Bolling Trio (Extra Credit-Andrew Evans)

Bolling Trio Mvmt 1

Bolling Trio Mvmt 2

Bolling Trio Mvmt7

Faced with a purely acoustic classical/jazz trio, I was definitely challenged in this recording process.

Miking decisions: Neumann KM184s for the piano, Sennheiser 421 on the flute. SM57 for the snare, AKG d-112 for bass drum, AKG c-451s for the cymbals.

Recording decisions: After getting the mikes set up on the instruments, setting levels, and having the musicians warm up, we started recording in earnest. First, they played through the shortest of their three movements and I first understood what the real challenges were going to be: I had two hours to record ~20 minutes of material which the musicians would probably never play perfectly enough all the way through for their own very high standards. Most other non-classical recordings I have done thus far have required fewer takes of much less music.

Probably the best method for recording this ensemble would have been to record each of the three parts separately using a click track, but that was simply impossible for the time we had. So instead we resorted to run-throughs of each movement and/or re-recording sections to splice together later (which proved to be quite difficult). The result is an ultimately homogenous but (in the demanding eyes of the musicians) imperfectly performed representation of the fantastic music. Though I must say, it sounds wonderful to me.

Mixing decisions: As usual, I started with the drums. Ultimately I left them mostly alone, except for a gate on the snare which had some bleed-through and a low-boost for the bass drum. Musically, the drums filled a subdued, foundational role and didn’t require much active editing.

For the piano, I only used mild EQ boosts to the high/low string tracks (3dB low boost and high cut for the low strings and vice versa for the high strings) and then panned them low/left and high/right (as the pianist would see it).

For the flute, I added just enough of a reverb to give the impression of performative space and to increase the flute’s natural resonance.