Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Authentic Sound: challenging classical music on clavichord

I learned recently about Authentic Sound in Belgium, where Wim Winters creates high quality music recordings of a particular type. In what is surely a labor of love, keyboardist Winters has chosen to focus his efforts on the clavichord after experiencing its sound up close. His love of the music and the sound has led to a recording project that embraces sonics and authenticity. In his own words: The name ‘Authentic Sound’ was first chosen in 2012. I believed that the clavichord instrument, as important as this instrument was throughout the whole 18th century, could use some extra help in today’s concert and recording scene. The term ‘Sound’ reflects the sound of his clavichord. The word “Authentic” tied into its voice; which is authentic in every meaning of the word. And so, Authentic Sound it was.”

A large YouTube following has provided encouragement and with a series of recordings under his belt and available for purchase, Wim Winters is releasing a special vinyl release this year. 

For details - visit here and of course - watch this video to get a real sense of this man's passion for his art. Once again, it's a pleasure to recognize the commitment of some musicians to the full sonic arts.



2 comments:

JMB said...

I like that music and find that instrument fascinating but that recording is terrible. The position of the microphones is so close to the instrument that this recording sounds as if one has ones head inside a clavichord generating resonances one would never hear listening normally in a room. So Blumlein configuration used wrongly makes bad sound. Also the stereo-image is shifting from one piece to the next as if the master engineer thought that music is too boring and he need to play with his console.

Wim Winters said...

Thank you for this great review, that only now pops up on my screen through facebook! We worked hard on it, had 4 years of preparation in finding the exact best microphone position so to really give the listener the impression he/she is sitting at the best location, as was in former times. It's different from the 'standard' clavichord sound in this regard that the instrument is present, clear, and well balanced. It's safe for me to say this, since it's more than partly the merit of Joris Potvlieghe, who brought his 25+ years of high-end audio building experience (he's not only a great instrument builder) to the project, as we were humbled to see also Robert Margouleff, one of today's most legendary sound engineers do the finetuning and mastering of the record. Happy with it and hopefully it can bring lots of beauty to many!