Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe was just in town, recording at Berkeley’s Meyer Sound. As with her last CD, As Long As There Are Songs, the repertoire is American popular song, this time from the post World War I era.
For both projects at Meyer Sound, all tracks were recorded with a single microphone, as would have been the case in the early electrical era (1926 on). Instead of using the analog recording process, however, the music was captured in digital hi-resolution sound (24-bit / 96 kHz sampling rate), which is significantly more natural sounding than standard redbook CD (16-bit / 44.1 kHz sampling rate). Songs were recorded in complete takes, without intention to employ editing, limiting, or compression. According to recording engineer John Pellowe, either the track is accepted or not, but it is never patched together from multiple takes. This is most definitely a truth-in-packaging project.
The paradoxical aspect of the recording is that, as truthful as the final product may be to the sound of Blythe’s voice, the voice sessions are taking place in the Meyer Constellation System electronically enhanced environment of Meyer’s Pearson Theatre. An intentionally dry space, the acoustic is electronically enhanced via the same Constellation technology now employed in Cal Performances’ Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley, San Francisco Symphony’s new SoundBox performance venue, Oliveto Restaurant in Oakland, Cirque du Soleil, and concert halls worldwide.
In addition to her astoundingly powerful voice and lifelong love for the great and oft-forgotten American songs of bygone eras, Blythe brought to the microphone a wicked and persistent cold that forced her to curtail recording sessions with her pianist, Craig Terry. In addition, plans to record a live concert in front of an invited audience in intimate Pearson Theatre had to be canned when Blythe’s illness made singing unwise. Additional recording sessions are expected this summer. Given that no editing is necessary, the project could be available in both CD and hi-res download formats by the fall.