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BOLOGNA, ITALY - JANUARY 2008: Stefano Albarello's passion for early classical music played on period instruments has blossomed into a richly
satisfying career.
After several decades in the field, he is now an expert
of international renown. Albarello wears many hats. He is an accomplished
musician; a professor of medieval music at both the Conservatory of Vicenza
and at Lucca; the founder and scientific director of the Musical Theater
Workshop on Medieval Music; a published writer on the subject of early
music; director of the early music research group Cantilena Antiqua; and an
avid sound recordist with a specialty in (surprise!) early music. He owns
both a mobile and a post-production studio in Bologna, Italy, and works with
international labels that specialize in early music, such as Tactus,
Sheherazade Records, III Millennio Records, ARTS Records, Decca, and ORF
Records.
In contrast to their pop music siblings, sound engineers of classical music
are well known for going to extreme lengths to capture faithful, unhyped
recordings. Recording early music takes that one step further since the goal
is not just to capture an instrument that everyone is familiar with, such as
a violin, but rather to accurately capture an instrument that few living
people have ever heard, such as a sackbut. In addition to Sontronics, Line
Audio, Audio Technica, Rode and AKG microphones and Universal Audio,
MindPrint, Reussenzen, ART, and TL Audio tube preamplifiers, Albarello
relies on a Lucid 88192 AD/DA converter, a Lucid GENx192 ultra-low jitter
studio master clock, and a Lucid DA9624 DA converter to faithfully record
all of his projects.
"I find Lucid products meets the very highest of professional standards,"
Albarello commented. "Their sound is clear and clean. The lows are always
solid, the mids are detailed, and highs are free and open. Imaging is
precise, with depth and headroom that transport the listener to the stage."
Since even the best converters will give less-than-ideal results in an
unregulated system, Albarello uses the Lucid GENx192 master clock to lock
his converters to his multi-channel Alesis HD and RME Hammerfall DSP 9652
computer interface at 24-bit - 96kHz. In post-production, Albarello uses his
Lucid DA9624 to convert his digital signal back to analog for additional
processing before returning to the digital domain with the 88192 for
mastering on a Tascam DVRA 1000.
Albarello most recently used his mobile studio to record a Fiori Musicali
performance of a Girolamo Frescobaldi piece from the 17th century on a pipe
organ of the same vintage. The detail and imaging of the recording are
astounding, thanks in part to Albarello's careful microphone placement and
knowledge of the piece, as well as the transparency of his Lucid system.
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