Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Emotional Subtleties
by Anil Prasad
Copyright © 2006 Anil Prasad. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, No
Derivatives license.
Ralph Towner is globally renowned as a classical and 12-string guitar virtuoso, but he would rather
be known as an aural novelist. His compositional bent leans towards narratives that communicate
distinct points of view, purpose, dialogue, and movement. His new solo guitar CD Time Line is a
testament to that approach. Its 12 pieces explore a diverse palette ranging from the slow-burning
balladry of “Always By Your Side” to the haunting, yet fiery “The Hollows” to the emotionally
mercurial vignettes comprising the “Five Glimpses” suite. Several of the album’s tunes are
transcribed in his new book Solo Guitar Works Volume 2.
Time Line possesses an earthy feel that resulted from Towner breaking free from stoic studio
environments. The disc was made in a church located in the Austrian mountain monastery of St.
Gerold. The natural ambience of the church lends the album a distinctly open and airy feel similar
to a live recording.
The album is Towner’s fifth solo guitar release in a vast catalog of more than 20 titles stretching
across nearly four decades on the ECM label. His other discs typically favor quartet, trio, and duo
formations featuring jazz luminaries such as guitarist John Abercrombie, drummer Jack DeJohnette,
and bassists Gary Peacock and Eberhard Weber.
In addition to his voluminous solo output, Towner is the principal composer, guitarist, and
keyboardist for Oregon, a pioneering, boundary-breaking act known for merging world music, jazz,
and classical elements. Together with reedsman Paul McCandless, bassist Glen Moore, and
percussionist Mark Walker, the group remains a vital force in creating unity between diverse
influences more than 35 years and 26 albums since forming. Its latest CD Prime offers some of the
band’s strongest material in years, including the gorgeous epic “Monterey Suite.”
Why did you choose to record Time Line in a church?
Manfred Eicher, who runs ECM and produced the record, has recorded a lot of classical works
there. He really likes the sound and wanted this record to have more of a classical atmosphere. The
room was very large and capable of seating 300 people. It was quite dark and a little cold. There
was no-one in the church but me and a bunch of microphones. The control room was elsewhere, so
Manfred and the engineer were only able to see me through a television camera. I couldn't see
anyone, so it was like performing a concert in a huge space all by myself. Recording in a church is
dissimilar from the perfect, silent confines of a studio. The room's ambient sound and natural
reverberation affected me quite a bit. I had a natural instinct to project a little further. It's also
important to note that I wasn't wearing headphones during the sessions. When you use headphones,
everything is compressed. When you play softer, it still sounds very loud, so you don't hear the
same proportions of sound you hear without the electronic boost from the headphones. By not using
headphones, I was able to pay more attention to the guitar's details and dynamics, particularly
between the fortissimo and triple piano. In addition, I think not using headphones heightens the
emotional elements of the music.
Describe the recording set-up you used.
We always use two different stereo pairs of mics, with one set on the left side at eye level, a couple
of feet away from me and the other set on the right side, a bit lower, the same distance away. We
also use another ambient mic that’s quite high-up and centered at long distance, and one in the back
of the church as well. We mix between the mics, rather than do a lot of equalization. We avoid EQ
because if you make a good enough sound on the instrument, you don’t need to meddle with it.
When you use equalization, you can usually hear where something is boosted or cut at certain
registers. For us, the best solution is keeping things very live-sounding by boosting and lowering
the levels between the different high-end Sony and Schoeps mics we used. We recorded directly to
Pro Tools and entire session took about four hours. We didn’t do any punching in or make
corrections. Before I went in, I thought “Oh boy, I’m not going to have a chance to fix anything.” I
was lucky sometimes to have two or three takes in case I covered something in one take I missed in
another. That’s the way ECM always works. You accept what you play and realize it represents who
you are as a musician. There’s not a lot of time spent making decisions, retracing steps, or
perfecting things to the point where you strangle spontaneity. You live with the results. It’s a very
natural experience and you sometimes have to swallow your pride.