Creating The Recorded Image of Turkish Art Music: The Decision
Making Process in a Recording Session Do. Dr. CAN KARADOAN T
TMDK
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PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY Discussion of the studio representation
of Turkish Art Music Stating the frequently faced problems of
Turkish Art Music recording sessions Creating the high fidelity
stereo image of the music that an ensemble is playing Recommending
ways to ease the decision making process in the session based on
observations gained from practice 2
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TURKISH ART MUSIC A form of chamber music by tradition Although
the original practice was performed acoustically, the contemporary
performance practice requires sound reinforcement 3
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ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE MUSIC Recorded mostly live using no overdubs
The dominance of small studios force the productions to transform
into a overdub way Bigger ensembles which wont fit into a studio
should be recorded in concert halls or similar places 4
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STEREO MICROPHONE TECHNIQUES They make use of the ITD
(Interaural Time Delay) or IID (Interaural Intensity Difference)
(e.g. the A-B technique or the XY technique) They can reflect the
placement of an ensemble in a room by giving localization cues.
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PANORAMA The placement of musical elements in the horizontal
(left- right) and the depth dimension in mixed music It is mostly
possible to pan instruments to left of right. By changing their
volumes and their reverb amounts mostly it is possible to place
these instruments to the foreground or the background. 6
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SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA A fixed sitting placement In order to
capture the depth and the space, even a single A-B stereo pair can
be sufficient to create the image Near mics are used to support the
sections that are not loud enough in the whole mix 7
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CLOSE MIKING Microphones are placed mostly at a distance about
2-30 cm. from the source Aims to capture more of the first sound
waves from the source Minimizes the reflected sounds that arrive at
the microphone capsule 8
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STRING QUARTETT Fixed placement Familiar with acoustic
performance Overdubbing is never the choice of production 9
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FREQUENTLY FACED PROBLEMS OF TURKISH ART MUSIC SESSIONS
Difficulties in acoustic performance without any monitoring No
clear placement Fuzziness in the stereo image 10
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WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Due to the 3:1 rule, a tight sitting
placement would limit the miking distance The stereo mix design
would be compromised Controlling the musical image 11
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JAZZ RECORDINGS High awareness and expections for the stereo
image Only close miking techniques are used so that the panoramic
placement is done in the mix Recorded using headphones!!! 12
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CLASSICAL RECORDINGS High awareness and expections for the
stereo image The stereo microphone pair defines the panorama The
close mics contribute less to the overall sound No headphones are
used during recording!!! 13
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TURKISH ART MUSIC LIVE RECORDING CASE The ensemble creates the
intonation together in the room What happens if one instrument
makes a mistake Acoustic performance problems Headphones: With or
without When a singer is involved, the session must be done using
headphones 14
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MIXING Stereo placement of the instruments Is the kanun in the
center? Bowed instruments vs. Plucked instruments Performing in a
wide hemi circle Percussion instruments on the left of the circle
Restricted usage of the stereo panorama that is present in the
stereo pair 15
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AN EXAMPLE 16
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Refik Hakan Talu Ensemble INSTRUMENTS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Tanbur
Ud Ney Kanun Kemene Cello Bendir (Percussion) Daire (Percussion)
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MIKING DECISIONS Having the sound expectation unclear, placing
a close mic for each instrument can be helpful. Depending on
previous experience, matching all instruments with the best as
possible sounding mic. Recording the sound that is created together
in the room with an A-B stereo pair. 18
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TANBUR 19
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UD 20
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BENDR 21
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MINIMIZING THE LEAKAGE Making use of the polar patterns of
microphones as much as possible. Isolating neighboring instruments
with gobos Making use of the Low-cut filters of some microphones
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GOBOS 23
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A-B STEREO PAIR Placed in the center of the hemi circle
Pointing towards the kanun as a center instrument Ca. 2.20 m height
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A-B STEREO PAIR 25
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A-B STEREO 26
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MIXING STAGE 27
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MIX PANORAMA 28
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MIXING STEPS Close mic channels contributed to the sound more
than the stereo pair Unlike classical music mixes, the level of the
main pair was kept lower than the close mic channels. Delay
compensation between the close mics to the pair was made Close mics
were panned according to their position in the stereo image of the
A-B pair Reverb added Eqs were used to minimize the leakage and to
give definition to some instruments 29
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LISTENING EXAMPLE Buselik Saz Semaisi Refik Hakan Talu Room
mics. only (A-B, DPA 4006) Only close mics. Final mix 30
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REMAINING QUESTIONS Is there a traditional placement of the
instruments of Turkish Art Music? Is the kanun always in the
middle? Must the percussion instruments be place at a hard left of
right position? Would the bowed and plucked instruments be placed
together as a section? Would an average listener expect to find
this stereo image in a recording? How much freedom does a sound
engineer have in order to produce Turkish Art Music? 31