{"id":1099,"date":"2017-09-23T11:07:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T05:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kettledrummer.com\/?p=1099"},"modified":"2018-04-08T21:09:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-08T15:09:35","slug":"the-emi-recordings-1987-1997-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kettledrummer.com\/?p=1099","title":{"rendered":"The EMI Recordings 1987-1997| Part Three"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The EMI Recordings 1987-1997| Part Three<\/h1>\n

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Pokofiev \u2013Mussorgsky \u2013Dvorak<\/h3>\n

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\"Dvorak's<\/a>

Dvorak’s New World Symphony<\/p><\/div>\n

The previous two blog posts in this particular series were devotes to the first three recordings that we made for EMI \u2013 namely our Tchaikovsky 1812\/Romeo\/Francesca recording, which was the first in the series, followed in quick succession by the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony, and by the two symphonies of Johan Svendsen.
\nThe year 1988 saw another series of three recordings : January saw the sessions for the two suites from Serge Prokofiev\u2019s ballet \u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d; August was the month we recorded our Mussorgsky disc, which included \u201cPictures at an Exhibition\u201d in the orchestration by Maurice Ravel; \u201cNight on Bald Mountain\u201d and the Prelude to \u201cKhovanschina\u201d, both in the orchestrations by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; and November, which saw the sessions for Dvorak\u2019s \u201cNew World Symphony\u201d, with Bedrich Smetana\u2019s \u201cMolday\u201d as a filler.<\/p>\n

Each recording session had its interesting points. I always enjoyed talking to the recording engineers and producers, and EMI had a very good crew. Our first recordings were presided over by David Murray, a very fine recording producer, and he was ably assisted by Mike Clements on these early recordings. David was a fine gentleman and very good at his business. I imagine that he found the acoustics of the Oslo Konserthus a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, they had the advantage of being ably assisted by our very good NRK recording staff, who were intimately familiar with the quirks of our concert venue.
\nMike Cements was actually subcontracted by EMI, rather than a regular employee. He had his own firm, which I believe was called Black Earth, and he worked as a free-lance engineer. He was most interesting, and extremely knowledgeable. He had recorded many of the great names in classical music, as had avid Murray, and it was always fun to \u201cgossip\u201d a little.These two gentlemen guided our first few recording ventures for EMI. Eventually, John Fraser took over the producer\u2019s role, and other engineers were recruited, as both David Murray and Mike Clements were busy elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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About the Prokodiev…..<\/h3>\n

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I believe I had covered our Prokofiev sessions (held in January of 1988) in an earlier post, but let me mention a few brief afterthoughts I have had since then. These sessions were the first time I had used calfskin on the timpani with the Oslo Philharmonic. The calfskins I had procured from American Rawhide (formerly Amrawco), which was owned an d run by Steve Polansky. I picked these up while on tour in Chicago, and the cadmium flesh hoops I got from Dan Hinger, at the tail end of the trip.
\nWhen I had returned to Oslo, I used the Christmas break to mount the heads and put them on three drums: the middle two Hinger timpani (25\u201d and 28\u201d) and the 31\u201d Light Continental chain timapno (which the orchestra still owns and has in its possession).
\nIt was a different sound and feel than I was used too with the Remo plastic, but I have to say it was a noticeable improvement over the plastic.
\nThe Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 2, while great music (and the whole ballet is one of my favorite pieces to play and listen to) were, alas, not in my opinion, the best pieces to start out recording on calf. Any of you will think me odd when I say that, but the music is angular in places, rhythmic and requiring hard mallets and a degree of articulation in most situations. In other words, t a lot of round, warm, legato passages.\u00a0 Another challenge was the extremely quirky acoustics of the Oslo Konserthus, which lacked any sort of bass response. As the hall was built in the shape of a prism, and not of a shoebox (visual aesthetics took precedence over acoustics \u2013 the hall is visually beautiful), and as there is no proscenium, and the choral section lies behind and above the orchestra), the only instruments of the orchestra that benefited from this were the violins, trumpets, and piccolo. Any instruments from midrange to bass were (and still are) at a disadvantage. I had to use larger shaft mallets (Hinger aluminum and wood; also\u00a0 custom-made bamboo) on order to be heard, and the same went for my assistant, and any colleagues from visiting orchestras. We had, in my assistant\u2019s words, to \u201cplay like beasts.\u201d
\nNeedless to say, in recording, I had to lighten up in recording, and to play more edgier and articulate, which made for a thinner sound. When I first heard the completed recording of the Prokofiev, I admired the orchestra\u2019s playing, but was not satisfied with the sound of the timpani. While I played the part well, I felt that the bass response was a bit lacking, and I blamed much of that on the so-called acoustics of the hall ( a point later confirmed by our producer and recording engineer).
\nAfter listening to the recording again many years later, my perspective has changed a bit, and it sounds pretty god, but I still would have liked more bass.<\/p>\n

