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The outputs of the microphones were amplified with solid-state Millennia Media HV-3B preamplifiers, which also supplied the mikes with the necessary 130V. The output of the omnis' preamplifier fed a Manley/ UltraAnalog 20-bit analog/digital converter running at 44.1kHz, and the cardioids' preamplifier fed a dCS 900D 24-bit A/D converter—both via 1m lengths of AudioTruth Lapis x3 balanced interconnect with passive splitters to send a second feed to the 96kHz recording setup. To get the maximal transparency, the mike preamplifiers and A/D converters were placed on stage as close as possible to…
It is very important when you're using spaced microphones to ensure that their outputs are in time synchronization. In other words, for a musician at the center of the stage, the sound from the instrument should reach all the microphones at exactly the same time. In the analog days, you couldn't do that unless you very carefully measured the distances from each microphone to the instrument and made sure they were the same. But then the microphones might not be in the right place to get the optimal sound quality from each. So the cardioid pair were placed to give the optimal sound picture,…
Notes on the Performances: Hyperion Knight
As George Gershwin relaxed with a game of pool at the Ambassador Billiard Parlor on Broadway in January 1924, his brother Ira browsed through the New York Tribune. Ira's attention was captured suddenly when he read "George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto"—and the advertised premiere was scheduled for February. As it turned out, George was just as surprised by the announcement as his brother. He had discussed the possibility of writing a "serious" concerto utilizing jazz idioms for a Paul Whiteman concert, but the budding composer had no…
"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is an upbeat, sassy, contrarian sort of tune conceived for Broadway, but found its appropriate home with the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers duo in the film Shall We Dance? "Someone to Watch Over Me" also began life as an upbeat tune, but during rehearsal George was vamping through it slowly when he and Ira realized that it was even more effective as a ballad. (I have tried to give it the "warm and wistful" treatment Ira felt it truly deserved.)
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" started out as a simple repeated-note rhythm, but when Ira suggested the lyric "…
Sidebar 1: The 96kHz Surround Alternative
As you will have gathered from Wes Phillips's comments, in addition to making a traditional two-channel recording sampled at 44.1kHz for release on CD, we also captured a surround-sound version sampled at 96kHz. This was the idea of Steven K. Lee of Canorus Inc., who distributes dCS and Focus Audio products in the US. With the cooperation of dCS Ltd. and Nagra USA, Steve assembled an array of four dCS 902D 96kHz/24-bit A/D converters and three Nagra-D, each fitted with the v2.0 version of the control software, which allows the machine to be…
In this issue's "As We See It," Wes Phillips describes his reaction to comparing the same music recorded at the 96kHz and 44.1kHz sample rates using the dCS Elgar D/A for playback. (For playback, two AES/EBU cables connect the Nagra's digital outputs to two of the digital inputs of a dCS Elgar processor; when this detects the two 48kHz two-channel datastreams, it remultiplexes each into a 96kHz single-channel stream.) Having been able to carry out similar comparisons with the two sets of Rhapsody cardioid master tapes, I am astonished at the difference. The response of the B&K…
Sidebar 2: The Musicians
Hyperion Knight, piano and musical direction, was born in California and his debut at age 14, playing the Beethoven G-major Concerto, was lauded in the press for its "remarkable virtuosity." He attended the San Francisco Conservatory where he studied with Nathan Schwartz and graduated at the age of 19. Graduate studies took him to the Cleveland Institute of Music and studies with Eunice Podis and Paul Schenly. Hyperion received the Arthur Loesser award upon graduation, receiving both a master's degree and a doctor of musical arts degree by the age of 22.
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Sidebar 3: Rhapsody The Music
Rhapsody: Works for Piano & Orchestra by George Gershwin (DDD) STPH010-2
Hyperion Knight, piano
Rhapsody in Blue, arranged by Joe Cea
Hyperion Knight, piano; Krzysztof Zimowski, Anthony Templeton, Carol Swift-Matton, Linda Anderson, violins; Katherine Reynolds, Christine Johnson Rancier, violas; Joan Zucker, cello; Jean-Luc Matton, double bass; Robert Dorer, trumpet; Debra Taylor, trombone; Tia Perdomo, clarinet; Lori Lovato, bass clarinet; Jeff Cornelius, Steven Kimple, percussion.
[1] Rhapsody in Blue 15:59
Three…
Sidebar 4: Rhapsody The Cast of Characters
Project inspiration: Wes Phillips
Production: Hyperion Knight & John Atkinson
Engineering: John Atkinson, Wes Phillips, & Steven K. Lee
Editing/Mixing: John Atkinson
Executive Producer: Gretchen Grogan
Musician Liaison: Christine Johnson Rancier
Road Managers: John Bookwalter & David Hendrick
Steinway D piano: supplied by Washburn Piano Company, Albuquerque, NM.
Piano Technician: Charles Rempel
Booklet notes: Wes Phillips, Hyperion Knight, Gretchen Grogan, John Atkinson
Photography:…
There's something special about big tube amplifiers. No other audio component has such a primal appeal or can so quickly reduce grown (?) audiophiles to Homer Simpsons sighing, "Mmmmm...toooobs." EveAnna Manley, president of Manley Laboratories, understands the effect of high-powered tubes on the audiophile brain and shares the obsession. A Harley rider, mountain climber, and devoted music lover, she is one of the industry's most individualistic characters. You just have to appreciate a gal who ends each CES by blaring Rage Against the Machine at top volume.
Manley also knows…