RECORDING TAKES FLIGHT INTO DIGITAL REALM AT BIRDLAND

—Yamaha 02R96 Capturing Performances at Legendary NYC Jazz Spot—

BUENA PARK, CA (June 27, 2003)—New York City's Birdland has been synonymous with great live jazz performances since the original space opened in 1949 with namesake and saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker as the headliner. Through the years and in various locations, the club has featured a musical "who's who": Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, John Coltrane and Bud Powell. At its current home in midtown Manhattan, Birdland still prides itself as "The Jazz Corner of the World," hosting Tito Puente, Diana Krall, Michael Brecker with Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Dave Brubeck, Eddie Palmieri, Dave Holland's big band, Roy Haynes, Regina Carter, John Scofield, and the big bands of Duke Ellington, Chico O'Farrill and Toshiko Akiyoshi.

The "Jazz Corner of the World." Credit: michael a. black / black sun studio

Capturing those performances, whether for archival purposes for the artist or to create memorable live albums, is also a tradition with the club; Count Basie and his big band recorded Lullaby of Birdland live on location, as did John Coltrane's Quartet with the 1960s masterpiece Live at Birdland. That tradition is one which recording engineer/Birdland house sound engineer David Ruffo still follows with a passion.

Using an existing dressing room, Ruffo built a control room designed to record live shows in 1997. "It's small, but complete," he explains. "It beats the kitchens and stairwells that you often encounter at other clubs. It's all ready to go." Recently, the recording room made the switch to a completely digital path with the addition of a new Yamaha 02R96 as the main console.

"I've spent years working in studios, and the 02R96 has a 'pro' vibe," he says. "A lot of engineers respect it. I also read the reviews, compared features and auditioned other products. It has enough knobs to keep the operator from living in the keypad and scrolling around. The EQ and compressors have all the parameters on the desktop, and the board has a nice 'analog'-type flow to it, so you don't have to go through a lot of pages. Initially, that was my fear of doing any live recording with a digital board—if something goes down onstage, you don't want to start paging through stuff."

Command Central: Birdland recording/house sound engineer David Ruffo with the 02R96.

Ruffo tested the new addition by recording dates for the Django Reinhardt Festival, the Roy Haynes Quartet and Scott Whitfield's Big Band. "I was blown away by the mixes," he notes. "They sounded really open and transparent—they had an almost 'silky' quality. The imagery and depth perception was incredible. We have a lot of big bands perform here, and many of the digital boards on the market didn't offer enough mic preamps. These mic pre's and A/D converters sound great. Now, with the recording path in the digital domain, we've noticed a 20-to-30 percent increase in the sonic quality. Even the rough monitor mixes are noticeably better."

Recent live broadcasts from the club have included radio station WBGO's "Jazzathon," and the NPR broadcast of pianist Marian McPartland's birthday party, with Billy Taylor, Norah Jones and Tony Bennett. "I also do remote recordings," he adds, "and have purchased a road case for the 02R96, so it will travel with me."

The setup at Birdland is kept in a 6' x 6' area with a roll-down deli gate ("to keep musicians out," Ruffo jokes), wired directly to the stage. "We've got Tascam DA-78 24-bit machines, which are TDIF'd through the 02R96, and a Panasonic SV3800. I just purchased a new computer and am interfacing it with Nuendo, which can be controlled from the surface of the 02R96. I'm using the 02R96's onboard effects, but kept some of the old outboard gear (a Lexicon PCM90 and MXP500, multiple dbx 1066 units and an Aphex Compeller 320A) since I hate to get rid of anything." A small video monitor and a pair of Event 20/20bas Direct Field reference cabinets monitor the action onstage.

"I also do live sound [at Birdland] and hire other engineers to do house when I'm recording," Ruffo adds. "I use my own personal mics on stage all the time, even when not recording—mostly Earthworks SR77s, AMT clip-ons for upright bass, Neumann TLM's, some Sennheiser units. Of course, we also have lots of SM57s and 58s!

"I just believe in recording jazz live," he notes, "and as a listener, have always preferred 'live' to 'studio' albums. As a sound engineer, I hear so many really special performances that dissipate into audio vapor, and only live on in the minds of those present. Plus, we're losing many of the 'greats' that it's almost imperative that their performances be preserved. Jazz is a live, improvisational music by nature, and that's how it should be captured."

For more information on the 02R96, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Professional Audio, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/proaudio.