The reed in the recording sounds somewhat unique. What is it supposed to be? The organ sounds great.
Hi Allan,
Thanks for the compliment. The reed is an 8' Trompette - because its physical location is at the front of the Swell chest and directly behind the shades, the box was closed for the solo, which changes the overall sound characteristics of that rank compared to the box being open. For the latter part of the chorale, the box is wide open. The reeds have been voiced to speak out over the rest of the organ - I like chorus reeds that "bite", and these do. The entire organ runs on 3" wind.
Hi! I thank all of you for your kindness!!!
What fantastic recording did I hear!!?! Krummhorn, before listening to your recording I couldn't believe that a recorder so little was able to take an incredible recording (such as I listened to) both in clarity and in power of sound from a so variable source (in tone and dynamic) as the organ is!??!?!
Really..when you drop down rank after rank, you can listen that the two cardioids report without any distortion the real growing up in dynamic level!?!
But..Krummhorn, what about the position and distance from the organ you put the H4?!?
Hi Manuel,
In this
image you can see the pipes and the console. (The pic is also in the forum gallery amongst others I've posted of this same organ). The H4 was placed on a hymnal on top of the organ console and the mics were aimed directly at the pipe work. The distance between the console and the pipes is about 15 feet at most. In later recordings I have mounted the H4 on a camera tripod (the mounting for such comes with this recorder) and stationed the recorder further back.
. . . Ando also.. how're the divisions and pipes placed?!?
The Great is exposed and the Swell is enclosed, directly behind the Great. The pipes to the left (in the pic above) is the working facade containing the last 12 notes of the 8' Principal and the 16' Gedeckt. Downstairs, in the sancuary -
view of altar would be a better placement for recording, but the lack of a remote control for this recording device makes that impossible. I only record in the wee hours of the morning (2:30am to 4:00am) as the church is next to a major state highway and the road noise during the day would affect the recordings. I can't talk my wife into going to church at that hour and handle the button pushing on the recorder :lol:.
Then..another question to you, if I can...: what do you think about a stereo recording (for organs wide in the disposition of pipes) or better.. about a "5.1" recording?!?
I thank you for the recording you took and that I had the possibilty to heard!!! Best Regards to you, and to all who will take live organ recording and will share their own experiences!!! Manuel
For wide dispositions, it would be better to be further back, but not so far back that we lose the "feel" of the organ, where we are then recording the "building" rather than the "organ in the building".
I have no experience in a 5.1 recording ... I leave that answer to those more qualified than myself. I am a professional church organist (in my 48th year) but an amateur of sorts when it comes to the various methods for recording.
Indeed, I have heard recordings like you mention where the sound level appears to drop as more organ is added. This is called automatic leveling, which is an option on the H4.
When I set up my H4, I set the sound levels manually ... that is, I adjust for the max "gain" with full organ, then the dynamic levels of the organ change just like I play it ... I set the levels manually for the Bach piece, which is why you actually feel the organ building up when ranks are added.
I'll be posting additional clips of my recordings using this H4. As Flute n' Pedal stated, the H2 is cheaper - about a hundred dollars cheaper - and it will also do a great job of recording. I did almost a whole year in research on these devices before I finally chose the H4. I added the optional 2GB card to my unit (it came with a 512MB card) which allows me to record for 37 hours in MP3 format at 256 bit (CD quality).