CAMILLE - Martegiani, Cocles

ACOUSTIC TIME - Vitale, Genovesi, Potter ( ARCLS024 )

Available in: LP, CD, HD File (wav) and CD File (flac)

Tracklist

01) Ain't nobody (Wolinki - David J) - 06:58
02) Holding back the years (Hucknall Michael - Moss Neil) - 04:38
03) Stranger in Paradise (Robert Wright - George Forrest) - 05:16
04) Choro pro ze' (Guinga) - 04:14
05) That's the way of the World (C. Stepney, M. White, VA White) - 06:53
06) Andeja (K. Potter - R. Genovesi - A. Vitale) - 06:10
07) Abandoned boat (Jose Mendeiros - Joao Mendonca - Ennio Morricone) - 07:18
08) I can't tell you why (Timothy B. Schmit - Henley - Frey) - 05:26
09) It can't help it (Stevie Wonder - Susaye Green) - 04:25
10) Libero (R. Genovesi) - 02:49
11) September (Willis, Mc Kay, M. White) - 03:44
12) I've got a right (Oleta Angela Adams) - 05:19
13) Message in a bottle (Sting) - 04:06
14) Bonus Track - Ghirinbaduè (R. Artale - R. Genovesi) - 04:24

Antonella Vitale - Voice
Roberto Genovesi - Guitars
Karl Potter - Percussion
Special Guest
Ruggero Artale - Djembé, Dun Dun

PRODUCED BY: HD Music Lab Srls
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Rocco Patriarca
GRAPHICS: Stefano Isola
LAYOUT: Tiziano Zuliani
PHOTOS: Stefano Isola, Rocco Patriarca

Recorded by Stefano Isola in the summer of 2012. Mixed and mastered by Stefano Isola at Studio Arcipelago in Rome between July and September 2012. Remastered in September 2014.

Much more than an acoustic trio

The idea of ​​a minimalist, acoustic album had been buzzing around in my head for some time, one that would highlight the sounds of the instruments and the performers' ability to use them to enhance the quality of the music. The inspiration for a fabulous and poignant song, born by chance from the fortuitous meeting of Roberto Genovesi's guitar and the voice of Antonella Vitale, who was recording the album Random, paved the way for a more complete work, a rich yet essential project. The secret lies entirely in the mastery of Roberto Genovesi, an eclectic virtuoso of that challenging yet extraordinary instrument, the guitar, in its many facets. And without exploring, except in a few rare instances, the "electric" aspect of this instrument, he managed to create a musical edifice in which Antonella Vitale's voice, now mature but still brimming with sincere enthusiasm, feels perfectly at ease, protected, indeed enhanced by the acoustic sounds perfectly rendered by the recording techniques employed, for which all lovers of good, quality music can only thank Stefano Isola's professionalism. And, the perfect complement to the pair, an artist beyond the ordinary. Karl Potter needs no further comment in his long and exciting career. In this work, he went beyond rhythmic support, which he nevertheless provided. His percussion is dry and sincere, without effects. Simply present, fused with the sonic message to which they are the essential support, of which they are an indispensable element. It was a few months after this album was recorded. Karl Potter left us in a deafening silence. His music, his poetry, lives on during the concerts that Antonella and Roberto offer, celebrating the remastering of the opera, with growing success. Ruggero Artale, Karl's student and friend, has contributed to the sound of the pieces. In each performance, Ruggero, Antonella, and Roberto pay homage to Karl's music and to his latest recording, "Ghirinbaduè," a piece loosely inspired by Sorsonet, a traditional African rhythm (Baga, Guinea), which we offer as a bonus track.

ROCCO PATRIARCA

Technical notes

Ten years later, we return to a project conceptually very similar to "The Island," Antonella Vitale's debut CD, released by AudioRecords, also in The Classics series. That work was deeply significant for me and for those who collaborated with me, as it marked the beginning of my collaboration with this historic audiophile label and coincided with AudioRecords' new direction. "Acustic Time" shares with the previous CD a minimalist lineup and the reworking of standards (in this case from the American pop tradition) in an acoustic key. From a technical standpoint, the project's approach remained the same, a testament to its soundness: a "live in studio" production style with minimal recording equipment, relying on a bare-bones setup featuring high-quality electronics. The microphone recording technique follows the same criteria: few transducers, stereo configurations (at most), possibly mono-compatible on the individual instruments, in order to minimize signal phase problems. On the guitars we used a pair of Schoeps Colette CMC-6 stereo matched-pair with MK-4 capsules (cardioid) in an X-Y configuration, while on the percussion instruments we used a stereo matched-pair pair of Earthworks QTC 40 omnidirectional microphones in an OSS configuration. For the vocals, however, a single large-diaphragm, tube-based condenser was used, equipped with a Peluso capsule with a cardioid polar pattern. The signal path, from the transducer to the mastering stage, thus underwent only one A/D conversion per track. The processing was limited to minimal interventions so as not to distort the acoustic “sound” of the trio, always in the high-resolution digital domain. Finally, during the mastering phase, the goal was to homogenize the various sessions and make minimal corrective interventions, relying on unquestionably high-quality digital processors, such as the MD3 Stereo Mastering Plug-in from TC Electronic, a multiband processor for the Powercore platform based on the System 6000, one of the most precise, transparent, and musical processors currently available. The result is a clean, natural, and defined sound that highlights all the nuances of the original performance, enhancing the "light" and depth of the soundstage.

STEFANO ISOLA