ODESSA: An interdisciplinary symphonic recording for the study of orchestral sound blending

On Demand

Presenting Author(s)

Martha de Francisco, Dipl. Tonmeister

Associate Professor
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Slides

Co-author(s)

Malte Kob

Professor
Detmold University of Music
Detmold, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Jack Kelly

PhD Candidate
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Diego Quiroz

Ph.D. Candidate
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Stefanos Ioannou

Student
HfM-Detmold
Detmold, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Abstract: As part of the Analysis, Creation, and Teaching of Orchestration (ACTOR) Partnership, recording engineers/producers (Tonmeisters) collaborate with experts in interdisciplinary research on musical timbre and orchestration. Complemented with concurrent acoustic research activities, and departing from techniques employed in record production, the Tonmeisters realize a complex multitrack recording of a symphony orchestra. They create recordings of single instruments and orchestral sections in the close range, as well as of the sounds heard at more distant perspectives. These are mixed to produce a convincing sonic representation of the music. The mixes and the disassembled components of the sound are presented to the researchers. They enable them to examine timbral blending and shed light on how orchestral sound works in all its complexity.