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Marantz’s Storyville Solution

After a long career as a professional storyteller, Dutchman Paul Middellijn (Professor Anansi) has witnessed the evolution of recording technology over the years — via the various tape-based systems (and suffered the consequent effects of humidity changes on this unstable archiving medium). But now he has been give a new lease of life — thanks to Marantz’s PMD-671 portable solid state recorder.

Originally from the South American republic of Surinam, Middellijn trained as an electronic engineer before arriving in the Netherlands in late 1969 to start working as a junior technician at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, assembling the first electronic library in Holland.

At home in Paramaribo, he had been unconsciously educated as a storyteller by the family elders, but never believed that it would become his profession in the years to come. However, after his first invitation to perform as a storyteller the work never stopped and he has since travelled the world — presenting seminars and workshops in 30 countries and becoming the leading storyteller in the Netherlands.

His reputation is such that In 1992 he founded the Tori Academia — the first dedicated institute in the Netherlands, and four years ago the Academia also opened in Paramaribo (Suriname) and Antwerp (Belgium).

Paul recalls clearly back in 1982 making all his professional recordings on the reporter’s favourite device at the time, a Uher professional cassette recorder. However this archive perished since the cassettes did not survive the tropical climate. “It was a disaster,” he recalls. “After 15 years my library had gone.

“Although cassette was replaced by more high-end formats like DAT recorders, the one thing they all had in common was their limited recording time, and the fact that they were too bulky when travelling — not to mention all the moving parts and mechanics which would suddenly stop working when they were needed the most.”

Fortunately the same fate can not befall him with his PMD671, which can record extended 24-bit, 96 kHz audio for the highest sound quality available in the field.

It was Paul’s guitar accompanist Robby Alberga who steered him towards Marantz. He told Middellijn of a review he had read of the PMD670 (which in the meantime had now become superceded by the PMD671). The storyteller investigated, and quickly rationalised that this could offer the perfect solution. “It is the best thing that’s happened to me as far as my work as a collector of stories is concerned,” he exclaimed.

Some 75% of all participants attending the Tori Academia are people with university or academic qualifications and his performance platform includes schools, libraries, museums and on stage, where he uses the PMD671 to capture every moment. “Since this is a super high-end recorder we have also started using it to record live performances for CD and broadcast,” he declares.

“With a simple finger touch I can change from MP3 recordings to a 24-bit quality or higher. No other recorder has given me this flexibility until now.

“Back at the office I can download it via the USB port to my Mac and I’m ready to go! In my workshops I simply plug it in, push the red button and start recording. And the quality is amazing!”

The list of positive features is endless, he says. “The PMD671 is light and easy to work with but at the same time it’s a workhorse — and it runs completely silent. if you don't see the the red light you don't even know it's recording!

“The people at Marantz have clearly given this product a lot of thought — from a practical point of view as well as an engineering one. What I’m particularly impressed with is the fact that the PMD places a mark at every five minutes of recording — which is really useful when listening back. Instead of me having to keep track of what is recorded, the machine does it all for me; just set the time and date and let the PMD671 do the rest.”

Paul Middellijn will shortly put the broadcast quality characteristic of the machine to the test with the release of a CD — based on live performances he and Robby Alberga have given at schools in Rotterdam.

“Depending on the memory card the PMD671 will record until tomorrow,” he concludes, “… whether by means of the internal microphone, a line signal, or simply by placing a pair of Neumann TM-103’s and feeding it with phantom power.

“My experience with the PMD671 has only just started — but already I’m convinced. Wherever I go, if this machine is not with me then I don’t feel complete as a professional.”

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Marantz’s Storyville Solution

2nd December 2005

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