Deutsch English

Categories

Should you need help with your online order, don't hesitate to give us a call. We are happy to assist you over the phone:
+49 341 308 96 22(free-phone)

Sign up to our newsletter!

E-mail address*:

Music Production

Aufnahme
 

‘And … Action!’

Berlin-Wannsee, Andreaskirche: if this were a film set, one would hear the exclamation ‘and … action!’ innumerable times – ‘Psalm 148, take four’, or something along those lines. Yet there are no actors in front of cameras here, only six exceptional voices arranged in a semi-circle. They belong to Viola Blache, Franziska Eberhardt, Marie Venske, Marie Charlotte Seidel, as well as Felicitas and Helene Erben. Together, they form the vocal ensemble Sjaella, who are in the process of recording their new CD featuring choral music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Tonmeister
Our recording engineer Tobias Hoff (back left)
with recording assistent Yannick Spohr

Indeed, there is no director at the set, who bites into the brim of his hat in response to poorly executed scenes or munches away at his cigar in tears – images familiar from a number of films: here, Rondeau Production’s sound engineer Tobias Hoff is in charge. He is responsible for making the recording process a success – which is exactly why one often hears the equivalent of ‘Psalm 148, take four’, five, or six. The recording, however, begins long before Hoff switches on the microphones: namely with the selection of the location for the recording.

The Andreaskirche in Wannsee, where Sjaella will be singing in the coming few days, has ideal acoustics for small ensembles. The location is off the beaten track yet easy to reach – perfect for an intimate production atmosphere. Since Hoff was already familiar with the location as well as the ensemble, the preparation of the space – microphones, lights, cable, and mixing desk – took only little time. Usually, this takes between 30 and 60 minutes. Twelve microphones are used today, six of which directly record the voices, while the others ensure the individual balance of the works if the room itself cannot be adjusted accordingly.

The enormous tape recorders of the old days are nowadays replaced by a computer with professional audio software. The sound is converted through an amplifier made by RME and is recorded on an interface by the same company. The extent of equipment used at the recording desk is consequently surprisingly minimal. Nevertheless, it achieves the highest standards. In order to allow for optimal results during the editing phase, Hoff records the audio waves in a quality that is two times higher than actually required for the later CD format.

Sjaella
Das Vokalensemble Sjaella

Surely, no such technical equipment is required for a Marian vision. Yet as soon as one puts on the headphones which Hoff has handed over, one gets the impression of hearing angels sing: the ‘Preisung CXLVIII’, a setting of Psalm 148 in a translation by Martin Buber, composed by Volker Bräutigam – a special commission for the new CD. Stunning particularly since one is standing only in the ante-chapel!

While Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘Little Prince’ tells us that the essential is visible only with the heart, it can be experienced with the ears here, for there is no visual contact whatsoever between the sound engineer and the ensemble. Both partners are nevertheless closely connected. They communicate exclusively through a speaker which Hoff uses to comment on the passages just recorded – and, of course, through the music itself: the sound engineer has the score in front of him, and makes annotations about every individual bar.

Sometimes the intonation is not quite right, sometimes the exact coordination. Hoff works like an acoustical seismographer who registers even the smallest drop in tension. ‘Take more time in this passage’, the sound engineer criticises, always bearing in mind the post-production editing. Where will he be able to cut individual takes? Which transitions will he need?

While the ladies of Sjaella conduct themselves, Hoff directs them from off-stage. Unheard by the ensemble, a keyboard on a smartphone is used for the constant monitoring of the singers’ intonation. Hoff knows each of the individual voices. Their non-verbal dialogue is generated through sound alone.

Once the red light in front of the altar flares up and the microphone at Hoff’s recording desk is switched off, the voices take flight. Until the final ‘we’re done’, Sjaella often hears the words ‘that wasn’t quite it (yet), I’m afraid’. Their unfaltering repetition of individual passages seems to be for the recording alone, for if one listens to the six perfectly balanced, beautiful voices, one begins to wonder whatever could be criticised. Yet for Hoff, perfection alone counts, as that is what he will need for the CD. In fact, this is true of the singers, too, who critique and correct themselves as well.

Hoff has a noticeable intuition for the right moment to let things go and when he needs to be a little stricter. At times, he gently urges the ensemble on – for any given day has only 24 hours (and a recording day, with its psychological and physical demands, has even less). Yet the criticism is always constructive: indeed, a sound engineer also needs to be a pedagogue – even if he mostly deals with adult performers.

As visitors to the set quickly realise, the CD is a joint project through and through. It is not a coincidence that Hoff compares his job to cooking: if the editing studio is his kitchen, the recording itself is a vigilant stroll across the market, seeking out the best fresh ingredients.

In the end, everything is safely ‘in the can’ after all. Not only the sound engineer is delighted, but Sjaella are too: ‘the days were dominated by highly concentrated work, relaxing breaks, great ambition, creativity, and new ideas’, Viola Blache happily recalls, ‘and of a very pleasant and natural recording atmosphere without pressures of time, at a beautiful location with a fantastic sound engineer’. Franziska Eberhardt, too, is pleased: ‘it was an intensive time with highs and lows. We had an amazing sound engineer who always managed to motivate us and acted as the balancing mediator whenever things became a little sticky between us Sjaellas’. Helene Erben emphasises the excellent choice of location in particular: ‘I’m really glad that the acoustics were absolutely perfect for our sound and for that of the pieces. We had never seen the church beforehand, it was recommended to us’.

To return to the image of film productions: sometimes, the closing credits show outtakes, skewed attempts, amusing mistakes – demonstrating that even the greatest stars are only human and that the best films are a work of many individual processes and cuts. Such outtakes would, of course, feel out of place on a recording of sacred choral music – for example, when Hoff stops the ensemble and moans: ‘hmmm, what a shame, that was soooooooooooo beautiful’. Yet they would demonstrate the good atmosphere at the set with Rondeau Production’s team. Despite all strain and concentration. Or perhaps that is precisely why.