Every year about this time - soon after WST publishes the NY Panyard Panorama recordings we receive a flurry of inquiries about recording steelpan, steelband and steel orchestra.
We just noticed that 10 years have passed since we last talked about this subject. Sorry about that. Here is the follow up to that 101 we did years ago.
What does a great Pan recording sound like?
For Basement Recordings, beyond the notion of excellent recording attributes and/or a "sound," it is about a human response and experience.
Anyone can set up mics and hit the record button. However, it is about what emotional, physical, transformative and spiritual responses do you want to elicit from the listeners on playback.
You want the players to totally lose control of their facial muscles, display uncontrollable joy on their faces -- you want the arrangers to shed a tear when they think no one is watching - with a look of extreme satisfaction. And all those who say "I don't like Pan" publicly, to secretly hit the replay button over and over and over again. You want that two-year-old to demand that you play "Pantonic" recording again and again.
With the understanding that the steelband/Panorama steel orchestra is a living being with its own heartbeat, spirit, attitude, thought process, abilities and language - the recording engineer must be willing to become one with the steelband entity.
Capturing the joy and distractions of the panyard -- children running around and laughing, passing ice cream trucks with jingles playing and motorcycles roaring by on the road outside...
You want to see the likes of the late great Clive Bradley enter a transfixed state as they listen to the playback of one of their masterpieces for the first time. Transported to a total unawareness of his surroundings, and he gives that look of complete satisfaction that his creation had been captured properly for all the world to hear. The Pantonic "Ben Lion" recording in 2002 was the one where we know we stirred something in his soul.
Yohan Popwell in a WST interview with Clive Bradley and Pelham Goddard, displayed his knowledge of all the different guitar pan strums of the major steel orchestras. As he spoke, I remember thinking "What a great engineer he [Popwell] could be with us" - as these are the things that we think about as we choose mic placement and type.
The equipment has changed somewhat - such is the nature of the beast as advancements in technology continually present different and new possibilities.
However, our approach and philosophies remain the same. Our mics are the same. Our mic stands are lighter (can't deal with all that weight). Our recording devices are smaller, lighter and much more powerful spec-wise & technically-speaking, if one was to get into all their capabilities or read the 1000-page online manual.
We've gone through all types of recording devices over the years from the Sony Walkman, Tascam analog half-inch multi-track, Yamaha DMR8, ADAT, to laptop DAWs like PreSonus, JoeCo Multi-track recorders and simple hardware-based Zoom recorders. All have given us the results we were looking for.
The most critical point is that our attitude is the same. And moreover the goal is the same.
So we are back at the original question. What is a great steelband/steelpan recording?
Technically correct does mean good for the project. You may remember how the late Bob Marley had to threaten the recording engineers with bodily harm if they didn't let the bass track pin the needle and go into the red. That saturation of tape and natural compression in the analog world was everything for the bass sound in reggae. Similarly in the digital recording world there are many rules and accepted practices that really don't work well in recording the steel orchestra.
As far as those whose music works Basement Recordings has captured - back in the day it was legendary steelband arrangers at the peak of their game like Clive Bradley, Robert Greenidge, Ken Philmore, Pelham Godard, Jit Samaroo, Yohan Popwell and the like. Today we have the next generation of arranging giants - Andre White, Marc Brooks, Odie Franklin, Kendall Williams, Damany James, Tristan Jaspi, Terrance "BJ" Marcelle...
Be it a Panorama yard recording or an event like Pan Is Sweet - the goals are the same. Can today's tuners be as proud to hear the tonal quality of their tuning abilities as, say, a Birch Kelman was when he heard a panyard recording of Sonatas?
You want to capture the band to the point where after 25 years, the smells and aromas of the pan yard are brought back to the players (such as those who played on the recording, or others who know the feeling of being immersed in the "belly" of the pan yard experience )(Muriatic Acid used to clean the winter's rust off the old guitars and basses)
Up next - the microphone arsenal... Which one and why... Why the engineer needs to be both producer and engineer?
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