Interested to know exactly how this was recorded

LSOfanboy · Veteran Member Joined: 08 Jul 2018 Posts: 347

Hi,

Below is a link to an absolutely unbelievable bit of playing by a truly fabulous player. I have followed Ruben for a long time and am well aware of his extraordinary abilities, and of his live performances.

What interests me (and in no way am I looking to pick holes or somehow degrade a fantastic recording) is exactly how this video was put together. The playing is astonishing, dare I say a little too astonishing (even for Ruben).

I would be very curious if anyone knows, or has any ideas, about the recording process behind it.

Here are some points I would make:

-This is definitely a 'studio recording'. The audio is identical to the audio on the 'Trumpet Fantasy' CD released by Ruben, so its fair to say that the video was synced afterwards onto the original studio audio.
-The insane variation at 9:00 genuinely sounds like it has been done on two trumpets. I know that is the point (and if he did honestly manage this on one trumpet then hats off to the lad) but if you listen very carefully it does sound like there are two separate tracks that have been cleverly (although maybe not cleverly enough..) overlaid. I can say with complete confidence that I don't know a professional player who could stand up and play that variation live, at least not without clamming a good lot of it, so I am skeptical (in the nicest way) that it was recorded in one take on the Bb trumpet as the video suggest.
-The double A at the end (the penultimate note) sounds suspiciously like it has been played on piccolo. I think even Bergeron would struggle to play a double A with a start that clean, especially after smashing through that last page.

As I said at the start, none of this is to detract from Ruben's incredible virtuosity, I am a huge admirer of his playing; his sound alone is impressive enough. Nevertheless, I would be very keen to know exactly how this recording was put together and how much of what we hear was genuinely played as written and to what extent studio trickery has played a part.

https://youtu.be/NNJAnxuHGp8

All the best

Speed · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 3:27 am Post subject:

That is some superb playing. I agree that it sounds like two trumpets at the 9:00 mark, with the one playing the higher part perhaps being a piccolo. Note that the video at that point shows a ghosted image of Ruben standing beside him, implying that there are two trumpeters.

Take care,
Marc Speed

oxleyk · Heavyweight Member Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 4180

If Variation IV of Carnival of Venice were played an octave higher it would sound like this and Ruben can probably play it.

oxleyk · Heavyweight Member Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 4180

Sharkbaitboi · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 6:14 am Post subject:

I bet he uses a Schilke 24 for high notes

LSOfanboy · Veteran Member Joined: 08 Jul 2018 Posts: 347

oxleyk · Heavyweight Member Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 4180

Keep in mind that he is a cornet virtuoso playing a trumpet. He's the Jules Levy of the modern age. He isn't playing the trumpet the way trumpet players do.

LSOfanboy · Veteran Member Joined: 08 Jul 2018 Posts: 347

Speed · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:24 am Post subject:

The video has close ups of the soundboard of the piano. If those frames were filmed during a "live" recording, I believe we'd have seen that camera in some of the other views. Not that such techniques take anything away from the performance or the video.

Listen at the 9:00 mark as the OP suggested. It's not so much that the passage is insanely difficult on one trumpet, i.e., without overdubs, it's that the trumpet playing the higher part does not sound like the trumpet playing the lower part, at least not to my ears through my speakers. I think "timbre" is the word I'm looking for. I'm not sufficiently familiar with a piccolo to say for sure, but perhaps some others here could listen and give an opinion on this point - at the 9:00 mark, does it sound like the higher part is being played on a piccolo?

Take care,
Marc Speed

Tony Scodwell · Heavyweight Member Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 1960

First of all, an amazing performance by a gifted trumpeter. That said, a good clue is the absence of multiple cameras and no microphone in sight. Some of the most famous players who've recorded difficult pieces with splicing (old technology) and over dubbing were Rafeal Mendez, Doc Severinsen and Malcomb McNab. All mentioned were capable of playing these pieces live but wanted the most perfect rendition recorded. In the case of the Mendez recording of Perpetual Motion, Mendez decided to splice pieces together for a perfect rendition. Malcom McNab performed the Tchaikovsky violin concerto live many times but the wonderful, truly amazing CD of the piece was put together in Gary Grant's living room studio with a violin section of less than ten players and recorded piece by piece.Severinsen's last big band CD saw him going back into the studio re-recording some section parts that (in his opinion) needed correcting. And a good friend and great arranger/trumpet player named Joe Dolny was the arranger with the more pop oriented recordings that Mendez did in the earlier years. One was "Paper Moon" that Mendez said he wanted to record the solo after the session was done (without him) because he didn't want to have to play the more jazz-ish solos in front of the likes of Mannie
Klein and Uan Rasey.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com