Focal Press Book: Classical Recording: A Practical Guide in the Decca Tradition

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Glossary of Terms, Acronyms, and Abbreviations
• PART I � Before Recording
  • Acoustics and The Recording Venue
  • Studio Techniques and Working On Location
• PART II � Recording
  • Basic Two-Microphone Stereo Techniques
  • Solo Instruments
  • The Piano
  • Voice: Solo and Accompanied
  • Solo Instruments and Piano
  • The Decca Tree
  • Ancillary Microphones
  • Surround Sound Techniques
  • Solo Instruments and Orchestra
  • Chamber Ensembles
  • Wind, Brass, and Percussion Bands
  • Organ
  • Choirs
  • Solo Voice, Orchestra and Choir
• PART III � After The Recording Session
  • Mixing
  • Editing and Post-Production
  • Mastering
• Appendices
• Bibliography and Further Reading
• Index

About the Authors

Caroline Haigh grew up with equal love for music, maths, and physics and combined study of all of them on the Tonmeister course at the University of Surrey. She began her career in classical post-production working for Decca during her final year at University, and stayed there for several years before moving around the corner to Abbey Road Studios (EMI) in 1996. At both Decca and EMI, she gained experience with countless major classical artists and became a sought-after and skilful editor, working on several Grammy award-winning albums, including Les Troyens (Decca - OSM/Dutoit) Best Opera 1995. Having enjoyed giving guest seminars at the University of Surrey during her time at Abbey Road, Caroline was recruited to teach on the Tonmeister course on a permanent basis from 2009. She currently teaches recording techniques, production/post-production skills and electro-acoustics (microphones), and she continues to work as a freelance classical editor.

John Dunkerley is one of the world's most highly respected and emulated classical recording engineers. Throughout a long career at Decca and then as a freelancer, his recordings have been renowned for their ravishingly beautiful sound and attention to detail. He has worked with almost all the major artists of the last 40 years, has made over a thousand CDs, and his recordings have earned over 15 Grammy awards. John is one of the last engineers alive to have learnt his craft from the great Kenneth Wilkinson, the inventor of many of the techniques that underpin the classical recording art. John teaches workshops at the University of Surrey, at the Banff Centre, and at the Abbey Road Institute.

Mark Rogers studied on the Tonmeister course at the University of Surrey. He began his career working with John Dunkerley at Decca, and then spent nine years around the corner at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where he was the chief technical engineer for Studio One, famous for its orchestral and film score recordings. Here he worked with hundreds of different producers and engineers and gained a unique insight into the huge variety of techniques used in classical recording. In 2000, he moved to a management role at Warner Music, and after four years left to become a freelance recording producer, engineer, and musician. Since then he has worked for a wide variety of clients, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and back where he started at Decca, and his recordings have won many accolades, including a Grammy award in 2009. Mark is a visiting lecturer at the University of Surrey.