John Q. Walker, president of Zenph
Yamaha and Zenph Studios teamed to create a performance and broadcast taping of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould’s legendary 1955 rendition of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The taping took place on September 25 at the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Glenn Gould Studio and was engineered for the Sony BMG Masterworks label, the first commercial CD recording using Zenph Studios’ software technology.
Zenph developed a process for turning piano recordings into live performances that re-create note-perfect renditions of the original recorded work. The process captures the information from an audio recording and transforms it into high-definition digital data for playback on the Yamaha Disklavier Pro concert-quality grand piano with a built-in ability to record and reproduce live performances.
“We were tremendously impressed with the demonstration; as many times as I’ve heard the ’55 Goldbergs, it was like hearing them for the first time,” says Malcolm Lester, managing director of the Glenn Gould Foundation in Toronto.
Zenph Studios is now working with Sony BMG on its first series of jazz and classical albums, which will feature stellar playing that will be re-recorded in high-definition surround sound.
“Our technology provides a new way of looking at Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations, one of the best-known classical recordings ever,” says John Q. Walker (pictured), president of Zenph Studios in Raleigh, N.C.
Sponsors of the broadcast and performance event include Sony BMG Masterworks, Zenph Studios, The Glenn Gould Foundation, Yamaha Canada Music, Ltd., Yamaha Corporation of America, CBC Radio Two and the Glenn Gould Studio.
For more information, visit www.yamaha.com/disklavier and www.zenph.com.
