The recording of Resonance

The setting:  Resonance was recorded at Studio Traumwald in northern Massachusetts on an overcast, gray and chilly New England spring day.  The live room at Studio Traumwald consists of an 11-foot peaked ceiling, stone and barn wood asymmetrical walls, and thick carpeting.  It makes for a beautiful sounding acoustical space.  The element of the silence and stillness of the New England countryside makes for a wonderful and inspirational recording environment.

The technical:
 The recording process was very clean and direct; both figuratively and literally. Each of us was close-mic'ed using a stereo pair of microphones. There was also a matched stereo pair of overheads.  This provides for a fuller and wider stereo image, but without losing the individual placement (left vs. right channels) of each instrument.  The microphones which were used are as follows.

Microtech Gefell M-930 (my primary mic)
Microtech Gefell M-295 (my secondary mic)
Neumann TLM-103 (Sandor's primary mic)
Neumann KM-184 (Sandor's secondary mic)

AKG 414-XLII (matched stereo pair as overheads)



 

Here is a track sheet from the recording sessions.  A purist approach was utilized at every step of the recording process.  All microphones were routed through very pure microphone preamps: a Millennia HV-3D. These preamps were selected for their pristine, pure and uncolored amplification; as well as massive headroom and an exceedingly low noise floor.  All studio cabling is Mogami Neglex.  From the six Millennia mic preamps, the lines were routed into a 24-bit/96k 16-track digital recorder.  No EQ, compression or limiting was used; either in the live recordings or during mixdown.  Not using compression or limiting means that the overall volume level of the final CD will be somewhat lower than most other CDs.  However, the beauty of no compression is that the full and natural dynamic range is captured.  No equalization was used; either during the live recording or during the mixing or mastering.  No studio tricks; no overdubs.  What the listener hears on the CD is exactly how the compositions were performed in the recording studio.  The only effect which was used was the addition of Bricasti M7 digital reverb during the final mix. 

From Studio Traumwald's lush but precise sounding live room, to the 24-bit/96k digital recording process to the final step of cutting the single-speed glass master, the end result is a very beautifully recorded, audiophile-grade CD.