In reading the music section by Ton Maas in Ode Magazine which is always very informative with great suggestions and reviews of incredible music from around the world, I found this choice interview that I thought people here might be interested in. This guy being interviewed, Michel Van Achter, has an ear for creativity and sonic quality that I really admire. If you check out his website,
http://www.homerecords.be (making sure to select 'English'), you can hear samples of their recordings by selecting the 'Radio' option. This is for folks to like to tread outside the commercial lines.
Here is the interview with my insertion of italics at points I thought E-Trainers would find particularly interesting:
A tiny new label offers breakthroughs in sound as well as inventive music-Ton Maas
The CDs turn up in my mailbox every few months, postmarked Belgium. I am always glad to see them, comforted that in the commodified, market-driven music industry, a tiny label like Home Records, founded by Michel Van Achter in 2004, can release intriguing, unexpected, eclectic recordings every few months without particular regard for commercialism. And then there's the sound quality, so gorgeous it can give you shivers.
In addition to recording, mixing and mastering each new release, Van Achter takes care of promoting and booking gigs for his artists. When I paid him a visit in his hometown of Liège, I discovered that Home Records, in a former workshop in the old town centre, houses not just an office and a warehouse, but a fully equipped recording studio, and a small apartment where musicians can stay.
A recording studio of one's own isn't very common these days?
Michel Van Achter: "It allows us to take all the time that's needed to do a good job, without expenses going through the roof. Also, because of the way I work, it is imperative that the room has great acoustics. I know that these days, acoustics are not supposed to matter.
Recording studios are made as 'dead' as possible and reverb is added afterward by means of electronics. But that way, the soul of the music is effectively killed."What is the secret behind the sonic quality of your recordings?"Before I start recording, I talk a lot with the musicians, because I want to feel and understand where the music is coming from. And when we finally go into the studio, I spend a lot of time setting up the microphones.
If I have any secret, it is that I never ever use cardioid [modern] mics, only omnidirectional [older] ones. My most precious set of tools consists of two pairs of omnidrectional microphones that nobody else uses, except some studios in the field of classical music. That way you not only hear the individual instruments, but also the way they interact with each other and with the room as a whole."Are there any productions you are particularly happy with?"When my French distributor informed me they were using the Aurélia album as a reference disc for testing equipment, I was of course very pleased. But the recording I am most proud of is Les Tisserands, because of the difficulty of having to capture three totally different ensembles - from ancient music, jazz and folk - in a manner that would be sonically coherent. That production has been my greatest challenge so far."
How do you survive business-wise?"We are very fortunate to receive regular production grants from both the Flemish and the Walloon authorities [arts agencies for the Dutch- and French-speaking regions of Belgium]. If we didn't, it would be very difficult indeed.
The way things are developing, I see no future for 'traditional' record companies. The big ones are being brought down by illegal downloading and the smaller ones have insufficient turnovers to make a decent living. I am sure we are moving into an era where live performance once again becomes the core business of the music industry, with CDs primarily sold as 'souvenirs' after a concert."