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Hi guys,

I'm borrowing a viola at the moment, and I thought I would try to record some Bach in my bedroom this morning. I picked the first movement of the solo partita no. 2 in d-minor - sounds a bit like the cello sonatas when played on the viola, but the music is still lovely.

The room is fairly dry, but not more well balanced than the average bedroom. The mic was almost two meters above the floor, about 1½ meter from the viola, and afterwards I smacked on some artificial reverb to give the sound some volume. This viola isn't the best instrument in the world - it seems a little harsh - but it's fun to play!

What do you think about the reverb settings? I often record this way, in a dry room adding ambience, but it often ends up sounding just a tiny bit too much of a hotel bathroom, if you know what I mean. I tend to go with something around 1.70+ seconds of reverb and mix it around 30-40 percent. Any advice would be appreciated!

...and the link:

[EDITED] http://www.soundvenue.com/mp3.asp?id=10806 [EDITED]

Click on Afspil/download MP3 and either select play or download.

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anonymous Wed, 04/20/2005 - 07:22

This is not meant to be sarcastic, but the only real answer is to use YOUR ears and adjust to suit your taste. There are so many variables in your technique it would be impossible to give you a recipe you'd definitely like.

I am not sure whether this is an attempt to find a good reverb or whether Bach can withstand the sonic injustice of a bedroom. I am sure he can, but less sure about what reverb you have. I am also not sure about your comment "some artificial reverb to give the sound some volume."

Reverb is not the means to add make-up gain. And I would go so far as to say that the choice and percentage of reverb is perhaps the most subjective aspect of post production.

There are many reverbs out there-- your choice is determined by platform and budget, but you can make significant improvement by twiddling with it for a few hours. Non-convolution reverbs are rarely optimized for classical.

Rich

Ellegaard Wed, 04/20/2005 - 07:44

Sonarerec wrote: This is not meant to be sarcastic, but the only real answer is to use YOUR ears and adjust to suit your taste. There are so many variables in your technique it would be impossible to give you a recipe you'd definitely like.

Reverb is not the means to add make-up gain. And I would go so far as to say that the choice and percentage of reverb is perhaps the most subjective aspect of post production.

Well, eventually, everything comes down to personal preference and taste. Perhaps I should word it differently - like, "what is YOUR experience with using artificial reverb in classical music? Any particular settings that give YOU convincing and satisfying results?". I just thought it would be interesting to hear different opinions on the subject.

Sonarerec wrote: I am not sure whether this is an attempt to find a good reverb or whether Bach can withstand the sonic injustice of a bedroom. I am sure he can, but less sure about what reverb you have. I am also not sure about your comment "some artificial reverb to give the sound some volume."

It is an attempt to find a good reverb. It's quite simple to me - Bach is supposed to be performed in a church or major concert hall - I would almost say, it's not a partita written for solo violin, it's a partita written for solo violin and a church! That's what I mean with 'volume', although I should have made that clear. I didn't mean it in a dynamic context, rather from the perspective that the room is an important contribution to the 'body' of the sound.

anonymous Wed, 04/20/2005 - 07:58

NOW we're getting somewhere! We both agree that classical recording usually means considering the room as another instrument.

For me the only reverb for classical is Altiverb-- not cheap, but worth every cent and half the price of Waves Convolution. The secret is that the Altiverb guys go get great rooms, mostly in Europe. http://www.audioease.com My current favorite is the Oratorium in the Esterhzy Palace. For dark orchestra its the Concertgebouw, lighter things get the Mozartsaal in Vienna. For quartet it is hard to beat some of the smaller churches-- each has a different character. The one in Frykeruds is great for Ives and other quartet literature that needs ambience and life rather than long decay.

If these are out of your price range, you can do wonders with a decent verb and lots pf patience.

Rich

DavidSpearritt Wed, 04/20/2005 - 13:47

Yep, another vote here for convolution reverb, its the only way to go. I use SIR (free) and have some great impulses, it (CR) is essential for classical music mastering, especially when you are not in a great room to start with.

We have some TC boxes, M2000 and M3000 and never use them now, they are mostly used as A/D's for the Genex. I never liked these sort of boxes anyway, life is way too short to be spent stuffing around with reverb parameters.

Still planning to measure the IR from our wonderful theatre, just have to get organised and permission. :S