From Scratch Another Quiet Night (Full Stage Stereo-One Point-Blumlein)

The experiment worth listening to is expanded: With "Another Quiet Night" by the quartet "From Scratch", the Berlin master records are releasing previously unreleased titles from the successful 2024 "Quiet Night" sessions on an LP.
Under the catalogue numbers BM2419 and BM2421 you will find the first two publications of this project. The special feature of this is that the same pieces were recorded in two recordings in the same room, but with two different microphones and room arrangements. Once with a full-stage stereo setup, once with a one-point Blumlein setup. The result was: a different sound, a different performance, a different feeling. Side A of "Another Quiet Night" shows the four tracks in Full Stage Stereo, side B in One Point Blumlein.
This is the extremely rare opportunity to hear how the use of different microphones and setups can subtly - or not - change the sound and also the interpretation of a recording. Usually, the only ones who hear these differences are sound engineers, record producers, and the artists themselves when deciding how to record a session. But this time, as a record buyer and listener, you will be involved in the process. You can compare both recordings and hear the differences. And since both sessions were created as a direct cut, where no tape or digital recordings are used, but the music is cut directly onto the turntable, you get as close as possible to the sound that the musicians and recording team actually heard in the studio.
Producers Stephan Flock and Rainer Maillard explain the One Point Blumlein setup: "Two Sennheiser MKH30 (figure-of-eight) at a 90° angle (original Blumlein) gave us a good balance and perspective of piano, drums and saxophone, while the double bass could not be placed close enough to the microphone without disturbing the other instruments. To achieve the desired volume, closeness and depth, we placed a Sennheiser MKH20 (omnidirectional) under the bridge of the double bass. By standing as close as possible to each other with their instruments, the musicians could hear each other better. However, the microphone is further away from the sound sources, and the result is a different sound quality - more old-fashioned, more relaxed, less strenuous."
Statement on the full-stage stereo recording: "The setup [...] includes two Neumann KM140 drum overheads, an Audix D6 (cardioid) for the bass drum and a Neumann KM140 for the snare. Four microphones for the piano: two Sennheiser MKH800 (cardioid) near the hammers and two DPA 4006 Omnis above the soundboard. A Josephson C722 (double cardioid, back to back) for the saxophone. For the double bass, a Sennheiser MKH20 (ball) under the bridge and a piezo pickup in the bridge. We left some space between the instruments and set up some screens around the drums to better separate the microphones. The tight miking of the individual instruments and the addition of some natural reverb from our reverb chamber result in a wide, dense yet airy sound."

Features:

• Direct To Disc (D2D)
• 180g Vinyl
• Recorded and Mastered at Emil Berliner Studios
• Vinyl cut by Maarten de Boer
• Pressed at Pallas GmbH

Musicians:

• Simon Becker-Foss, saxophone
• Helge Adam, piano
• André Neygenfind, bass
• Dieter 'Zipper' Schmigelok, drums

Selections:

Side A
Full Stage Stereo
1. Memories of Tomorrow
2. Con Alma
3. When I Fall In Love
4. A Child Is Born
Side B
One Point Blumlein
1. Memories of Tomorrow
2. Con Alma
3. When I Fall In Love
4. A Child Is Born