![]() ![]() We can also add a pair of omnidirectional mikes, one to either side of the ribbon mikes, and blend that in when we want to add more space.Ĭasey Abrams and trumpeter Giveton Gelin at the Jazz recording session. Right now we’re using stereo ribbon figure-8 mikes placed right in front of the band or orchestra. So we’re trying different microphones to find something that has a more natural timbre. Real violins are warm and woody sounding. Every violin you hear on recordings is so peaky in the upper ranges it sounds like they’re made from plywood. It’s more like a Dutch flower painting.ĭC: Condenser mikes ring. I play with orchestras and jazz groups, I know what real instruments sound like, and recordings don’t sound real. Recording is abstract art, it has nothing to do with reality. If you close your eyes and click your hand in front of you, then move your hand to the side and keep clicking, the timbre changes.īB: The new technique doesn’t have those timbre issues?ĭC: Less of them. Binaural’s great for spatial cues, but human hearing is attuned to what’s in front of you. But I get bored doing the same thing all the time. Here’s how the conversation went:īrent Butterworth: Are you abandoning binaural?ĭavid Chesky: We’ll keep messing with binaural. Had Chesky Records - arguably the most effective and aggressive proponent of binaural recording in the history of audio - abandoned headphone enthusiasts? To find out, I called Chesky president and cofounder David Chesky, the person most responsible for the label’s audio aesthetics. So when I recently got a press release from Chesky touting Jazz, the latest release from bassist/singer Casey Abrams, recorded “using our new recording methodology which features a stereo ribbon microphone,” I worried that this golden era of binaural recording was over. For the last couple of years, Chesky Records has produced almost all of its recordings in the Binaural+ format, and I use them in all of my headphone reviews. But because binaural recordings tend to sound only so-so when heard through speakers, most record labels and engineers don’t release them. Binaural recordings - which use microphones placed inside simulated ears on a dummy head - produce an uncannily realistic sense of space when heard through headphones. ![]()
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