This is a recording of an unaccompanied Viola, playing the first movement, bars 10-72 of Sonate in A minor. It was originally written for the Arpeggione, by Franz Schubert.

I found it a bit more difficult than I expected to get the microphone set up to the height and angle I wanted. I had to play around with how the chords were wrapped around the stand, as the mic kept drooping and falling over. (Even though I had the base at the right angle for the way the mic was placed). My performer was quite tall, and I was hoping to get her to stand for the performance so I could get the best energy for the piece.. Unfortunately though I could not get the microphone high enough about the viola at the angle I wanted while she was standing. I wanted the microphone about 1/2 a metre or so and roughly on a 45' angle above the 'f holes'. 

After a few practice recordings, I played around with the distance of the microphone and also shut some doors to hold the sound in place a bit better. After all of the takes were completed, I had a bit of trouble with the 'Zoom' recording device.. I was really worried that I had lost all of my takes and took a while to figure out where they had gone. They were finally located again and because no chord was included, i ended up putting the memory card into a computer to retrieve everything. Thankfully it all worked out just fine.

My first time with Amadeus Pro was a bit scary, but I think everything worked out alright. I was unsure how smoothly the takes would join together.. Although when i was at the recording I chose particular spots for my performer to go from, so that when the editing process started I would have less trouble joining separate takes. I ended up with about 4-5 different takes in the end to get the best parts of what was played. I think If I did it again, I would get a few more sections repeated and be a bit more methodical about the recording process.. 

Overall, I am quite happy with the final sound, perhaps using a different room in the house could have created a better quality, but the piece seems to run quite smoothly!

brie4504