Johann Jakob Froberger: Lament on the death of Ferdinand III (5' 04, 7Mb)
Instrument: XVIIth c. French double by Hendrik Broekman 1973 after Michel Richard 1688
Recorded in concert (2006)
François Couperin: Prelude from Concerts Royaux (1' 53, 2.6 Mb)
Instrument: XVIIth c. French double by Hendrik Broekman 1973 after Michel Richard 1688
Recorded in concert (2003) - the set included several different settings of the same piece and the ensuing group obscured the release of the harpsichord. The venue was a suburban church on one of the hottest nights of the year. All the windows were open - thus the prominent traffic noise.
François Couperin: Sarabande from Concerts Royaux (2' 08, 2.9 Mb)
Instrument: XVIIth c. French double by Hendrik Broekman 1973 after Michel Richard 1688
Recorded in concert (2003): Viola da Gamba, Mai-Lan Broekman
Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Chaconne (1709) (4' 39, 6.4 Mb)
Instrument: XVIIth c. French double by Hendrik Broekman 1973 after Michel Richard 1688
Recorded in connection with the first Dorian competition with a DAT recorder and two Earthworks microphones in a wonderful recording hall just nearing completion but otherwise devoid of equipment. The engineer tried out several mike placements.
Unfortunately the levels of the take that was finally chosen for the purposes of the competition are abnormally high with the result that the instrument sounds unnaturally boomy (although on most takes there is no recording distortion, per se) and the room noise is excessive. One of the conditions of the Dorian competition was that all submissions had to be whole takes. Since editing was out, the engineer kept moving the microphones around between takes, searching for that special place. We have compiled the final bars of six of the several takes into one file (2' 32, 3.5 Mb). The difference in sound between placements is quite instructive (see the waveform of the file). If you've listened to harpsichord recordings produced by twelve different engineers, you have probably been exposed to all six of these different placements.
Louis Couperin: Prelude in g-minor (3' 41, 5.1 Mb)
Instrument: XVIIth c. Flemish single by Hubbard & Broekman 2004 after I. Moermans à petit ravalement
Recorded at the Hubbard Framingham shop for the owner just prior to shipment. The surroundings were not quiet.
Girolamo Frescobaldi: Variations on the Romanesca (3' 04, 4.4Mb)
Instrument: XVIIth c. Italian single by Frank Hubbard 1970 after Anon.
Recorded at the Hubbard Framingham shop for the owner just prior to shipment. The instrument had been subjected to an incautious soundboard replacement which had failed (not ours!). We restored the instrument to its original layout. The heating system was active on the day of the recording (December, 2005) and wouldn't go off - that's the subtle gurgling in the background.
Francesco Barsanti: Thro' the wood Laddie (0' 52, 1.2Mb)
Instrument: XVIIIth c. German double by Hubbard & Broekman 1998 after H. A. Hass
Recorded in concert (2005)
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Menuets from Nouvelles Suites (2' 53, 4Mb)
Instrument: XVIIIth c. German double by Hubbard & Broekman 1998 after H. A. Hass
Recorded in concert (2000)
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