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| Contact the Organ Curator, Martin Setchell, here | |
The first compact
disc -
"Let the Pealing Organ Blow!"
Welcome
to the website of the Rieger
in the Christchurch Town Hall,
New Zealand
in the Christchurch Town Hall,
New Zealand
Organ curator Martin Setchell recorded the first CD on the Rieger on September 21 and 22, 1997. Technical details are on this page, below the photos. The CD and cassette were released just before Christmas, 1997.
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue coming up. . .
Technical staff Mike Clayton & Ross Weir share space with the lighting gels in the auditorium lighting control box, set high above and at the opposite end of the auditorium from the organ
Martin listens to a track
Communication between organist and recording engineers helped by two-way radio - a climb of 45 steps and a long perimeter walk separates the organist and studio.
Just past Ross's face the console can be seen as a faint yellow blob in the distance
Critical listening time...all final 74 minutes' worth!
"Let's go back to this bit here"
"Forgot to put a tape in - no it's ok, just joking!"
Equipment used:
Microphones - AKG 414 ULS, on bidirectional setting, hung 15 metres in front of the organ, and spaced about 4 metres apart. The height was set so that the microphones were approximately level with the top of the great organ. The microphones were supplied through the courtesy of the Town Hall management.
Preamps - Symetrix 528.
Mixer - Tascam 106, used for fine level set and distribution.
Recorder - Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder.
Monitoring - Rotel RA 870BX Speaker Amplifier, B&W DM110 Speakers.
Editing and mastering equipment - ProTools Digital Audio Workstation, courtesy of the University of Canterbury School of Music Electroacoustic Music Studio.
We have used no compression on the recording. The levels were set to just below digital clipping for the loudest part of the recording and no further level adjustments were made. The noise of the organ blower is constant in the background. The reverberation is the natural effect of the Auditorium. No changes were made to the tonal quality of the sound during recording and post production.
Mike Clayton and Ross Weir, Technical Staff.
March 3, 1998