tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1153416368393221042006-07-20T18:26:00.000+01:002006-07-20T18:26:00.000+01:00Seth and Guthry, I think you have mis-understood the CD and the reason we included the second CD (without charge). This is a recording that is first and foremost about the music, and the type of organs and acoustical environments on which it was composed and played. Loft Recordings has never produced a CD with any kind of digital processing - no compression, no EQ, no panning, no reverb. We generally get the effects we are looking for with microphone selection and palcement, along with carefully selected cables and electronics. If we were interested in reverb for its own sake, there would have been only one CD in the box.<BR/><BR/>The purpose of the second CD was to raise questions about technology and the appropriateness of its use. This is a case where the organ is about as authentic as one can find in the US, but where the acoustics are more like those of an English "Town Hall". The music was written and performed at Ste Clotilde in Paris, a neo-Gothic church with reverberant acoustics. The question is whether the music is better served by the drier acoustics that the organ was recorded in, or the wetter acoustics of a real French cathedral.<BR/><BR/>Some of the beneficial musical effects of the Chartres cathedral include:<BR/><BR/>1. Rolling off of the treble, which gives the organ a tonal balance more like the original Cavaille-Coll organs.<BR/>2. Increased strength in the bass, most notable in the pedal reeds, which "roar" and "thunder" more, and "buzz" less.<BR/>3. Increased cresecendos and decrescendos, due to the buildup and die down of the reverberation. This is a biggie...<BR/>4. Wider variety of touches are possible (you can play with shorter notes, and the room puts it together).<BR/><BR/>As you might surmise by this post, I am not entirely convinced this is a good thing to do for a classical recording---but I am not convinced otherwsie either! In the CD booklet, I wrote an essay on the philosphical aspects of these choices.<BR/><BR/>Guthrie - I agree with your statement about classical music CDs in general, but that is not what THIS CD is about...<BR/><BR/>Roger Sherman, Executive ProducerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com