4 Part Music Blog

If there is anyone out there actually reading this then you may well have noticed that I haven’t written anything for a few months. Without wishing to sound like I am making excuses this is mostly due to the rather hectic schedule I have had recently.

In the last few weeks we have completed a number of new recordings and I have been busy working on some compositions for a private client. As well as this we have also been looking into some new equipment which I will talk about in another post. Briefly our idea was to explore whether or not there was any merit in having a portable system which (if running on battery power) would enable us to record in the middle of a field. Whether or not this would be useful to us remains to be seen. Watch this space for a full review.

In other news we are also busy perfecting our Internet producer system which will enable us work with producers at arms length (or indeed in another country). This will work alongside our current talk back system and we are even working on a new system of control which may incorporate a number of Apple iPads. Whilst this may sound all very technical the purpose is to make everything easier, not just for us but most importantly for our clients.

I will talk more about this system in a dedicated article discussing in greater detail the benefits of our technology.

On Saturday we recorded the Nelson Recorder Trio. This is our first collaboration with the trio and the first time we had been given the opportunity to record this type of ensemble.  As such we had to make sure we were fully prepared and perhaps in hindsight we did go rather over the top setting up 16 channels of microphones to record 3 instruments!  However, the trouble is we only get one chance to record so better to be safe than sorry!

The session lasted just shy of 3 hours with a short break in the middle for coffee and cake (well there’s always cake involved!).  Our plan is to edit the various takes next weekend and produce an approval disc by the middle of the following week.

Whilst we were at the Magdalen Chapel with the microphones set up I took the opportunity to do a little recording on the organ with the Chapel organist Dr Robert Anderson.  We have committed to produce a joint CD to raise funds for the chapel but it’s proving somewhat harder than we had originally anticipated!  More on that later…

Only 2 days to go until our next recording of the Nelson recorder trio who are based in our hometown of Bath.

We have been planning this recording since about September last year when we carried out a test recording to explore suitable venues. In the end the venue chosen was the Magdalen Chapel in Bath where, incidentally, I am the organist. Initial concerns from the musicians were expressed due to the fact that the chapel is carpeted. For this reason we carried out a free of charge test recording to see if the venue was suitable.

The test recording was also a good opportunity for us to understand the instruments we were to be recording. The most obvious feature of recorders is they are considerably quieter than a lot of instruments. The biggest challenge for this is not our ability to record but more to ensure the venue is as quiet as possible.

Following the recording in June 2009, we have just released the new CD of Prior Park College’s Chapel Choir entitled “Laudate”.  The CD was recorded over 3 nights with quite a grueling schedule of between 3 and 4 hours each night with only short breaks.  Given this, the chapel choir performed remarkably and the end result is something for everyone to be proud of.

Proir Park College is a co-educational Catholic day and boarding school occupying a magnificent Georgian mansion in Bath.  The choir has an outstanding reputation for excellence and has performed in a number of English cathedrals as well as throughout Europe.

Copies of the CD are available from Roland Robertson, Music Department, Prior Park College, Ralph Allen Drive, Bath, BA2 5AH or telephone 01225 835353.

Sir Colin Davis was presented with Her Majesty’s Medal for Music for 2009 by the Queen on 8 December at Mansion House. The conductor also performed for the Queen with the LSO, of which he is President.

The award was presented for the first time in 2005, and Sir Colin is its fifth recipient. It is given to an individual or group of musicians judged to have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation. These have included Sir Charles Mackerras (2005), Bryn Terfel (2006), Professor Judith Weir (2007) and Kathryn Tickell (2008).

Sir Colin Davis & HM The Queen

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Master of the Queen’s Music, chairs the music committee which decides on the nominations for the award. Sir Peter commented not only on Sir Colin’s ‘work as a conductor and ambassador of classical music at the highest possible level’, but also ‘his involvement with the musical education of young people, making classical music a vital contribution to their development as whole human beings’.

The other music committee members are The Lord Moser, William Lyne, Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Richard Morrison, The Hon. Sir Humphrey Maud and Michael Berkeley.

For the last few months I have been recording a monthly podcast with Lesley Anne Hornbogen of “On the Go”.   Lesley Anne is a virtual assistant and she see’s a monthly podcast as a means of communicating with her client base and new prospects.

However, a podcast is not simply an audio version of an email newsletter (at least not the traditional type of email newsletter which is often no more than a sales pitch!).  In the business world, a podcast is an opportunity for a business owner to “speak” to their clients or prospects and give an insight into not only their business but talk about their experience and current news items affecting their business as well.  I’ve so far recorded 3 podcasts with Lesley Anne and we have discussed a range of subjects including Networking, Social Media and the role of a Virtual Assistant.

Now, you would be forgiven for thinking that Lesley Anne and I presumably meet up in a recording studio to put together the podcast.  I think almost without exception every person that I meet and say I’m involved with a recording business immediately asks “wheres your studio?”.  But no, these podcasts are currently all recorded in Lesley Anne’s kitchen with us sat round the table.   Welcome to the world of on location recordings.

By doing this series of Podcasts with Lesley Anne, I am hoping to show that with the right equipment and setup you don’t actually need a “studio”.  After all, what exactly is a recording studio other than 4 walls, some microphones and other recording equipment?  Actually, there is a bit more too it than that, but the point is we carry everything needed to turn almost any space into an acoustically treated studio environment.  Luckily for me, Lesley Anne has agreed to be “experimented” on and we have tried various different setups.  I am particularly pleased with the 3rd podcast and would welcome any feedback.

You can listen to Lesley Anne’s podcasts by visiting the samples page of our website. Or alternatively for more information on our audio recording services please visit the main site here.

