quintet
Recording Sessions
Entering a recording session provided opportunities for learning and growing, in much the same way as did participating at competitions.  A commitment was at hand and there were several decisions to be made, such as these:

What would be recorded?

How long should the final recording should be?

How much would it cost?

What should it look like?

Who's going to pay for it?

Where will we sell it?

Chamber The very first recording was totally self-recorded, with rented sound equipment.  In an effort to save money, considerably more time was spent dealing with annoying and unfortunate technical problems with the equipment -- from cable problems that "magically" added an unwanted humming sound to recording decks that would not properly work.  It was a wonderful experience even with these problems.
One element that always had to be factored into any big plans like making a recording was each member's weekly schedule.  Getting five schedules to line up enough times in some sort of close sequence of dates proved almost impossible.  And then securing the location was another difficulty.  This first recording took place at a church in Marblehead, Massachusetts, which is a one hour drive from Boston. 
This recording included some of my very first arrangements, such as the Albeniz "Leyenda"; "My Spirit Be Joyful" and "Sleepers, Awake", both by J.S. Bach; a "Suite in D" by G.F. Handel; and the energetic "Two Courants" of Samuel Voelckel.  Knowing that our first recording had arrangements that were exclusively ours made the project seem even more special.  Other music included three Renaissance dances by Anthony Holborne, the "Tango" of Albeniz, "Where'er You Walk" of G.F. Handel, a "Tarantella" of Mendelssohn, the "Souvenir di Porto Rico" of Gottschalk and "Three Pieces" by Ludwug Maurer.
One of the difficulties in making this recording was that we had no means to do any editing or splicing of any kind, so there were many re-takes.  The single longest selection was the Bach "Spirit".  On the sixth take -- I was beginning to feel it by then -- there was some problem near the end of the piece, so we couldn't use it.  Ouch!  Finally take seven was a keeper (*whew*).
That first recording set the stage and made us more interested to do another one.
The second recording was the quintet's first chance to show something of it's musical versatility.  It was called "An American Journey" and included some of the "pops" arrangements for brass quintet that were introduced in the mid to late 1980s. Brass Quintet
The title to this recording was to indicate the various city and regional names included on several of the musical selections.  "Old Cape Cod" and "Georgia" were both songs that had been on many concerts, and now the audiences would have a permanent copy to take home after the concert!
These first two recordings were both fully self-recorded. While the second one contained no splices within any continuously playing piece (as was the case on the first recording), "American Journey" did have a few edits which occurred at convenient places in the "pops" suites, where the arrangement itself actually came to momentary halt -- that's where we took a time out!
FIRE IN THE CHAMBER
Fire in the Chamber For the third recording the quintet decided that spending money for an experienced recording technician was the only way to go.  But that did not prevent there from being the same kind of scheduling difficulties that had been there for the earlier sessions.  It was made in 1993, a year after the Narbonne competition.
Again set in a church, the first of three recording sessions took place in mid-winter, with snow outside.  The later sessions were when it was not as cold and there was no snow.  There was a noticeable difference in the acoustics inside the church, but fortunately it did not affect the tone quality of the recording.
In addition to a professional engineer, we hired a producer to be at each session, to listen and comment on the music and make various helpful suggestions.  That person was Scott Hartman, who was the trombonist with the Empire Brass.  His input helped further educate the way the quintet listened and played.
With the advent of the recording engineer, we were now able to do careful editing.  This made it considerably easier to come up with a finished product, which had a smooth and even consistency.  There were several occasions when we were having to choose one take over another, and the question that came up a few times was, "Isn't there another take?" 
STEALING THE SHOW
When the recording bug bit again in later 1995, the quintet's library had grown even more.  In trying to come up with some sort of "theme" for a CD, we started noticing all the various oprea arias, overtures, suites, and operetta collections.  It seemed that there was plenty of both familiar and unusual music from this genre to create an enjoyable recording. Stealing the Show
By then we had music by such composers as Bizet, Bernstein, Purcell, Scarlatti, Lehar, and also by Glinka, Mozart, Wagner -- and Eichberg?  Nobody had heard of him, but everybody enjoyed his "Overture to The Doctor of Alcantara", a light-hearted work remiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan.
And we were back to record in yet another church.  This particular space was an acoustical challenge -- all stone, with rows and rows of wooden pews.  The first recording session took the most time, because where we first placed ourselves, in relation to the microphones and the space of the room, did not record well at all.  The recording engineer said there were all kinds of vague and "woofy" qualities.
So we hunted to find the ideal physical arrangement and the best possible microphone placement.  In the end, three of us were each standing on one pew that we moved over against a wall, the French hornist was standing in a chair, and the tuba player was sitting on a very tall table-like structure.  It certainly looked odd, but the end resulting sound was wonderful.
So we hunted to find the ideal physical arrangement and the best possible microphone placement.  In the end, three of us were each standing on one pew that we moved over against a wall, the French hornist was standing in a chair, and the tuba player was sitting on a very tall table-like structure.  It certainly looked odd, but the end resulting sound was wonderful.
This undoubtedly was the most exciting recording to date.  The sessions were in winter and there were several snowy nights.  A number of times tempers flared, but then we'd have sandwiches and the blood sugar level would improve.  To be sure, recording is trying work and, like competitions, is well worth the effort.
YOUNG FOGEYS
Young Fogeys This recording was the very first time Boston Brass worked in a recording studio instead of a church.  The experience of playing in a room with such flat acoustics, and wearing headphones so as to hear artificial acoustics, took a little getting used to.  It was recorded in late 1996. 
The recording engineer had more buttons, knobs, switches, lights and gizmos than even airplane cockpit!  As the sessions progressed and Marc (the engineer) showed us various things we could do, it was obvious that he was as valuable as any of the members of the quintet.  His skill, timing and finesse was equal to a fine concert violinist, and he was in essence the sixth member of the group for that recording.
To get the proper balance on such big pieces as the Bill Holman "Maleguena" and Bill Reddie's "Chanel One Suite", and then shift moods completely for the darkly evocative theme from "Laura" and the mysterious " 'Round Midnight ", the engineer had to be especially attuned to what we were after.
Making a recording of several big band charts was a dream and a challenge.  Since the quintet had been performing them for quite a while, the main learning curve was in properly utilizing the studio itself.
The danger of recording in a studio is including the kind of acoustical envelope ("reverb") that draws attention to itself.  You know it when you hear it, and it usually always sounds like "too much".  Luckily, Marc was able to offer a variety of sounds to choose from, so that each selection had its own balanced acoustic.
At the very last recording session, when we were just about out of studio time (and money), there was discovered some sort of technical problem with a smaller piece of equipment.  Marc was baffled.
The tuba player, Randy, previously had a little experience with whatever it was that was causing the problem.  So Randy spent easily one hour patiently fiddling with the "thing", and finally corrected the problem.  We then recorded "Chanel One Suite" and the "Fly Me To The Moon".  After that day-long session, we left (again it was snowing!) and went to some four hour gig.  We were tired after that.

©Copyright Richard Waddell, 2001
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