A matchless experience!
In May 2015, 17 international guests from various nations enjoyed an exciting trip to attend a very special event at the Cap a´ Pie Studios in Neutraubling/Germany: EMMA invited them to participate the recording of one of the new tracks on the upcoming EMMA CD 2016/17. The EMMA-arranged survey started on Thursday May 21 with the arrival at the studio after meeting at the hotel. The guests were guided through the studio building and had the chance to see all technical necessities to record music. Mixing engineer Alex Pleines explained how the structure of the recoding room with all requirements for a perfect recording works. He showed some examples of acoustic effects and changes made by the environment of the room and by the placement of instruments and musicians. Later on the group went to the mixing room where all technology was introduced in detail, starting with microphones and ending with the digital equipment used for sound mixing. The impressive day ended with a dinner, where Alex Pleines answered all questions of the participants.
The second day started with attending he setup for the musicians in the recoding room. Alex Pleines showed in detail what microphones are used for which instrument group and how to place them in a perfect way according to the instrument. The setup for the three musicians took more than three hours before the setup was finished with the sound check. The instruments used for the recording of the three titles were: a Drum Set, a Double Bass and a Grand Piano. The students playing the instruments came from the Music University and play together as a Jazz band.
The most amazing part was when they started to play their own compositions live and everybody could experience the immediate result in the mixing room. An unforgettable moment! During the complete process Alex Pleines explained many details, which would be never considered by normal people. Finally, after the recording was finished, Alex Pleines presented how to mix them in a way EMMA CD´s are realized and showed the comparison to commercial recoding. An absolute eye opener for the guests! The feedback was fully positive and all stated out that these two days completely changed their mind concerning music reproduction. Alex Pleines was likewise impressed by so many qualified questions and explained everything for hours. Thanks for that and also thanks to the great Bolandi Trio for playing so well. So let´s hope for a second edition next year.
