Live Sound Studios Audio Samples

Excerpt 'Entweihte Gotter', from Lohengrin. Camille has a big voice extending far into the hall with a rich quality that is at the same time clear and complex.  This type of voice is particularly difficult to capture in an audio format.  When she first contacted me, she told me that she had not had any success in getting an accurate representation of her voice in her previous recording projects that were done in studios over some twenty years. 

This time, she wanted to be sure it was done right.  To that end, she recorded with us at a large church in Connecticut.  She stood on a raised stage area with the piano below and to one side (which helped with the separation of sound between the voice and the piano).  Several mics were used and positioned in different locations in the space to provide various options for the post production mix process.  When Camille heard the recording on-site, she said it was the first time she had ever heard her voice the way it really sounds.  Shortly after sending the recording to agents for consideration, she joined the roster of Wade Artists Management.

Nicole Piccolomini who sings with the Berlin Opera, chose to record her opera demo with a simple stereo pair which gave her more freedom of movement while singing.This sample of "Sily patainyye" (Marfa's aria) from Modest Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina.

Her voice is at once velvety and present with substantial carrying power.  At her request, we positioned the stereo pair in such a way that the audience would perceive her standing approximately 12 -15 feet away.  No artificial reverb was added, just the hall is heard here.  Equalization and other post production 'tricks' were certainly not needed with this singer!  

Excerpt from 'The Imajica', composed by
Brian Kerns.

In this excerpt from composer Brian Kerns' opera 'The Imajica', based on the novel of the same title by Clive Barker, we hear the singers Doug Purcell, tenor and Michael O'Hearn, bass, give a powerful punch in their high notes at the end of the duet 'Vanessa'.

Also, listen to the positioning of the singers on the stage, represented here by the 'audio image' - Michael is slightly farther back and a little to one side, while Doug is more prominent. 

This was done to the specification of the composer who wanted to have represented sonically the relationship between the characters at that moment.  Again, multiple mic techniques were used in this recording at the concert hall.

Echoes of Ancient Japan, arr. by James Meredith
(copyright 2006 Sonos Productions)
Directed by James Meredith
Zoe Vandermeer, producer/engineer/editor
from the live album 'Contrasts', recorded Spring, 2006 in California.

Having been the producer and editor in Sonos Handbell Ensemble's previous recording in 2003, I thought I had a really good idea what I was getting into when they flew me out to California in the Spring of 2006 to record their album 'Contrasts'.  This time, I wore more hats and was the producer, recording engineer and post production engineer.  And this time, director James Meredith had arranged well known songs from the US and Japan in such ways that were, from an engineer's perspective, more daring, frightening and exhilerating than anything heard on their previous album!  

Recorded in a reasonably good-size church, these handbells create sounds like you have never heard them before.  Spread across three large conference tables, spanning the width of the altar area, the dynamics in 'Echoes...' ranges from the pounding gong to the light orchestration of the high pitched bells.  Audio image was an integral feature in this album project.