Here is another great production that sets the bar for expectations for live recorded music.
"Something" (2014 Grammy Winner for Best R & B Performance)
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Here is another great production that sets the bar for expectations for live recorded music.
"Something" (2014 Grammy Winner for Best R & B Performance)
You need to be a member of When Steel Talks to add comments!
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Be enthralled by the rich and enchanting sounds of the Caribbean's No.1 String ensemble. Alternative Quartet comprises of award winning musicians that have encompassed the essence of their craft. This magnificent display of musical dexterity and fortitude is what makes their music unique and timelessly captivating.
Claude
What do you think about Alternative Quartet? Unfortunately this production was not live.
I think that all the superlatives have been used in the description above. To hear the Caribbean/Calypso rhythms integrated into this string format is enthralling. Not to mention the sophisticated dance steps by the musicians. I have to view this video about 15 times before I can fully appreciate it.
But to think that we are sitting on all that musical potential and not conquering the world with it leads to questions and more questions.
This is an interesting and important topic. Excuse me if I wander a bit, I have a number of points, and like a poorly thought out script, this probably won't be as well organized as it should be.
Some of you who know me are aware I have worked in the media for over 50 years, at first in radio as a Chief Engineer, but also an editor. Then for 36 years for a major TV network in New York, as an A/V Systems Engineer, mostly designing audio systems. Now, that doesn't make me the worlds greatest expert, far from it. We had loads of experts at the network, mostly specialized, some generalists. I did observe how they put programs together, and what equipment was used, and my comments are to a good degree based on those observations.
I also have been doing location recording of pan for 20 years now, with varying equipment and results. Most recently I recorded the audio that ended up on the DVD of the ICP Panorama. As I posted earlier, not a perfect recording, but better than some others I have heard made.
I also want to comment that the media products available from Trinidad vary greatly in quality, both technical quality and production value. I have seen and heard some really excellent material, and some that was abysmal. Now why?
I feel there are several major issues: One is a lack of proper training in many areas of production, both technical and artistic. Again, there are people who do know what they are doing, I have had the privilege over the years to come to know some of them well. There are others who think they know it all, but their techniques show they lack the basic theoretical knowledge, particularly on the technical side, to separate those techniques that will work well in a particular application and those that will fail miserably.
Trinidad has an excellent resource to address this, UTT. And there is a crop of young people at least on the audio side, who are coming from UTT which should address some of the issues with time.
There is a second issue, a lack of self-criticism. There seems to be a serious issue with product that is turned out which is "good enough". The people from WST, by posting some examples here, will hopefully open some eyes about how good "good enough" should be.
There is a serious problem in some areas with not taking advantage of advances in the technology which can produce excellent results (if properly applied) with equipment that costs a small fraction of the previous generations of equipment. There is even resistance to using long-available equipment where it would greatly improve the production. A glaring example of this is the failure to use "RF backs" for the cameras used for live broadcast on the Savannah stage. Their use (they are the video equivalent of wireless mics) would avoid the cables currently dragged around the stage, and allow the camera people the freedom to move on the stage without dragging a cable (and someone to manage the cable) behind them. These are not new technology, my network started using them in the 1960's, and just about every live news pickup in the USA now uses them every day.
Another example, in making videos for sale, is the use of many inexpensive "GoPro" video cameras to get good camera angles in events like Panorama. Instead of (or even better, in addition to) depending on a few camera people getting good shots, you cover the performance space with a bunch of fixed pre-aimed Go-Pros. They record on SD cards. After the event, you load all the video from the SD cards onto your editing computer, and select the best shots. Hey, you could even clip a few of them to the racks of a band before they go on stage to get shots inside the band, and remove them after the band has played. There are other similar techniques using cameras mostly intended for security applications, some of which even have remote pan and tilt via WiFi.
Also, in this day and age, if the event is shot using HD cameras, and there is no reason not to, then it should result in an HD product, i.e. Blu-Ray. Also, there should be Internet downloadable copies available in addition to physical media, both of video and audio. It costs far less to make downloads available than to burn/press CD's and DVD's/Blu-Rays. In Trinidad you'll probably sell more physical copies, but overseas you'll sell far more downloads.
There is another issue: It seems that often the people/company chosen is chosen not because they are the best, or even the least expensive qualified (and I emphasize qualified) firm, but because they are friends of the producer/band/organization/political party/whoever chooses them. This is a guarantee of mediocrity or even total failure.
Finally, the out-of-control piracy issue in Trinidad (and overseas) makes it difficult to recover your production costs, to say nothing of actually making a profit. Since the pirates have no production costs to speak of, it is almost total profit for them. It seems that many soca artists produce a limited number of copies of their music to give to the DJs at the fetes, radio stations and clubs, with the hope that they get some live performances, where they will actually get paid, and don't even bother to make CDs for sale; they leave that to the pirates.
In the case of recording steel orchestra audio, the equipment I use costs less than the price of a couple of tenor pans, and that's Trini price for the pans. It is very portable, and gives pretty decent results under the proper conditions and when used correctly. Steel Orchestras (or members of the orchestras) should own a setup and record their rehearsals and performances. They can then choose the best of the recordings to make available as downloads or CDs, without the cost of hiring a recording studio (or simply put them on YouTube for publicity). But if you don't understand the requirements and cut corners or get the wrong equipment, you'll be disappointed. I would be very happy to spend an afternoon teaching those interested in what equipment to get and how to properly use it, if someone finds a venue and gets the word out.
I offered to run a workshop at the ICP on this, but I was apparently too late, and the secretariat didn't bite.
Mister PJJ: Come back and WANDER any time!!! GOOD READ!!!
A little wandering - One point I had on my mind but forgot to include: Trinidad, and much of the Caribbean suffers from a brain drain, often of the best and the brightest, and this includes the media. I have lost count of how many Trinis were at the TV network where I worked before I retired two years ago. I worked very closely with quite a few. Most of them top-notch. More than a few learned television working for TTT before they emigrated to the USA. Others were educated both in Trinidad and here. Trinidad's loss has been our gain.
Also co-workers from other parts of the Caribbean, Jamaica, Dominica, Grenada, Barbados Haiti, Dominican Republic, even Honduras (not really Caribbean), and wherever else I have forgotten or was unaware of their origins. To that add the rest of the world, India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, most of the rest of Europe. The cosmopolitan nature of the place was one of the things that made working there enjoyable.
In fact it was my Trini friends there that were part of getting me into first visiting Trinidad almost 30 years ago.
It is sad that so many Trinidadians have for whatever reasons felt it better to leave Trinidad and look for opportunities elsewhere. It is not my position to criticize conditions in Trinidad that may not directly affect me, but there must be issues driving people to pull up stakes and leave. I think I know what some of those issues are, but I will leave it to others to discuss.
PJJ, I hope they take you up on your offer to share your expertise.
Thank you PJJ . A very important add to the discussion.
I do hope that some of your suggestions filter through to the so called " powers that be" , i.e. , the ones in positions that can make things happen, if they wish.
Bugs change has to start from some where, some people are easily offended by criticism and some may feel insulted by the thought of expats challenging their ability to do better or building on what they have. I recall Ellie Mannette saying about his PANs as an innovator you can expect somebody will come and do it better.
I say as producers, why not ask yourself the question is this the best I can do? Critical analysis beats mediocrity anytime. Not every one can be a Peter Minshall or a Doltan Narine but they can strive.
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