panned slightly right. Was this choice motivated by the traditions of jazz
combos, by emulation of an expected recorded sound, or other factors?

This was the physical layout of the musicians in the hall. By
panning the close-miked signals to the same place in the stereo
mix, the inevitable leakage would help create the illusion of
a soundstage rather than fight it. I also used stereo miking for
the vibes and drums, and much of what you hear as the
hall acoustic is the contribution of the overhead stereo pair
on the drums.

2. Were there constraints caused by bleed?

As with my Merkin Hall jazz recording, the bleed limited the
range of adjustments I could make to the balance.

3. You used quite a variety of mikes. Were the specific assignments
very strongly determined, or more a matter of habit and hunch? The
4006es were assigned to sax/trombone; was this to allow closer
placement to these lower volume instruments?

Only partly. It was also because I needed to use my
directional mikes on the drums and vibes.

I will be recording my first fully rehearsed/in a concert hall session
shortly, employing purist techniques.

Have a great time!

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile