25 – 14 = 11

The session yesterday went very well. Cristian Jacob is a masterful jazz pianist and performed about 15 tunes in Zipper Hall into my analog and digital recording setup. I arrived at the school at 9:15 am, loaded a single cart full of the required equipment (including a box containing 6 reels of 911 analog tape) and then paid $20 to park my car at Disney Hall across the street.

The stage of the hall had the Steinway Model D 9-foot piano positioned about 12 feet from the front edge. I usually have it up stage a little further upstage but decided to leave it alone. Following a fresh tuning, it’s always preferable to leave the instrument where it was tuned.

Figure 1 – Dr. AIX (aka Mark Waldrep) sitting in front of the SD 788T and the Nagra IV.

I hauled a portable folding table out from the backstage area and set up down in the front left corner of the audience. I don’t like recording without being able to see the performers. In this case I decided to set up behind the performer so that I wouldn’t be seen. Artists need to be able to focus on their music during a session.

I set up the mikes (6 in all) and ran the cables to the inputs of the Sound Devices mic preamps and then out from the CL8 mixer to the line inputs of the Nagra. After mounting the first reel of fresh tape on the QGB (Nagra large reel adaptor) and sending some reference tones between the mixer and the analog recording, I was ready for the level check.

Cristian sat at the piano and I asked him to play a segment of the day’s repertoire that would be the loudest. He complied and I went about setting the levels for the inputs and creating a proper mix for the stereo bus. This would be recorded on the SD at 96/24 PCM digital AND sent to the Nagra. The Nagra can record with or without its onboard limiter. I recorded without any filtering or dynamics alternation. When checking levels, it’s always a good idea to leave a little margin so that when the adrenaline kicks in you won’t go into distortion.

The session proceeded smoothly from then onwards. I was living in the past watching the tape wind down as I kept an eye on the “Modulometer” or VU meter on the Nagra. We had very healthy levels throughout the day. I never changed the input levels of the microphone or the output mix of the analog line mixer. I might spread the stereo field a little differently when I blend the 6 channels in the studio…but overall the mix sounded pretty good through my Sony headphones.

At about 12:30, we took a lunch break and headed over to the school cafe. They have a very nice patio area and a well-equipped kitchen that can prepare sandwiches, pasta, salads etc. I picked up my sandwich and beverage and proceeded to the cashier. The total was $10.11. I handed a twenty-dollar bill to the cashier and then said, “I think I’ve got some change”. At which point she turned to me in a state of mild agitation and replied, “Oh, I’ve ready punched in the amounts and know the amount of the change”. I handed her a quarter and told her that she owed me 14 cents.

It was as if I had completely fouled up her system. She pulled out her iPhone and opened up the calculator app. Sure enough 25 – 14 = 11. It was confirmed by technology so it must be right. I got my 14 cents after a couple of minutes and proceeded to the table. Is it just me or is there something shocking about a cashier, or anyone, that can’t do simple subtraction in their head. This was not a young person either…so I can’t blame the failing educational system. Wow.

I’m going to spend some time this afternoon downsampling the high definition soundfiles so that I can send then via FTP to the artist for review. In the old days (even the good old digital days), I would have created a set of CD-Audio discs for the performers so they could pick takes and identify any edits. These days a good Internet connection and a little software and experience on the other end and presto!

Stay tuned. Tomorrow I should be able to post an original 96 kHz/24 file AND also a digitized (at 96/24) version of the analog tape.