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Brass
Band recording tips:
Making a successful
brass band recording depends on all the factors outlined on
our mobile recording pages but there are a number of factors
unique to Brass bands that make the recording session such
an important part of the final recording.
Once
again the most important element in the overall sound of the
recording is the choice of venue and really for a decent brass
band recording you have to have a venue that you can comfortably
fit the band into at least 3 to 4 times. A high ceiling is
also really important to give space for the sound to mix and
give that well known brass band sound. Over the years I have
recorded scores of brass bands and only e few locations in
that time I have thought sounded really nice without having
to resort to some major equalisation of the sound. The greatest
problem sound wise is in the middle frequencies around 500Hz
and brass bands by the very nature of their instrumentation
can create a very "boxy. nasally" sound in poor
locations. It really is quite difficult to give any firm pointers
to a good location other than the size factor and ceiling
height already mentioned because sometimes even following
these basic tenets the location can still sound very middly.
As always a rule of thumb when choosing a venue is that if
it sounds nice to play in then it will probably make a decent
recording venue.
One
particular session was arranged for a recording of a band
in a church in Sheffield but when I turned up I discovered
the band crammed into a small scout hut behind the church.
It was almost impossible to get another person in the hut
never mind put a Soundfield mic up high 15 foot back from
the front of the band. On that occasion I simply refused to
make the recording in there as it would have been a waste
of everyone’s time and effort but fortunately one of
the musicians was a school caretaker and we managed to move
into the local school hall and within an hour began a pretty
successful recording session. Another horror venue was recording
a well known regimental band in a chapel in the barracks in
Catterick Garrison because this venue had a clear and distinct
echo which bounced back off the rear wall. So its a bit like
the three bears porridge you have to try to get a venue that’s
not too big and not too small but is just right
Microphones
and recording gear are also crucial in getting the best out
of a session as a good brass band can have a huge dynamic
range and go from very quite to very, very loud over a couple
of bars. Setting the record levels is really crucial especially
now with direct to disc digital recording as any overload
results in distortion which ruins the take. But its not just
record levels that you have to watch as the mic preamps and
mics themselves need to be capable of handling really high
sound pressure levels. and you have to have some good quality
condenser mics
EYMS
Brass Band Recording
To give an insight into making a good brass band recording
I will take you through the for the EYMS band. This is one
of the top brass Bands being promoted to the North of England
Premier League in 1996 the Band then earned the title of Northern
Area Champions for a remarkable four successive years. So
with the musicianship taken care of I went along to a rehearsal
to meet their musical Director Jim Davies to discuss the recording
session and get an insight into the band. It was obvious from
the rehearsal that this was a very accomplished bunch of musicians
and Jim wasn’t about to let anything get under his radar.
The
venue was the performing arts hall at Ackworth school in Pontefract
which has a nice bright hall with plenty of space to get the
band in. The recording was arranged for the first set up session
on Friday evening and then all day Saturday and as much of
Sunday as needed to finish to job. With a full 2 day recording
session the pressure is off the band and regular breaks can
be taken as making a good CD is hard work for everyone. The
mics were set up on the Friday evening at the practice session
and some material recorded so that I could listen back and
make any small adjustments to mic position that I thought
necessary. I always start the mics off by putting the Soundfield
mic on a high concert stand about 15 foot back from the front
of the band as it gives me a good working stereo picture of
the band to which I can add a variety of other mics to give
me more detail. and we ended up with 10 separate mic tracks
on the Nuendo recording software.
As
always we started off the Saturday recording session with
a march as its a good option to get everyone up and playing
and its always easier to start off with an easy piece to get
one in the can and give everyone some confidence. I always
take a complete run through and then Jim the MD and I listened
back marking on the score where we felt we needed to retake.
The editing software in Nuendo is really astonishing and I
can and often do, edit in a single note. So if there’s
a split 2 bars before A then all we need to do is start 4
bars before and play up to A. Jim felt that we should play
the piece a couple of times through and then we tackled the
end e few times. With marches because there are repeat sections
if the band play the second time through better than first
time then we often use the second time both times. Its our
secret and no one can tell!. Another thing worth remembering
in a recording session its not vital to play double and treble
ps or fs as
I can control level to some degree back in the studio.
So
once Jim and I were happy that I had got a great bar of recorded
music for every bar on the score then we press on with the
next piece. Knowing the software and having confidence that
the edits will all work makes the recording session so much
easier for the players as two days recording is pretty hard
work. Occasionally I would put up another mic for a soloist
but basically the recording session is about making sure that
we miss nothing and cover all the mistakes. Sometimes of course
there are factors outside your control if a fire engine goes
by or there is an aeroplane audible over the end of a piece
as it fades to silence. Then you just have to retake. Occasionally
you can have a real unexpected problem and twice I have had
sessions interrupted when the volume of the band began to
resonate light fittings in the venue!
The
following week I sent Jim three CDs containing all the takes
and their edits in the order they were played each with its
own CD programme number. With these session CDs the MD can
sit and spend many happy hours listening and re listening
over and over again until they have worked out on paper which
bits should go where! Because of time constraints two of the
principal players in the band took on the duties of listening
and working out the editing and a few weeks later Mark Unsworth
the trombone player and Tony Newiss. cornet player arrived
at the studio with their notes to begin the edit.
Two
days of editing gave us the first mix of the tracks with all
the edits in the right place and perfect takes of the pieces
and you can see from the image below that the particular piece
was made up of 2 main takes in yellow and blue and various
smaller edits to cover specific areas. Editing in Nuendo is
a joy Not only because I can edit across all the tracks but
I can cut in ( or out) on a single note.
Once
all the editing was done then work began mixing the final
tracks where I like to weave my own magic EQ, adding reverb
and compressing particular tracks to get the big bright sound
that I like. When mixing I like to spend a few hours setting
up a mix and then coming back over a period continually reassessing
the mix until I am happy I have the best result.
Once
all the editing and mixing were completed and everyone was
happy with the sound we turned our attention to the artwork
and the art department
The
art department are brilliant at getting an idea and working
it up into a great looking CD cover. EYMS had commissioned
a new piece to commemorate the huge new tourist attraction
in Hull, The Deep and so photographs were taken and an overall
concept worked out. A couple of weeks later 500 great looking
and sounding CDs arrived and if yoou want to get hold of a
free copy just email me. |
