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Posted: |
May 21, 2015 - 5:09 PM
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By: |
Tadlow
(Member)
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There was a time (late '90s--early '00s) when the sound coming out of the City of Prague Phil and Smecky studios was, of necessity, more experimental. Some of the Silva Screen CD's missed the sound/performance mark, though even some of those albums would have individual tracks that stood out.
When those standout tracks did occur, it was usually due to a more rousing performance by the orchestra. However, the custom miking/mixing setups for many of the individual tracks on The Complete Film Music of John Barry, Volume Two, released in '96, pointed the way to a more refined set of future albums by the COPP group.
And then 1999 hit, and Fitz, Raine and the COPP did complete Zulu and Raise the Titanic albums, which elevated everyone's game. The acoustics/engineering on both those scores had been modified for the requirements of the individual scores, and the results were clear to the discerning listener.
Now, comes Obsession and Sodom and Gomorrah on CD and Blu-Ray, no less, and the whole Tadlow/COPP team may be about to take another leap forward. I'm hoping my expectations are exceeded as they were back in '99.
Just so people know....all the recordings I did at Smecky from 1989 to about 2000 were actually "live" recordings made direct to 2 track stereo DATS....so no mixing could be done after the recordings. So when you consider that the results were by and large pretty good ....and I am actually proud of one of two of the recordings made then!
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Posted: |
May 21, 2015 - 5:26 PM
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By: |
Tadlow
(Member)
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I have always wanted to mention this my self, but was afraid of the massive flaming that would follow.
First, Thanks to James to be daring and do these recordings.
The sound is very concert hall to me. What I ended up doing is buying the cds, then reediting them in my computer. I.E. with scores likie Taras Bulbe, Alamo, El Cid, the tracks that had an original on the old albums and cds, were replaced with the original.
the only thing that cracks me up is, they are constantly referred to as the famous Smecky studios, but I had never heard of them before these liner notes mentioned them.
I am also sad at the turn the latest releases have, recording scores that actually exist in some form already - Obsession, Duel in the Sun, Sodom and Gomorrah and now Blue Max.
I would rather see scores that are completely lost - but hell, everyone else seems to be just fine with these titles.
Well I am sorry to disagree but the sound I go for is anything but concert hall like. Each score is treated differently....e.g. The Alamo is totally dry with virtually no delay, Lawrence of halfway because of all that percussion, Obsession does have a church acoustic, the John Barry stuff for Prometheus has a CTS type sound, the Taras yes is quite wet because being a very classical score the music suited it. But not one of these releases has more than 2.5 seconds of delay....whereas most concert acoustics have delay raging from 4 seconds to 6 or 7.....
And if you want to see scores recorded that have been completely lost then that is for someone to fund or be crazy enough to part with a lot of dosh! I certainly have put my money where my mouth is many times! But I only ever record scores I like for my own label plus scores like Sodom and Duel might have original soundtracks but can he really say that the incomplete double CD of Sodom is a very pleasant listening experience???
And by the way Smecky (pronounced Smech'key) is quite famous in Europe having been a film score recording studio since 1946 and therefore one of the oldest recording studios in the world!
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At the risk of exposing my ignorance, what does it really mean when we say things are recorded 'wet' or 'dry'? I think I sort of understand it intuitively, but in practice how does one record wet versus dry?
An enquiring mind wishes to be educated.
Cheers
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I have recorded many many time at the Dvorak Hall in the past 25 years....and it is a fantastic classical acoustic and perfect for choirs..i am recording there next week. But for my money...and it is my money...the 5 second natural delay in the hall makes it far too "live" and concert hall sounding for my new recordings. Plus there is absolutely no separation there...so something like Lawence with 10 percussionists there would have been impossible!
I'm fully aware that a "symphonic sound" that may obscure details or create all kinds of havoc through reverb in certain specialty scores/cues is not the answer to everything, but it may add some valuable bottom end depth to others - also, microphone placement can help shape/control/limit the effects of hall reverb.
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