Volshenka Pastoral (on my Zoom H2!)

[furtwaengler]

Hello friends. I have finally tested my new Zoom H2 out, using this beautiful piano piece, "Pastoral" written by Katrina Volshenka. I've not gotten all the features of the recorder down yet, but I think it sounds quite good indeed!

Here are three recordings from three perspectives. The outer recordings from Thursday, May 5th 2011, were done on the Yamaha C7 in the recital hall. In the first, the recorder was out in the middle of the hall, and in the last it was on the edge of the piano, under the lid - this particular piece sounds nice closely mic-ed, I think. The middle recording was from a day earlier, Wednesday, May 4th 2011, and it was recorded on the Baldwin in the practice room I frequent. It is the very first music I've recorded on the Zoom H2. The recording on the Baldwin is also a completely different picture of the Pastoral, my initial thoughts felt at a much slower tempo.

Do tell me what you think of the recordings, and of course any advice on the recordings. And tell me what you think of Volshenka's Pastoral.

All the best,

Dave

[emill]

Hi Dave,

Beautiful composition .... very well and pleasantly played.

Yes the 1st recording easily conveys the spaciousness common
in good recital or concert halls ... clarity is good with no annoying
reverberation/reconance ... pleasant to listen to.

AAhhh ... the 3rd close distance or near mic recording conveys
as expected more clarity with excellent quality. The levels are just
perfect as I could not detect any clipping or distortion. AND ... I am
most surprised at the degree of spaciousness despite being a near mic
recording .. no auto digital processing in the recorder?

I am just tempted to say that combining both sound clips in post
editing with the 1st clip at 1/4 to 1/3 its original volume would probably
capture the correct ambiance of what the listener would hear if seated
in the orchestra of the concert hall.

The baldwin is warmer and mellow compared to the Yamaha. Though the
tempo is slower it just feels as good.....

THANKS for posting.

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

This pastoral is a lovely piece.  You certainly performed it with confidence and put it over convincingly to the listener.  Very fine playing!  Thanks for sharing it.  You're also having fun testing out the H-2 I see.

You had previously sent some pictures of the hall which presents challenges in making recordings there.  I thought that the placement of the H-2 at mid-hall sounded quite good actually.  The last row, as I recall, was ruled out--poor sound, being too far removed from the sound source--and the problem at the front row was that the sound went right over the recorder given the higher elevation of the stage.  The middle row does seem to be the best solution there.  I didn't care so much for the close-in recording under the lid--seemed too percussive rather than gentle to me, and oddly, most of the sound seemed to be concentrated in the right channel, thereby disturbing the expected stereo effect.  That anomaly seemed evident right from the start of the recording.  I would guess that it resulted from the on-board right mic being more oriented toward the treble. while the bass built-in, being so close to the far treble edge of the soundboard, could not be nearly as well positioned to gather the bass sound.  Once you get the H-2 out in front of the instrument, it's no longer an issue, as the recorder gathers a more blended sound overall as reflected and projected by the open lid.  

Ah, but even more I liked the Baldwin in the practice room.  While the Yamaha C-7 is characteristically bright, the Baldwin has a richer, warmer, signature sound.  But, of course, I'm a Baldwin pianist, so there could be just a tiny bit of bias present in my comment.  

David

[goldentone]

A beautiful piece, Dave.  And you play it beautifully.  My favorite of the three is with the H2 in the middle of the hall; there the atmosphere is richest, and I think especially complements a poignant piece as the Pastoral.  The close-in recording with the C7 is my least favorite, and David is right, most of the sound comes out of the right channel.

I was saddened to hear that you lost your previous recorder.  I'm so glad you got a new one!  I think the sound is admirable from the H2, and seems to color less than my Edirol.

 

[furtwaengler]

Thank you Emil, Rachfan, and Goldentone for the comments and the help. And I want you to know this really does help me. I'll have some things to try when I can get back into that space. As for the closely mic-ed recording, I just got on Audacity to see if I could even out the channels. I am uploading the results.

David, thank you for mentioning the warmth of the Baldwin! I have spent much time on that instrument through the years, and I can say though there are some problems...the soft pedal constantly getting out of alignment causing the hammers catch an extra string, and the room itself, stuffy and way, way too small for this instrument (epidemic in this building), the piano has the most extraordinary ring to it, especially on certain intervals, like the major 6th. I've always been blown away by some of the sounds it can produce, even how they've translated to recordings done by the old voice recorder. There is something special about that instrument, and I shall in the future try a few more recordings on it. Thanks for mentioning that!

Let me know if the balancing of channels helped. I trust your ears for these things much more than I trust my own!

[pianowolfi]

Ha, I found it  

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=41080.0

I would not mind playing this!

And now you actually played it
Do you know each other in person?

Beautiful! I think I like the Baldwin recording most so far (I didn't yet listen to the fixed close mic version) Though I don't really mind the close mic either, hmm difficult to decide.

[demimondegirl]

Yay!!! Thank you so much, David!
 

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

I just listened to your rebalancing.  I believe that more of the total sound that was captured has been migrated over to the left channel equalizing the volume of both channels.  But I think the fundamental problem remains--that is, less of the bass sound was originally captured than should have been the case.  So now the treble is prominent in both channels, while the bass is not as full and rich as it ought to be.  With a more elaborate set-up (if for example it had been recorded with ribbon mics inside the piano), the bass, tenor and treble would have been separately mic-ed to eliminate the bias favoring the treble.  The H-2 being one unit with on-board enclosed mics can be in only one physical position, but not two or three.  So being at the treble edge of the soundboard, that's mostly what it picked up.  Had you placed it over on the bass side of the soundboard, the result would likely have been very different--the treble would probably have sounded weak and distant, given the proximity and power of the bass strings there. 

The other thing, as I say, is that what the H-2 is also "hearing" inside the piano is music in the making (somewhat more percussive), rather than a more finished, blended sound once it escapes the piano.  Where the Pastoral is contemporary with some blues sounds now and then, you can be successful with close-in recording, but you'd need more sophisticated equipment to do it in my opinion.  For more standard repertoire, I really believe that the H-2 needs to be out in front of the piano.

David

[goldentone]

Nice job balancing out the channels, Dave.  I found it interesting that the highest treble notes appear only in the left channel.  

By the way, about how far from the piano was the H2 when it was in the middle of the hall?