Violinist Ani Kavatian and pianist Kenneth Cooper at the Carte Blanche concert
Mix spoke with Grammy Award® — winning producer Da-Hong Seetoo, who is returning to record the Music@Menlo festival concerts (Menlo Park, Calif.). This year’s performances cover five musical cultures — titled Italy, Vienna, France, Eastern Europe and Russia — and will air this month on Classical 24, a live classical music service broadcast, and on a series of specials available in 2005. The compiled recordings are also available on the all-new music label, Music@Menlo Live.
Producer/engineer Da-Hong Seeto
Photo: Steve Jennings
“With today’s computer technology, all I need is this small compact setup,” Seetoo explains. “To begin with, I can shed the mixer. All I need are mics and a preamp with an A-to-D converter and it goes straight to the computer. All the mixing and edits are done in the computer. I have a lot of hanging microphones, but don’t use them all at once. For all the different pieces we are playing over the course of these concerts, I have it set up to cover every position onstage, and then I just use specific mics for each situation. The microphones are all Schoeps MK2H omni heads with [custom] electronics in the body I rebuilt myself for higher signal-to-noise ratios and maximum sound capabilities.
“The recording software is Magix Sequoia,” he continues. “It’s designed specifically for classical music and has wonderful crossfade editing that allows me to splice from one take to the other. The software handles everything from the recording stage to editing, mixing, mastering and CD burning — all in the same program. I’m using a MOTU 896 interface, which is a simple piece with eight analog ins and eight out channels. Stacking more of these, I can have up to 32 tracks if I need it.”
