San Francisco, CA (June 7, 2011)–Women’s Audio Mission recently worked with a group of master Mongolian musicians for their first album.
The trio tracked the material in April 2011 at the WAM recording facilities and performed a rare in-studio session while at Women’s Audio Mission, a San Francisco based non-profit dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts. This is the second time that WAM has hosted musicians Orgilsaikhan Chimeddorj, Ulziisaikhan Lkhagvadorjv and Otgonbayar Chunsraikhachin.
WAM founder and chief engineer Terri Winston first connected with the Mongolian musicians while teaching Orgilsaikhan (morin khuur player) in a studio recording class at City College of San Francisco. As an organization dedicated to “changing the face of sound” not just for a more gender-balanced industry, but also a more culturally rich one, Women’s Audio Mission’s partnership with the master Mongolian musicians was a natural fit.
“It was an incredible experience recording such master musicians and a musical tradition that’s rarely heard,” says Winston. “It was so moving to hear the stories behind the traditional songs; how they convey nature, their history and culture.”
She continues, “Ulzii’s style of throat singing comes from the very origins of the art in Western Mongolia. The songs are so multi-dimensional–Ulzii will sound like a bird or a stream, Ogo’s horse head fiddle will sound like a weeping camel, the yochin played by Otgo will sound like horses. It’s beyond amazing.”
Tracked entirely at WAM’s studio, located in the Mission District of San Francisco, Winston and engineer Jenny Thornburg recorded with Millennia and Great River preamps directly into Pro Tools|HD2. By likening each traditional Mongolian instrument to more familiar instruments like clarinet and piano, Winston selected a handful of boutique microphones, using an Audio-Technica 4050 to capture the incredibly rich low-end of Ulzii’s throat singing, Mojave MA-200s on the Morin Khuur and T.H.E. CR-5s on the Yochin.
Women’s Audio Mission
www.womensaudiomission.org
