Recording/Engineering Practices


I have a recording of a duet of Ron Carter and Houston Person titled 'Dialogues' on Blue Note HCD7072. I do not know who engineered the recording.

From a physical 'sound stage' one might think you couldn't ask for more. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Amazing, involving. Warm. Nice music too!

However it only too a couple of seconds to realize in real life you had two instruments on stage side by side with equal prominence. On this recording you had Carters bass centered and life like, but Person's sax encompassed the entire stage with some emphasis on/in both corners.

I suspect this effect was as much as the result of two tracks laid down separately and then mixed with the tracks of the bass in phase and the sax out of phase.

Anyone have any thoughts or knowledge of recording practices that would clear this up for me?
newbee

Showing 1 response by newbee

I mispoke in my OP. The label was Highnote not Blue Note. I can see why someone would think that it was Rudy Van Gelder though. Sorry 'bout that. :-(

Well I really got curious and I reversed the wires on one speaker so they would be out of phase with the other speaker. Guess what! Now I have a centered sax with the bass violin on the outside.

I can't figure out how they could have done that without putting one track or the other out of phase. Don't have a clue why either. Accidental? Perhaps, but don't they listen to the recording over a stereo system?

I haven't seen anyone do this since I was in a less than reputable stereo 'salon' in San Francisco (out of business) where they did it to impress novices with the 'expanded' soundstage that out of phase speakers can create. Great width, but no focused center image. :-)

I hauled out some other Houston's recordings from around 2000 on Highnote. More players, 4 or 5. What was evident was that someone was treating the tracks differently. In one Person's Sax was focused and in the center. There were light drums on center left and a piano which was spread across the soundstage (including center). No purists these guys. It is still very nice music. I like Person's mellow tone at night. :-)