LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Centuries-old sanctuaries were among the world's first structures built with acoustics in mind. Because their architects created them long before the advent of electricity or sound reinforcement, only the clever use of materials and design could aid in amplifying music or a priest's voice. Such a design philosophy contrasts sharply with that of churches or recording studios built today. Sound reinforcement is a given, so architects design flatter response rooms. That simple observation inspired veteran television and movie composer Gary Chang and collaborator Neil Leonard to play and record ambient electronic music through a state-of-the-art 5.1 sound system in five of Italy's medieval "acoustics-as-alchemy" sanctuaries over a two-week span in June 2007. While the avid recordists were excited about the live performances for their own sake, a greater part of them wanted to capture as technically perfect a rendition of each performance in each space as modern technology would allow. Chang researched a range of microphone options before coming across the SoundField SPS422B. Because its multiple capsules are all housed inside a single body, the SoundField SPS422B allows users to simultaneously record in mono, stereo, and 5.1 in such a way that the depth of the stereo and surround fields can be altered in post-production without compromising audio quality in the slightest. "Often, 5.1 recording is more science than art," commented Chang. "Arrays of microphones are time consuming to set up and calibrate. A point-source microphone made more sense in the scheme of the mayhem of our dragging subwoofers up little medieval streets to get to the churches. One could spend more time on microphone placement and less time on alignment - listening instead of measuring." "Using the SoundField SPS422B allowed me to use the classic engineering method - mic placement and ears to get the best recordings," he continued. "We just monitored the mic output in mono and moved it until we were sure we found the best spot. We didn't have to worry about the multi-channel imaging until we were back at the studio, where we were in a much better position to monitor what was going on anyway!" The team used SoundField's Surround Zone Software for Pro Tools that translated the SPS422B's four-channel "B-Format" signal into the exact spatial imaging that they desired. The Sanctuaries program is ambient electronic music, created on Gary's "future primitive" analog Wiard Modular Synthesizer System. Recorded digitally, he used t.c. electronics' System 6000 and six channels of Daking compressor/limiters as outboard components during the mix. The equipment Chang and Leonard used at each sanctuary was the same, but the physical positioning and distance between their Blue Sky Sat 6.5 loudspeakers and Sub15 subwoofer varied to suit the location. Tara Labs provided over 2,000 feet of audio and power interconnects to accommodate this. The program was DTS encoded and stored on CompactFlash(r) memory. On location, the program was played back on a Marantz PMD570, with a DTS CAD-4 decoder translating back to 5.1. The results are stunning. It's very easy to feel the stone of the walls in 5.1, with centuries of history and human drama imparting a personality to the recordings that could never be replicated by any amount of processing. More information, including pictures of the tour, can be found at www.sanctuariestour.blogspot.com |
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