Afro-Cuban Ensemble (Extra Credit-Andrew Evans)

mi guanguanco: Afro-Cuban 1

Afro-Cuban 2

Afro-Cuban 3

Afro-Cuban 4

For this project, I was faced with both a music style I was unfamiliar with (Afro-Cuban drumming/singing), a recording style I was unexperienced in (four-track portable recorder), and six musicians all eager to play their parts.

I set up a Rode NT4 above the half-circle of musicians to capture a varied  stereo image of the ensemble as a whole. For the other two tracks available, I used two Neumann TLM193s to the left and right of the Rode for a fuller sound and one that could capture the musicians as they sang together and separately. I didn’t individually mike the primary vocalist both due to limited tracks and because the musical style did not lend itself to a “lead and backup instruments” mentality, but rather to an organic blend of egalitarian musicians.

As the ensemble performed different songs, we talked about what was important in each and re-arranged the musicians accordingly (rather than the mikes). For one song, the female vocalist was important, so I had her sit towards the center of the semi-circle, facing one of the Neumanns (though in the recording she still sounds more distant than she really was). For another, the repetitive electric bass riff was crucial, so I had the bass amp set behind the semi-circle and slightly off-center to face all of the mikes and carry the musicians along with it.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable recording experience. The performers had a lot of fun recording, and I enjoyed being right there in the room with them and getting the live representation fully as I recorded.