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Wigmore Hall Launches Live Label
One of London's finest classical music performance venues has equipped itself with an in-house recording studio to service its new CD label. Wigmore Hall Live aims to release up to 16 discs in its first year, among them recitals from artists such as Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Felicity Lott, the Nash Ensemble and the Arditti Quartet.
The generosity of an individual donor has enabled the Hall to invest in state-of-the-art recording equipment, while the comprehensive sound insulation fitted during the recent refurbishment has created an exceptional environment for live recording. The studio was specified and installed by recording engineer and producer Patrick Allen from Opera Omnia Productions, who was guided by the need for maximum flexibility and, as there is only one chance in live recording, complete reliability.
"Our objective was absolute flexibility and reliability, without compromising sonic quality," explains Allen. "At this stage in the Wigmore Hall Live project, we can't be certain where it will lead us, so we have to be ready for anything, from live recording to TV to post-production."
With an inventory of mainly Schoeps, Sennheiser and AKG microphones in the Hall, signal is brought up to the remotely-located studio through BBC tielines to Focusrite ISA 428 preamps/converters, feeding digitally into a Yamaha DM1000 mixer. Material is recorded and edited using the Samplitude H/D package, and simultaneously backed up onto two HHB CDR recorders and a Tascam DA-98HR 8-track tape system, chosen for its reliability and compatibility with the Wigmore Hall's TV and post-production partners. Additional analogue outboard equipment is provided by TLA with digital reverb by TC Electronic. The studio is clocked by Apogee’s “Big Ben” wordclock generator and protected by APC Uninterruptible Power Supplies.
Allen has chosen ATC SCM20pro active studio monitors, more of which will be arriving soon as the studio completes its 5.1 surround sound set-up. “It is critical to have good monitoring whatever you do, and I have found ATCs to be extremely natural with sufficient dynamic range to recreate accurately the live performance in the studio. Quite simply, if it sounds right in the studio then you can be confident it will translate well to other systems, something that is not always the case with more coloured monitors. Because we're located some distance from the auditorium, we have a video link, although this is not always used as visual cues can sometimes distract you from what you're hearing through the speakers.”
The potential workload for the studio is heavy and diverse. Wigmore Hall presents over 400 concerts a year and currently only a fraction of these performances are broadcast or recorded for archive purposes. The possibility of realising the existing archive of Wigmore Hall recordings on the new label is also being investigated.
6th May 2005
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