Topic: Crackle on Pipe Organ Concert recording..

[RebelRebel]

I am trying to get this 2nd piece from the other day tracked, etc...and I notice some crackle during the louder portions of the piece...What is interesting is that in the Bach piece that was recorded right before it,,crackle isnt an issue(at the very end it shows up , but not at all like this one..this piece(By Charles Widor) is much louder and a lot more spirited than the Bach. The recording chain was:
DPA 4061s>>>mma6000>>toddR mini to 2XLRm cable>>>mytek>>>722

This was in a cathedral...no PA or anything...just the instrument and my gear....So it doesnt really seem to be a cable issue I dont think, but maybe some weirdness created by the reverb in the hall or perhaps the intensity of the output of the pipes...Low Frequency problems..(the Widor definitely hangs around the underbelly of the Bass Clef moreso than the Bach)..Or as Moke has said before "Cathedral Hall Reverb Anomaly" heck, I dont know really...I just know I have another Organ Recital Saturday, a Chamber Ensemble+Vocalist recording sunday and Rutters Requiem Monday...So I want to avoid this at all costs. I will be using the DPA/Jdisc/mytek and 722 again for the organ concert and then add in the MGs or u87s the following days..

http://s12.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1TJ3KTAWGHHCW01F41CDGGRJMD  <<File

Thanks all for any input. I want to do right by these folks at the Cathedral for allowing me this wonderful opportunity.
Many thanks.

Teddy

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

Not sure if this means anything...

Recently, I received a copy of TAB 2005-10-07 24/96 from BAustin.  He taped with a 722.  I passed it straight along to a friend working on a DVD project (shhh!).  Next day or so, he mentioned that at the end of the first portion had a slight bit a static at the very end.  But the significant part was that he mentioned that the entire last hour of the second portion slowly went for slight static to full on blizzard by the end.  (show was recorded as two portions, although it was 1 long set).

I'm wondering if it is a problem with the transfer on the 722???  Or perhaps the 722 HD???

Not sure if this helps Teddy,

Terry  (yes, me)

[RebelRebel]

That certainly is a possibilty Terry. It doesnt have the signs of digital clipping, the wave Forms seem to be free of anything weird. That sort of hints to a hardware or perhaps a cable problem. One guy listened to it and opened it in a WAVE Editor, said there wasnt anything sonically or visually wrong with it. Maybe it is just a latency issue with my PC on playback? Thanks for the idea, I will call Sound Devices up today.
(. and dont worry man, no issues with you or anyone else here. I take full responsibility for what happened before. )

-Teddy

Not sure if this means anything...

Recently, I received a copy of TAB 2005-10-07 24/96 from BAustin.  He taped with a 722.  I passed it straight along to a friend working on a DVD project (shhh!).  Next day or so, he mentioned that at the end of the first portion had a slight bit a static at the very end.  But the significant part was that he mentioned that the entire last hour of the second portion slowly went for slight static to full on blizzard by the end.  (show was recorded as two portions, although it was 1 long set).

I'm wondering if it is a problem with the transfer on the 722???  Or perhaps the 722 HD???

Not sure if this helps Teddy,

Terry  (yes, me)

[MattD]

I don't hear anything wrong with it either. However, I see something on an FFT of that sample that is weird: It looks like there's energy exactly at 48 kHz. I have no idea what to make of that.

[RebelRebel]

That is good to hear Matt. I guess this confirms that the problem is with my PC and playback.

I have read that latency issues can cause crackles and pops. 48khz??That is interesting. Wonder what that could be...

Time to get my new PC finished.

Thanks guys.

+T

[Brian Skalinder]

Sounds fine for me, too.  Just agreeing on the playback latency issue.  Frequency analysis snapshots from Audition, first is an overview of full FR, second is a zoom from ~18kHz - ~50 kHz.  I assume this is what MattD was talking about:

[RebelRebel]

Sounds fine for me, too.  Just agreeing on the playback latency issue.  Frequency analysis snapshots from Audition, first is an overview of full FR, second is a zoom from ~18kHz - ~50 kHz.  I assume this is what MattD was talking about:

I saw that too Brian, checked it out after Matt mentioned it. I dont know what it could be...but I DO know that the Kantor/Director of the music at the cathedral said that the cathedral is a very nice place to record in, but that some times very weird acoustic things happen..He also said that on one recording they did there years ago of the Beaux Trio(famous chamber ensemble) there were weird whispering type noises and a low rumble throughout the entire thing.......really strange....I managed to get a gig recording all the concerts there for the director so that is a blessing, and at the same time really intimidating..I havent been taping that long but the acoustic stuff seems much harder to pull off...  . Any thoughts on what that weird noise is??I was almost ready to erase the recording because of the crackle until I played it in cd wave and it sounded fine.

Teddy

[Low Spark]

Ghost in the Machine. 

[RebelRebel]

The building is ancient, so who knows. I believe in spirits, for sure.

[MattD]

Sounds fine for me, too.  Just agreeing on the playback latency issue.  Frequency analysis snapshots from Audition, first is an overview of full FR, second is a zoom from ~18kHz - ~50 kHz.  I assume this is what MattD was talking about:

Yeah, it is. I didn't realize it covered that much of the spectrum. Wavelab showed it as what was nearly a solid line running across 43-48 kHz, strongest at the HF end. That's definitely not normal. For fun, cut out everything below that ~24 kHz local minimum and shift the rest into the audible range. I wonder if there are any characteristics to that sound or if it's just noise.

[RebelRebel]

Interesting for sure. Know what could cause it??Maybe AC power?? I have wavelab 5 and soundforge 8, any suggestions how to isolate the noise and make it audible??I am a moron with these sorts of things. Thanks Matt. Really interesting.

Sounds fine for me, too.  Just agreeing on the playback latency issue.  Frequency analysis snapshots from Audition, first is an overview of full FR, second is a zoom from ~18kHz - ~50 kHz.  I assume this is what MattD was talking about:

Yeah, it is. I didn't realize it covered that much of the spectrum. Wavelab showed it as what was nearly a solid line running across 43-48 kHz, strongest at the HF end. That's definitely not normal. For fun, cut out everything below that ~24 kHz local minimum and shift the rest into the audible range. I wonder if there are any characteristics to that sound or if it's just noise.

[MattD]

To isolate: HPF with your cutoff frequency around 24 kHz.
To shift, depends on your software. Basically tell it to play at a different sample rate without resampling (change the header). If you can slow it down enough it will be audible.

[Teen Age Riot]

Clip sounds fine to me, too.

What's the frequency range of such an organ? I could imagine that the upper harmonics of those pipes do extend really high up.

[RebelRebel]

in excess of 12 octaves of frequencies, with much of the characteristic timbres vested in the higher harmonics.

The actual frequency band is from 16c/s for a 32’ stop to beyond 16,000c/s for the string harmonics.
http://www.ugrad.physics.mcgill.ca/~willpaul/PHYS225/William%20Paul%20-%20Pipe%20Organ.pdf

[BobW]

The building is ancient, so who knows. I believe in spirits, for sure.

OK, I'll give you that, but broken metal straps and ancient rat bones can count for something, too.

Are you sure that there were no gear resonances ?
I always wonder whether my stand, stereo bar, mic-pre connection, cables, etc. might cause some strange stuff at higher SPLs.