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Views from the Choir Loft

Brave Director Posts “Live” Recording

Jeff Ostrowski · October 31, 2017

IF YOU PLACE A STRAW into a glass of water, it appears to bend because the light is refracted. One must learn to accept this reality, and not start believing one’s straw is bent. Something similar happens when we try to record choral voices. The microphone often distorts the sound, making it seem harsh and discordant.

This problem is not nearly as bad when it comes to piano recordings. I’ve spent a lifetime studying recordings by Gieseking, Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Friedman, Tiegerman, Hofmann, Schnabel, von Sauer, Godowski, Cortot, Lamond, Lhevinne, and many others—and I can say that the piano generally comes through much more satisfactorily than human voices.

I am not speaking here of recordings done by professional sound engineers. Over the last 100 years, some really clever sound engineers have found ways to reproduce choirs with reasonable success. I’m speaking of “home” recordings done by pocket recorders—such as the iPhone—or even expensive recording equipment operated by non-professionals.

I can now prove to you that what I say is true.

The following recording—made during a recent rehearsal—completely distorts, perverts, and corrupts the true choral sound. I know because I was there, and listened carefully. 1


The actual choral sound which I heard with my own ears was much nicer than what you hear: blended, not harsh, and sung with sensitivity.

This truth regarding microphones and choral sound is something I cannot emphasize enough.

By the way, photography can do something similar. I’ve seen photographs of people that do not represent their faces accurately; and sometimes it looks like a completely different person.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   When you’re listening, please ignore the part where my son walks in and says “Can I have a doughnut?” At another point, some of the children can be heard singing along. Please ignore this. (The children come to rehearsal with the mothers who sing.)

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Goupil deserves the name of martyr not only because he has been murdered by the enemies of God and His Church while laboring in ardent charity for his neighbor, but most of all because he was killed for being at prayer and notably for making the Sign of the Cross.

— St. Isaac Jogues (after the martyrdom of Saint René Goupil)

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