Immersive surround 9.1 channel production 「UNAHQ 2011 A.Piazzolla by Strings and Oboe」

By Mick Sawaguchi C.EO UNAMAS-Label

[ Introduction ] 

UNAMAS label's 9CH immersive surround approach is 6th work in this work from "Four Seasons" released on 2014-06. By Recording Miking of different height and channel each time, it is able to verify the difference of sound of various height information. The big topic at the German Ton Meister Conference in Cologne in 2016 was the effort to surround play environment with immersive surround and binaural coding. This work .introduces the behind-the-scenes produced 192-24 9.1 ch. The album which is said to be a tango 's heretics "Tango composer who can not dance" A. Strings and Oboe masterpieces of Piazzolla.

[ 1. Album Concept ]  

Since UNAMAS label is a privately owned boutique label, the biggest advantage is that I can realize from planning to production without scooping up the approval document! ! This time, we worked on the following concept as the next work of "Death and the Maiden" released in June 2016. In 2016, Astor Piazzolla celebrated its 95th birthday. I feel "SOUL"by Piazzolla music which combines the European classics with the essence of Jazz from childhood that he spent in New York, taking into account the tango tradition from his music. As Jazz originally started as a dance accompaniment and BGM at the club and then evolved into music for independent appreciation, surely he also pursued sublimation of tango, and still gives "SOUL" to listeners I think .

I thought Piazzolla's music needed more direc energy than brilliance, first by searching for the best recording venue for expression. Recording of classical genres so far has been carried out on the home base of Karuizawa Oga Hall, but in this work, I thought that it would be too brilliant sound, first I came up with a studio that is Nihon Onkyo Engineering Sound Lab (AGS studio) which recorded a piano solo at Jun Fukamachi UNAHQ 2003 "REIMEI". If it is realized it will be the first time in 6 years. This is not a recording studio at the research facility which adopted the diffuser developed for the purpose of "recreating the sound of the forest" called AGS, The Piazzolla 's tango is a bandneon lead, but in order to realize it in the UNAMAS style .I used Ob with strings ensemble as lead and depending on the song Vn also takes charge of lead.

UNAMAS A.Piazzolla Septet

Vn lead:

Premavera Portena

Liber Tango

Tanguedia

Fugata

Oboe lead:

Oblivion

Adios Nonino

Soledad

It is an album that became a big challenge as a label as to how the powerfulness different from the classic series at Oga Hall is reflected in this studio. Mr. Tsuchiya of arranging finished with collecting various existing scores and sometimes by ear copies from the original songs because the original score of Piazzolla is not quite perfectly left.

[ 2. TECHNOLOGY ]  

The main system configuration that UNAMAS label currently introduces is similar also in this work, with the digital microphone as the main microphone, with the optical MADI cable from the RME - digital and analog mic pre to the ambience and the height –CH as analog microphone set IN the studio .Then it Transferred to the monitor room, where the MADI signal is distributed in two and recorded in the main DAWA Pyramix ver 10 and MAGIX Sequoia DAW. In addition, we are also doing anti-vibration of all equipments. battery drive and EMC noise introduced from UNAHQ 2009 "Death and the Maiden" released in 2016.

This time AGS will record string instruments in the space that was set up on the whole Mr. Sakiyama of Nihon Onkyo Engineering and his staff give an idea installed acrylic reverberation plate around AGS and reinforced the sound of the high frequency.

[ 3. Height for Making Immersive Surround Surround ]

Unlike the Ohga Hall, the sound condition of this time is not that we can reproduce rich sounds with height CH. I studied how to catch Height CH in the studio space, raised the stand to the very end of the ceiling and set the SANKEN CUW-180 XY pair to the left and right there. If you hear only the height CH, it is a dry sound compared to the hall, but added a little surround reverb (FLUX IRCAM VERB 3) at MIX.

[ 4. From MIX to Master ] 

According to the release format when editing is over 

* 2 CH (normal 2 CH and MQA 2 CH) 

* 5.1 CH Surround 

* Auro 3D surround for HPL-9 

I set separate Pyramix edit screens and do the best MIX for each, so-called Down MIX is not used.

　

[ 5. About PCM recording and TP ] 

In Pyramix v-10, has a fanction of final check with loudness and dynamic range so far, a tool that can monitor with 2 CH and 5 CHMIX, such as display of TP (true peak) effective for preventing distortion, was introduced. At present AES Recommendations AES TD 1004.1.15-10 recommended streaming music distributionby Internet operation plan has been issued, TP is limited to -1.0. In conformity with this recommendation, it turned out that theTP peak level of MIX which I control around 1.0 -1.4 TP db, For reference, I tried checking various music of J-POP and another company label, but MIX such as TP = O-0.2 is also seen in Hi-Res music classic and so on.

TYPICAL POP MIX TP

UNAHQ 2011 FINAL MIX TP

[ To the end ] 

This work has released 2CH / 5CH surround version in 2016 - December, and HPL - 9 and MQA version in January 2017. Moreover, since January 2017, we were able to realize worldwide distribution with HRA distribution site that based in Germany. The listening environment is rapidly changing from SPOTYFY and I-TUNE MUSIC to TI-DAL, NATIVE DSD and Hi-Res delivery and headphone listeners. I think that the diversity of master sound sources will continue to expand.