Recording Imperfections

One thing that you do a lot when you record real ensembles is to dig in Protools sessions through individual mic signals. Even if you outsource the editing/mixing to someone else, you will most likely still listen through individual takes and even individual microphone signals to assemble at least a rough version to edit.

If you are coming from a sampling/DAW background and do this for the first time, especially when going through individual close mic signals you will most likely be shocked or amazed by how many imperfections slip by. Slight intonation issues, mildly imperfect timing, noises etc. are every day business when recording live ensembles. To a certain degree, imperfections are what define a "real" sound.

For instance, the lack of frets on orchestral string instruments causes slight intonation differences between the musicians of the same section which can be horrible when you just hear for instance two violins alone. But as soon as you add a third or more violins, these imperfections will start to form the sound that we know from a string ensemble. The slight tuning differences create some sort of chorus effect that create this vibrant string section sound.

We just recorded a woodwind quintet a few days ago as part of this Patreon's Orchestra Discovery Session and in spite of having excellent players, there were imperfections all over the takes. Especially with fewer players and softer dynamics, imperfections become more exposed. Many of these imperfections were already audible during the recording but there also is a certain philosophy to follow with these things.

For instance, my personal approach is to not consider any imperfections that are part of the playing as problematic. This will for instance include breath noises (as long as they are not distracting) or key noises on woodwinds as essentially THIS is how this instrument sounds. Also, with a bit of experience you learn what imperfections will get lost in the post. For instance a few years ago I was recording a choir and had a relatively high sustained note in the sopranos that was a bit too flat on the takes that we were doing isolated from the orchestra but I knew that once the orchestra gets added in the mix, this will not be an issue as our perception will just melt this together and more or less correct it.

A while ago I wrote a post about "instruments with character" where imperfections very often become the defining trait of the recording or instrument which generally is not so much the norm in "traditional" orchestral playing but can become more relevant when we cross over more into media or pop music.

However, there is also this phenomenon when sample developers and users define library imperfections as "real and authentic". Very often however, this is a lazy excuse for bad quality assurance by the developers and only rarely adds to realism but more often becomes incredibly annoying.

For instance if one particular note has a weird attack and whenever this note appears in a melodic phrase you hear that same weird attack, this imperfection will not make it more believable but give away the virtual performance. In reality, an imperfection might occur randomly but this random imperfection in the sampling world will be triggered every time this specific sample is triggered and this can become very frustrating.

The bottom line here is that as soon as you deal with real musicians, a certain degree of imperfections will become part of the performance. This happens even with the best players in the world. However, to a certain degree, this is also what defines a lively and real interpretation and our brain has a quite considerable tolerance for imperfections in the sum of an orchestra performance so it is not necessary or even advisable to strive for absolutely perfect takes. So it is important to develop a clear idea of what imperfections are tolerable and maybe even desirable and what imperfections warrant to ask for another take.