Cartoons, Concertos, and a Side of Squip, please.

This recording is from the Fall 2019 Concerto Competition. It features Aaron Eldred on Guitar and Ron Stabinsky on piano (accompanying Aaron by playing the orchestral part on piano).

For the recording of this track, I had an SM57 close mic'd on the guitar, an ATM450 on the piano, and used 2 C414s upstage by the front row set up as an M/S pair.

I chose to use this particular piece for my lab because I like this concerto and Aaron was also the winner of this year's concerto competition. I thought it would be nice to showcase the results of the competition and show off his skills of pulling off this incredibly hard concerto.

Guitar Concerto I. Allegro Preciso - Heitor Villa-Lobos

The recording for this was very intricate as I was using Performing Arts Facilities gear. I used 17 channels and ran everything on stage with snakes that were for sound reinforcement in the House. I also sent everything to Studio A via the Dante network. This particular mix I did not use the Stereo Track given to me via the console. I chose to mix everything by using individual tracks and putting my own EQ and compression on using the gear in Studio A. The tracks from the start sounded great quality already, though I did tweak some things, and used mostly SSL EQ for every instrument, mostly to bring out bad frequencies and boost good ones (especially in the horns to give them a more nasally sound that the music asks for). The only problem I had (which was expected with Dante) was sometimes there were crackles and pops. I got rid of them by using an RX DeNoiser. While Mitrani has natural reverb, I thought I would add a long and a short reverb and blend them in with the natural reverb of the hall using Parallel Reverb on aux tracks. I think the result has a very big sound and the stereo image it gives with the inclusion of the panning I chose makes everything come together well. I ended up panning everything so that it sounds like you are in front of them watching from an audience perspective based on how they were set up on stage.

The Queen’s Cartoonists play music from classic cartoons and contemporary animation. The performances are synchronized to video projections of the original films, and the band leads the audience through a world of virtuosic musicianship, multi-instrumental mayhem, and comedy. 

Behind the project is a single question is it possible to create jazz and classical music in the 21st century that appeals to everyone? Even people who normally wouldn’t go to concerts? The Queen’s Cartoonists present a concert for everybody - regardless of age, gender, or familiarity with the concert hall. 

Tying this diverse concert together are comedic anecdotes involving the cartoons and their composers. The band is on a musical mission of equal parts performance, preservation, and education. Expect the unexpected from repertoire that includes the Golden Age of animation, cult cartoon classics, modern animation, and elements of a musical circus! 

Since their inception in 2015, The Queen’s Cartoonists have brought their unique sound to performing arts centers in over 20 states and have opened for the New York Philharmonic. The 6 members, all currently living in Queens, New York, are world-class professional musicians. The band has been featured in numerous major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Mashable, and on NPR.

Pitiful Children - Be More Chill The Musical

MikeAsHimself