HOW & WHY THE RECORDING SECRETS OF VELUT LUNA VOL. 2

HOW & WHY THE RECORDING SECRETS OF VELUT LUNA VOL. 2 ( CVLD193 )

Author : VARI
Performer : VARIOUS

Notes

The purpose of this disc is to create a tool that is at least partially useful for evaluating the musical performance of your playback system.
A further aim is to demonstrate the concept of “relativity” of listening, that is, that it is impossible and incorrect to think that there can be a single reference of absolute value in listening to music, especially in relation to two fundamental parameters of sound reproduction, namely timbre and image, which are then strictly connected to each other.
You will not find here the usual test signals normally included in this type of disc, you will not hear a voice indicating the right and left channel, the signal in phase and the signal out of phase, etc. Instead, you will listen to a series of musical tracks, which we will describe precisely below, so that by listening to the music and reading this booklet, you can understand if your system is reproducing what the sound engineer thought to document in these recordings.
The tests on this album are all monothematic and dedicated to the female voice. The project is divided into two parts.
In the first, from track 1 to 13, there is a new recording made specifically for this album. It is a piece for female voice and guitar, the very well-known “Besame Mucho”. The aim of this section is to evaluate the concept of timbre, dynamics and sound image applied to the voice, therefore to understand how different the same voice can be depending on the microphone with which it is recorded and the mixing and mastering techniques applied to the recording.
In the second part, from track 14 to 21, there are 8 songs taken from the Velut Luna catalog, each representing a specific type of voice and its recording: it therefore ranges from voices set in a "classic" way to "light" voices, recorded with "natural" microphone techniques in natural environments and with techniques typical of the recording studio, manipulated electronically in order to obtain specific and precise sound results. For each of these eight songs, a detailed description will be provided of what should be perceived when listening, in terms of sound image and timbre, in accordance with what was defined by the Sound Engineer during recording, mixing and mastering, also describing in detail the recording techniques and the arrangement of the musicians on the stage or in the studio.

The recording present in tracks 1 to 13 was made in the Studio Magister Area of Preganziol on 13 December 2009 using the following recording system and monitors:
RECORDING SYSTEM
Microphone Preamplifier: Millennia Media HV-3D
AD converter: Prism Sound ADA-8 24bit/88.2kHz
Analog compressor: Millennia Media TCL-2 twincom
Analog Equalizer: Millennia Media NSEQ-2 twincom
Analog limiter: Maselec MPL-2
Analog Mixer: Neve 8816
Digital Mixer: Yamaha 02R-96
hard disk recorder: Alesis HD24XR
Digital Mastering: SADIE H64
Microphone and line wiring: White Gold Infinito FII
MONITOR SYSTEM
DA converters: North Star Design Extremo / Prism Sound DA2 Dream
Preamplifier: Accuphase CX260
Power amps: Accuphase A65
speakers: Sigma Acoustics Eclipse Orchestra
wiring: White Gold Sublimis
This CD is made in collaboration with VIDEOHIFI.COM and EXTREME AUDIO.