Shure And Northwestern Team Up On Recording Project

NILES, IL, October 5, 2007 – What happens when musicians from one of the nation’s most prestigious musical institutions get together with engineers at the world’s leading microphone manufacturer?  The players play and the engineers record.  That’s what happened when students from The School of Music at Northwestern University teamed up with Shure Incorporated for a series of recording sessions.  Shure needed to record professional-caliber musicians, and the School needed a place to make recordings of its students.

 

Over a period of several months, students and faculty from the School of Music performed in the Performance Listening Center at Shure’s headquarters in Niles, Illinois.

 

“The Performance Listening Center is our sonic laboratory,” said Dean Giavaras, Audio Technician at Shure.  “The benefit of having these musicians come in was that we could make recordings with a variety of instruments and a caliber of performer that we would normally not have access to.”

 

Shure will use the recordings to demonstrate the tonal differences between different microphones, and to show the effects of microphone placement on sound quality.  While Northwestern is home to a number of excellent performance venues including the famed Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, a dedicated recording facility is not available.  And while the School has an adequate supply of microphones, Shure’s private microphone locker includes virtually every model that the company has ever made, as well as prototypes that are still under development.

 

The School sent soloists, duos, and even a full jazz ensemble, with all types of instruments, including the pipa, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, and crotales, or small antique cymbals.  Each performer or group was surrounded by an array of microphones.  Shure’s classic SM57 was always used as a benchmark, and various models from the entry-level Performance Gear line and the studio-standard KSM line were also included.  To ensure consistency, duplicates of each model were placed in three or four different positions.  Each microphone was recorded individually, so that it could be used to build a reference library of sounds.

 

Northwestern University students and faculty who recorded in the PLC included J. Lawrie Bloom (Bass Clarinet), Tomoko Kashiwagi (Piano), Kenn Kempf (Percussion), Peter Martin (Percussion), Ben Melsky (Pedal Harp), Masahito Sugihara (Baritone Sax), Wei Yang (Pipa), and DaXun Zhang (Double Bass).

 

 “We’ve had a very good relationship with Shure,” said Richard Van Kleeck, Director of Concert Activities at the School of Music.  “Having access to this kind of studio – with a great crew and a complete stock of high-end microphones – gave us the opportunity to create some outstanding recordings.  These reflect the diverse talents of our students and faculty, and add another dimension to their education as professional musicians.”

 

The School of Music’s Jazz Ensemble performed a set of classic Big Band numbers.  With the drum kit located in the PLC’s isolation room, area microphones were combined with accent mics on the piano, bass, and other instruments.  The recording turned out so well that it will be released as an album.

 


Release 38