Recording Classical Music

Robert Toft teaches in the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University, Canada. His interests revolve around the notion of research informing practice, and he specializes in both recording practices and the history of singing. He has written five books on historically informed vocal performance and has given master classes at leading conservatories and universities in Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, and the USA. Robert’s production company, Talbot Records, released its first recording in 2017. Inspired by the intensely dramatic performing styles of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, its main series, Radically Hip, connects modern audiences to the impassioned eloquence of the past.

"This book is packed with informed and useful information. If you need to know about how sound works, and read tons of information about how classical music is recorded in the real world, then you must read this book. Perfect for anyone interested in classical music." - Paul Baily - classical recording and post production, Re:Sound

• Part 1, Fundamental Principles1 SoundwavesEnclosed SpacesPerformance Venues 2 Audio Chain from Sound Source to ListenerIntegrity within an Audio ChainBasic Concepts and TerminologyPart 2, Production3 Microphone TypesThe Behavior of a Pure DiaphragmCondenser MicrophonesDynamic and Ribbon Microphones4 Microphone CharacteristicsFrequency ResponseDirectional (Polar) PatternsRandom Energy EfficiencyDistance FactorProximity EffectPhase5 Stereo Microphone Techniques Coincident PairsNear-Coincident ArraysSpaced Microphones 6 TrackingCritical ListeningSetting LevelsRoom AmbiencePart 3, Post-Production7 EQ – Frequency BalanceDigital FiltersCommon Practices8 Control of Dynamic RangeCompressorsLimitersDynamic EQDe-essers9 ReverberationDigital Reflection SimulationConvolution10 DeliveryFile Types Loudness and MetersPart 4, Common Recording Strategies11 Solo PianoRecording in StereoUnfavorable Room Acoustics12 Soloists with Piano Accompaniment13 Small Ensembles14 SessionsSolo PianoSolo Cello Double Bass and Piano15 Studio Techniques: Re-Creating the Aural Sense of Historic SpacesPre-ProductionProductionPost-Production