Last week, four of us travelled down to a recording studio called ‘The Chiller’ in Thursley, Surrey to record 10 pieces for an indepdendent composer. Each piece was scored for string quartet and generally lasted between 30 seconds and two minutes. As none of the pieces were technically difficult, we were able to record quite a lot of music in four hours. The composer attended the session and as we weren’t playing to a click track, he conducted us in at the beginning of each piece so that the tempo was exactly what he had in mind.
Although beforehand, the idea of overdubbing an extra layer of strings was discussed, the client decided that the sound was full enough with just a string quartet. One danger of recording two layers of a string quartet can be that by having two string players in unison on any one part, the sound can end up thin with vibrato clashing. With an overdub of four players being neither a string quartet (with the beautiful sonority of individual instruments) nor a larger section, this often doesn’t sound satisfactory. In the event, the sonority of a quartet gave the sound that the client was looking for and it suited the character of his music.
We’ve observed several times that recording one player per part (as in a quartet) can have a stronger sound with more impact because the individuality of the musician comes to the fore and the sound is more soloistic.
The Trill (also known as The Shake for some reason…) is a musical device which is common to most instruments as well as more accomplished vocalists. It is written as the letters ‘tr’ followed by a wiggly line directly above the note or notes to be trilled and is performed by rapidly alternating the written note with the note immediately above it in the musical scale. If the trill is to oscillate to a note foreign to the key signature, an accidental (sharp, flat or natural sign) would be notated above the note in question. Apart from this, trills are generally diatonic (meaning the interval between the two notes would be in accordance with the key of the piece) and therefore some trills are likely to be semitones and some full tones. If a composer or orchestrator requires a note to be trilled downwards (i.e. with the note below it), this would generally be written a note lower and start with a grace note above (e.g. if a composer wished to trill downwards between the notes C and B then he or she would write a grace note on the note C followed by a written B with the trill symbol directly above it).
For stringed instruments, trills almost always tend to be played slurred. This means that the fingers rapidly alternate notes as the bow continues it’s stroke. It is very rare for a trill to be bowed separately (i.e. the bow changing direction as each note changes). If this was ever required, generally the composer would have to write out the notes in full rather than applying the trill symbol.
Trills can be highly effective in pieces of music written for solo instruments as well as those composed for larger sections of stringed instruments and provide a graceful and often dream-like character to a passage. They are also associated strongly with the 17th and 18th centuries and therefore can often conjure up an antiquated and charming feel to a piece which will evoke associations with an older style.
Although to the listener it would appear that trills require an advanced level of co-ordination to play, in effect they are slightly more straightforward in that generally the upper finger does the trilling whilst the lower finger remains on the lower note. It is also possible to trill between an open string and a first finger.
If a composer or string arranger would like a player to trill between an interval greater than a tone and a half (e.g. a trill symbol could be applied to the note C and by the use of an accidental could enable a trill with a D#, giving a tone and a half), then like the separate bows, this would usually be notated in full. Depending on the speed of the piece, this could be written with demi semi quavers all slurred in the same bow.
Very often we are asked by clients to book a recording studio ourselves (or to recommend one) and although the cost of hiring a recording studio can vary enormously, we always try to keep within a sensible budget to maintain cost effective recordings. It is sometimes hard to accurately estimate how long it can take to record strings in a studio as things may run very smoothly with the recording being finished surprisingly quickly, or hiccups can arise which slow things down. With session musicians and studio engineers usually paid on an hourly rate, it’s important to make every minute in the studio productive. From the players point of view, any professional will make sure they turn up a little early, with their instrument ready to play and any tricky parts to the music already prepared. A studio can organise things beforehand too - with chairs set out, microphones in place and everything set up ready to record straight away.
But what are some of the factors which (in our experience) can improve the efficiency of studio work?