Tonight saw the return of Gareth Malone to our television screens with another quest to create a choir from scratch.  Having taken some school kids to the Choir Olympics in China and some boys to the Royal Albert Hall, Gareth’s latest challenge is to create a “community choir” in the town of South Oxhey.

South Oxhey is built on land which was once part of the Oxhey Hall Estate and was created after the second world war to help alleviate housing pressures on London caused by the Blitz.  Today the area has rather a poor reputation which goes back several decades. Gareth’s concept is to create a Community Choir which will give the area its much needed boost.

Gareth Malone

As a musician and singer (well a keen amateur choir member at any rate), I hope that Gareth’s efforts prove to be successful. As with anything a choir is never going to be everyone’s idea of fun but it’s good to see the BBC promoting the benefits of group singing.  I found it particularly amusing when Gareth admitted to being “middle class” as if this was something to be kept quiet.  Admittedly perhaps in South Oxhey maybe that is the case?  However, what this shows is that music and singing breaks down so called social barriers.

Traditionally I think choirs are often seen as for the middle classes which is a shame because it certainly shouldn’t be about that at all.  Personally I am hoping that Gareth’s work aside of developing a great choir in South Oxhey will also inspire other people to join or indeed form their local choirs.

Communication today has never been easier.  It seems that everyone is Twittering their every move or living out their lives on Facebook, Linked – In and a whole host of other social networking websites.  Then you have business networking, the likes of 4 Networking, BNI, FSB and so forth not to mention countless small networking organisations all of which have their place.  Then, back online you have blogs (such as this one), forums, video messages and podcasts, all of which are ways of promoting your business or your life or anything else you wish to share.

With the explosion of business networking in recent years, a podcast is a great way to give your customers a personal message about your business when you’re not there. What’s more with automated delivery straight into iTunes or some other similar program, it’s easy for your customers to opt-in to your podcasts and then have the freedom to listen to them whenever they want via their iPod or similar device.

The question then is how to go about recording a podcast.  The easiest way for most people is to do this using the microphone built into the laptop or buy a cheap USB microphone and connect it to a PC.  In principle this will work and there are plenty of free audio programs out there which will help to achieve a reasonable quality of audio.  All you then need to do is to go through and edit the podcast so that there are no strange gaps and maybe re-do areas where there is a stutter and there you have it.

So if it’s so easy then why do 4 Part Music now offer a service to record podcasts?

Well, it comes down to the quality of audio which is already in mass circulation.  The most obvious source of audio would be the radio. Anyone who listens to their local radio station or one of the BBC stations is used to the way it sounds.  That level of quality is almost impossible to achieve from a tiny mic located in the average laptop.

The quality of any audio recording is subject to a number of factors.

1. Location:

We do not currently have a studio but do all our recordings on site, or on location as we refer to it. This makes our customer’s lives much easier. However, that means we have to effective create a studio environment everywhere we go. This we achieve through a number of portable accoustic panels and foam which is placed at various points to “deaden” the accoustic in the room.

2. Microphones:

Using a high quality microphone is one of the most important factors in any recording.  For a podcast we generally use a very high quality condenser microphone for each person coupled with pop shields as necessary.

3. Hardware:

All our recordings are captured at 96/24 which is the accepted standard for high quality studio recordings and recorded onto the computers hard drive via the Pre Amps and Analogue to Digital converters.

4. Cabling:

Even the microphone cables and other connectors all have to be of the highest possible quality and often we will use cables with a silver core.

Is this a bit excessive for a podcast?

In short no! As we have seen, anyone can essentially record their own podcast using a laptop and some free software.  To make a difference we need to offer the same standard of audio you would expect from the BBC.  This I hope we achieve, which for £50 a podcast we hope represents excellent value for money.

To find out more visit our Website.

This year sees the inaugural “Office Choir of the Year” competition which is being organised by “Music in Offices” in partnership with Classic FM.

The competition is open to all office choirs based in London with 12 or more members and also has a category for newly formed ensembles.

David Lawrence is running some choral workshops to which all applicants are invited before they perform in the competitive heats from which the finalists will be chosen.  Every choir will perform at the heats (Judges Janet Shell and Ralph Allwood) and five finalist choirs will compete in front of our panel of adjudicators on 22nd April 2010. Judges will include Suzi Digby (Lady Eatwell) OBE, Emma Johnson and Lucy Parham.

Further information and application forms can be downloaded from the Music in Offices Website.

The Royal Opera House has initiated a new project by joining forces with the social networking site and creating the world’s first ‘Twitter’ opera.  The Royal Opera House is encouraging users to contribute ‘tweets’ – mini blogs of 140 characters – to form a libretto for an opera which will be performed at the Deloitte Ignite Festival next month.

The opera will be created as each user submits a ‘tweet’ which becomes the next part of the story. So far the story includes William who is locked in a tower with birds, Hans who has promised to rescue him and a woman who is creating a potion to speak to birds in her biochemistry lab. The full libretto can be found on the Royal Opera House website.

Excerpts of the text will be set to music by composer Helen Porter, who will be using both original music and familiar opera melodies, to create a fun take on opera. Throughout the performance there will be a chance to ‘tweet’ on one of the 20 laptops that will be available.

Opinions are split as to whether this experimental project is degrading opera and threatening the reputation of the prestigious opera house, or if it is an attempt to appeal to the masses and prove that the elitism of opera is a thing of the past. “It’s the people’s opera. The perfect way for everyone to become involved with the inventiveness of opera as the ultimate form of storytelling,” Alison Duthie of the Royal Opera House explains.

This project is part of the Royal Opera House’s ongoing dialogue with internet users, including 18,000 Facebook and 2,000 Twitter followers. The Royal Opera House is hoping to change its image from being elitist and middle-class to being a fashionable establishment which is up to date with modern life.