There is an inherent imbalance on all the Van Gelder stereo Blue Note recordings.This is by microphone set up during recording.By creating the "Blue Note" sound the same set up was used on almost all the sessions.In the "mix" the piano ends up in the center of the recording on virtually all sessions,the horns (say a trumpet and a saxophone) each share a separate channel with the bass on the left and the drums on the right.You have a nice balanced sound during ensemble passages and when the trumpet solos-you hear the trumpet on the left channel and the drums on the right,then the saxophone solos and the left channel drops out and creates a gaping imbalance.This is repeated over and over again by Van Gelder.Just listen to a mono BlueNote vs. a stereo and it will sound like a different record.
I am not criticizing Rudy,it is what it is.Other recordings by him for other labels at the time tend to favor a different set up,and listen to any Van Gelder session over the last 20 years and the recordings are balanced and very good.These classic,as we refer to them now,sessions were held in a few hours with a tight schedule and budget,little rehearsal and a "factory" like approach.It is a testimonial to the talent of the artists to have created something so lasting and important out of these circumstances.It was just the way it was done and the players knew how to deal with it and make the best of it.
Speaking with Maureen Sickler this past December in New York i addressed this microphone set up situation and the end result on record.Maureen has worked as Rudy's assistant on many sessions and her husband,trumpeter Don Sickler has recorded extensively at the Van Gelder studio.These classic Blue Note sessions were before her time but she knows the material well and replied "All those sessions were done so quickly and there just wasn't time" The magic on those records came together in 3 or 4 hour sessions and like some amazing burst of energy,imagination and artistry burned like a comet and then died out.What remains is a priceless legacy,continually re investigated, reborn with each generation,and with each rebirth the "need" to screw with the sound of the music.Please leave the music alone and enjoy it for what it is.We will not see it's likes again.
I am not criticizing Rudy,it is what it is.Other recordings by him for other labels at the time tend to favor a different set up,and listen to any Van Gelder session over the last 20 years and the recordings are balanced and very good.These classic,as we refer to them now,sessions were held in a few hours with a tight schedule and budget,little rehearsal and a "factory" like approach.It is a testimonial to the talent of the artists to have created something so lasting and important out of these circumstances.It was just the way it was done and the players knew how to deal with it and make the best of it.
Speaking with Maureen Sickler this past December in New York i addressed this microphone set up situation and the end result on record.Maureen has worked as Rudy's assistant on many sessions and her husband,trumpeter Don Sickler has recorded extensively at the Van Gelder studio.These classic Blue Note sessions were before her time but she knows the material well and replied "All those sessions were done so quickly and there just wasn't time" The magic on those records came together in 3 or 4 hour sessions and like some amazing burst of energy,imagination and artistry burned like a comet and then died out.What remains is a priceless legacy,continually re investigated, reborn with each generation,and with each rebirth the "need" to screw with the sound of the music.Please leave the music alone and enjoy it for what it is.We will not see it's likes again.