Firstly, it’s absolutely essential that any string parts which are to be recorded are composed or arranged and agreed with the client beforehand, ideally when other instruments and vocals are already in place so that strings can be written to enhance the rest of the track. Turning up at the studio and being asked to improvise or collaborate is likely to waste time whilst players agree on how and what to play, and it’s always a risk that the client might not like the results, having envisaged it sounding entirely different. A properly prepared score can save literally hours of time in the studio.
Likewise, if strings are to be added to a track with other instruments and vocals already recorded, it’s important that no ‘last minute changes’ are made to this after the string arrangement has been done - because the score the string arranger has prepared may well differ meaning the string parts don’t line up with the rest of the track. This can cause confusion and delay as the players try and work out how the score needs to be amended before recording can resume.
A string arranger can make the score very detailed with bowings, articulations, dynamics and other subtleties written in so that players can simply go in and play the music right at first reading. Sadly this is not always the case and can be a major bugbear of session musicians. Even in the case of top film and television soundtrack recordings if an orchestrator or arranger has not been very detailed in their scoring, much time can be wasted in the studio.
So when seeking a quotation or estimate for session musicians, so much can depend on the quality of preparation done beforehand and this is the responsibility of the client as well as the orchestrator / arranger. Poorly written parts can take literally double the time to record and although many bands or songwriters think that money can be saved by doing it themselves, it can often be a false economy.
Back in the summer, we were approached to take part in a very exciting project - to record the strings for a song by composer Leigh Haggerwood. Leigh (who has recently become known as his Victorian alter ego ‘Travis Shenanigans’!) had the idea of writing a proper Christmas song, with festive lyrics and a real ‘feel good’ melody and as soon as we heard it, the players on the session realised it was extremely catchy and likely to do very well indeed. In these days of large record company promotions, the X factor and various facebook campaigns to download silence or novelty songs, it’s a refreshing change to hear a proper old fashioned Christmas Song that actually makes you feel… well…. Christmassy! The song is called ‘My Favourite Time of Year’ by the Florin Street Band and is well worth a listen over Christmas. Because the project was entirely self funded without record company backing, it’s down to the general public to support it and get it into the Christmas charts. If initial response from everyone who has heard it so far is anything to go by, it should do really well as it is far more original than anything else released over Christmas.
The string parts were quickly notated and we went into Sarm Studios to record them in the same week as Leigh had gathered the English Chamber Choir and a whole host of other talented British musicians including James Ryan on drums to appear on the song.
By autumn, it was time to record the video which was filmed overnight at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Ironbridge Gorge and it was a real pleasure to appear in the film, playing a busking violinist in period costume - re-creating the violin solos and string parts that we had recorded back in August.
When I was at music college, I did quite a bit of busking to make ends meet, so although I’d never busked in a top hat before, I felt very at home in the role!
Today, the Florin Street Band website is now up and running and the video and song can be enjoyed online - the band also have a facebook page where people who like the song can keep up to date with all the latest news.
The viola (like the cor anglais) is one of those often neglected instruments that has such a unique tone in it’s own right that it’s a surprise that it is not written for more often. It’s sound is warm, mellow, thick and less penetrating than the violin. A viola is also capable (in the right hands!) of being immensely passionate and powerful and not just an instrument to ‘fill out’ the quartet sound or provide chords whilst a violin or cello gets all the glory.
Sometimes when we are approached by clients to arrange strings, they ask for ‘violins and cellos’ and seem to be oblivious to the many possibilities which are opened up by using a viola effectively. Just like a violin, a viola can be played virtuosically with rapid scales and arpeggios, or with double stops such as octaves, thirds and sixths. Up on the A string (this is the highest string with the D, G and bottom C string below it) the viola can soar with a beautiful, high register that despite only being a fifth below the violin nevertheless takes on a completely different quality.