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Mussorgsky\u2019s Pictures at an Exhibtion<\/h3>\n

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When it came time to record Mussorgksy\u2019s Pictures at an Exhibtion in August 1988, I had had more time to work with calfskin, and had put calf on all the Hinger drums. I used the Amrawco heads on the timpani until June 1988, when I met up with Bernhard Kolberg. He made a visit to Oslo and introduced himself to my colleagues and myself, and had driven a van of his percussion instruments and stands for us to look at. A month or so before his visit, I had sent our flesh hoops to him (I had heard good things about his work from colleagues) to have re-done and have Kalfo skins mounted on them. The skins were actually from Ireland (Mr. Hinger loved those heads) and I was curious to see if there was a difference between the Amrawco and the Kalfo. \u00a0I can tell you here was a world of difference. While the Amrawco heads were good, the quality varied from skin to skin. None of them were bad, but then again, none of them were outstanding, although the larger heads were very good, while the smaller heads were only so-so in comparison.
\nThe Kalfos were great in all sizes. They gave a warmth of sound lacking in plastic (as all good calfskin does) and were a joy to use.
\nAs I said earlier, it was decided that we\u2019d record Mussorgsky\u2019s \u201cPictures at an Exhibition in the orchestration by Maurice Ravel; the prelude to his opera \u201cKhovanschina\u201d; and the \u201cNight on Bald Mountain (sometimes called Bare Mountain) in the orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov. \u00a0If memory serves, this was the first recording to be under the supervision of the man who became our permanent MI recording producer, a Scotsman called John Fraser. John was a gentleman in every way, and a delight to work with and talk to. Musically adept (he was also an arranger and composer of note), he did his best in cooperation with the various sound engineers, both from EMI and NRK to produce as good a recording sound, which, considering the problematic acoustics of our recording venue, is saying a lot.<\/p>\n

I treated each work differently, when it came to stick choice. The Hinger drums were used throughout. For \u201cPictures\u201d, I generally used four pairs of mallets \u2013 ranging from general to hard. The hard mallets I used in the \u201cHut of the Baba-Yaga\u201d \u2013 medium hard for \u201cGnomus\u201d and \u201dBydlo\u201d, and rounder, general mallets for the \u201cGreat Gate of Kiev.\u201d I preferred then, and still prefer, a round, full sound for that glorious final movement, which is one of my favorite moments. The recording went very well and Mariss and the engineers and producer were pleased with our efforts. The only ting I would change if I could go back in time was to have another Hinger 25 inch for the e in\u00a0 Bydlo \u2013 the 22and a half inch doesn\u2019t have the body that the d-sharp on the main 25 inch. Either that or pedal it, but I wasn\u2019t that courageous at the time.
\nNext up was \u201cNight on Bald Mountain.\u201d I was very much inspired by the recording of the same work made by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in the 1960s, when my mentor, Fred Hinger was its timpanist. It still is a great recording, and I pretty much followed in his footsteps by playing the bass line and adding a G# (pedaled on the 32 inch) along with the basses near the beginning of the piece. You timpanists will know where it is. Perhaps you have done so yourselves. For this work, I used a pair of Hinger Touch-Tone mallets (medium-hard), which were a little shorter than the normal Hinger mallets. I was given these by Dan, who told me that he used these on many recordings, and encouraged me to do the same. I kept these for years as my \u201clucky charm\u201d mallets, and I used them on many occasions. They stood me in good stead, and I was satisfied with the results. The last piece to be recorded was the Prelude to\u201dKhovanschina\u201d. There is not a lot a lot of timpani here, but a long roll on C sharp \u2013 performed on the 28 inch timpani with a pair of medium mallets \u2013 I believe I used Feldman mediums for this- did the trick. It was a most interesting set of recording sessions.
\nHere is a link to our recording of Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.” Enjoy!<\/p>\n