Yamaha Education News

Yamaha Jazz Scholars record Yamaha New Jazz Sessions 2010 CD

Pictured here: A Yamaha 2010 Parliamentary Jazz scholar, Andrew Linham, recording his track for the Yamaha New Jazz Sessions 2010 CD, at Astar Studios in August. Photo: Ian Frankland

After receiving their scholarships and the fantastic opportunity to play in Westminster in front of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group in July 2010 Yamaha's Ian Frankland visited Astar studios in August where each of the 2010 Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz scholars recorded a track which will be included on the Yamaha New Jazz Sessions CD mounted on the Christmas double issue of Jazzwise magazine.

So on 16 August, Ian Frankland took the opportunity to visit Astar Studios in Heywood, Lancashire where one of this year's scholars, Andrew Linham was recording his track with his quartet. This is the very studio where one of last year's scholars, Kit Downes, chose to record his own album after his experiences here recording the 2009 Yamaha New Jazz Sessions CD. His album has now been nominated for a mercury prize, so it's a great testament to the work done here by producer Astar owner and producer, Andy Ross.

This is my first time in a professional recording studio so the whole experience was quite alearning experience! Firstly the vast amounts of equipment, microphones and miles of wires and cables required to record a small ensemble. Every single part of the studio, including the walls and ceiling, has been specifically designed to allow for the maximum control possible of the sound. The hessian-lined panels help to absorb sound, while panels covered with precisely drilled holes help to diffuse it - all with the purpose of getting the cleanest, driest sound possible, allowing the producer the maximum amount of control and flexibility when editing and mixing.

In some kinds of music, typically pop music, for example, a recording is often assembled one track at a time, usually starting with the rhythm section and then having other musicians add their parts separately. This has the advantage of enabling the engineer to have great control over the sound. However, many musicians prefer to perform live and leave it to the expertise of the engineer to capture that as faithfully as possible. In this case Andy is recording our scholars live and takes great pains to ensure that the experience for the musicians is as conducive as possible to getting a superb performance.

One of the tricky things about recording jazz, Andy tells me, is that jazz musicians always like to play together closely in a group. This is due to the free nature of jazz performance and improvisation, where players interact and bounce ideas off each other. This means that players cannot be separated into rooms to lay down their track on their own, which of course makes the whole recording process more complicated. Each musician is positioned behind an individual perspex screen to enable the microphones to pick up their own individual sound without interference from the other players. Then various materials and padding are used to deaden things like the piano and amplifiers to get the cleanest sound possible. This makes the mixing process easier down the line.

And so to the microphones themselves. A staggering number of mics are being used today: piano: 5 mics; bass: 4 mics; drums: 8 mics; sax: 2 mics - including a clip-on mic so that the position remains the same regardless of how much the player is moving.

Then to the control room for the sound-check to begin. The aim is to get all the levels sorted, check the microphones are in the right positions to get the most accurate sound possible, get all the instruments separated, get a good headphone mix for the players, check the instruments are all in tune and check all the screens are in the correct position to isolate the sound as much as possible. The first thing I noticed was how quiet the control room was: like stepping from a noisy rehearsal room into a library. Once the music started, I was amazed at the clarity of the sound coming into the room. To the untrained ear (like mine) it sounded ready to go straight on to CD, but I know that the guys at the studio have many hours of work ahead of them yet!

Once everything is ready and they've had a run-through, they start by doing a couple of takes, followed by the opportunity for the band to listen back to the track and re-record a number of times until they're completely satisfied. Ultimately the scholar (in this case Andrew Linham) will have the final say on which version of the track to use on the CD.

It's recorded with a flat response and then, once the musicians have left, the mixing and editing process begins. This includes adding EQ effects and editing out any noise which may have been picked up from the musicians' microphones while they're not playing, to make the track as clean as possible. This process obviously uses the latest recording technology but is still completely reliant on the musical expertise and trained ear of the engineers.

Today's recording took around five hours to lay down a track around six minutes long. Although the musicians have now done their bit, the work has only really just started for the studio. Andy and his team are clearly all very dedicated perfectionists who don't just rely on technology but have a lot of in-depth musical skill and knowledge themselves. They will now spend up to two full days working on the final edit and mix of just one track.

This entire process has taken place over the last fortnight for six separate bands, all of which are performing with this year's Yamaha Jazz Scholars. The vast number of hours of work, coupled with three guest tracks from established jazz musicians go to make up this year’s Yamaha New Jazz sessions CD. Make sure you keep an eye out for it in the December/January Christmas double issue of Jazzwise magazine!

by Ian Frankland, marketing & promotions manager, Yamaha Music UK

(posted: August 2010)