As a string arranger, if I were looking to create a thick sound that shared most of the range of a violin but could sing out in a slightly lower register I would write primarily for the viola (or viola section) with the other strings in more of an accompanying role. The secret to good writing, whether it be a string quartet or string orchestra is the constant interplay between the various instruments - if one instrument has the melody throughout, it soon becomes slightly monotonous but if there is a constant exchange and ‘conversation’ between all of the parts, this adds a much greater texture and sense of interest to a piece. Rather than being static, when all the instruments are exchanging melodies within the ensemble, the music becomes much more fluid and alive.
So, let’s banish the days where the violin is the ‘king’ of the string section and bring forward the viola for a gentler but no less distinguished sound!
Really, I don’t like the term ‘up and down bow’ very much because the motion of a bow is very fluid and when played artfully, gives a seamless, warm, glowing sound - nothing to do with ‘up’ or ‘down’ which sounds very rigid. My violin teacher (Kato Havas) says that all a bow going ‘up and down’ does is iron the music flat, so to get to the essence of the music the player should try and achieve a naturalness of phrasing which transcends the bow.
Nevertheless, there are instances when composers or string arrangers purposefully write a certain bow direction to attain a musical effect. For example, Stravinsky wrote several down bows (travelling in a downward motion repeatedly, lifted from the string in between notes) in a row to create an aggressive, percussive effect. An example of ‘up bows’ is in Paganini’s 24th Caprice where he alternates left hand pizzicatos (a future blog entry!) with ‘up bows’ played near the tip of the bow - the effect is of a whipping, pecking sound that goes well when alternated with the pizzicato.
Symbols are added to a score to indicate when there is a particular ‘up or down’ direction to the bowing. In 18th and 19th century music, this was often left to the discretion of the individual player but increasingly in the 20th century composers began to specify up and down bow markings more, frequently seeking the advice of professional string players on how best to ‘bow’ the piece.
In a live orchestral performance, bowings are marked into the parts in advance to enable each section to play with synchronised bows travelling in the same direction together - although Leopold Stokowski’s Philadelphia Orchestra were famous in using ‘free bowing’ which the conductor felt achieved a more glossy sound, even though it didn’t look as impressively uniform.This leads onto the phrase ’staggered bowing’. This is where longer notes which would require more than one bow direction to keep sustained are bowed in such a way that members of a string section change in different places, this gives a smooth and continuous effect so that the change in bowing is inaudible.
On Sunday, we recorded a wonderful suite of pieces by the talented composer Philip Henderson. Assembled in MBJ studios were myself on violin, one violist, a cellist and double bassist to record (with the use of accurate overdubbing), works written for the combination of 10 solo strings. One of the challenges of the day was to try and judge how much music we could record whilst maintaining the very highest level of playing which would do the pieces justice. On one hand, we needed to best utilise having four musicians together to cover the maximum amount of music (potentially 5 tracks, amounting to over 30 minutes of music), but it was vital to maintain an excellent quality of playing.
It was an enormous help to have the composer present as he could give us a very clear idea of how he wanted certain passages to sound and bring out the qualities he was looking for. With quite a lot of subtle shifts in tempo and phrasing and some quite tricky passages, we had all anticipated that the whole suite might even take a further day to complete - however it soon became clear that with the super efficient recording work by engineer Ben Jones, our motivation to get as much recorded as possible and crucially the input from Philip, all five tracks were able to be recorded.
We began by recording violin 5 with viola 2, cello 2 and double bass - and found that it took around 3 hours of recording before the double bass parts were complete. A further three hours and violin 4, viola 1 and cello 1 parts were complete. Then 3 more hours were needed to record the violins 3,2 and 1 parts for the first 3 movements of the work. The process consisted of building up from the bottom so that we could keep a tight rein on tuning as well as making the foundation for each track rhythmically perfect.
Any rhythmic untidiness will only become exaggerated with each overdub so there is a real skill in recording this way. We are all looking forward to hearing the end result as Philip Henderson has created some music of real scope which had quite a moving effect on all the musicians involved.
