Epic Trailer Music: Recording Albums Live
Studios and venues throughout the world are regularly used to record new orchestral albums live. Discover some of the places where epic trailer music comes to life…
Live recordings: capturing the best possible sound
Many orchestral albums are indeed recorded live, as composers and producers often want to capture the best possible sound – a natural, emotional, powerful, unique sound. Most albums are entirely recorded in the same studio, but in some cases, various musicians are recorded in different places.
Virtual instruments and samples: an alternative
Not all music is recorded live though – samples are sometimes preferred, as they are now very sophisticated and realistic. It may also be a matter of budget – live orchestra sessions represent an important expense. Some of the producers make compromises: the main sections of tracks (strings, brass, vocals…) are recorded live, and mixed with samples, in order to achieve a “bigger” and more realistic sound overall.
Where is trailer music recorded live?
Epic trailer music is recorded live in various places throughout the world. To save time and money, it is sometimes possible to organize remote recording sessions; clients can follow sessions via video and audio streaming, from their home studios, and interact with session leaders, engineers and musicians on the other side of the world.
Here are some examples of orchestra or choir ensembles recorded in various studios or venues.
LONDON, UK
ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
Several of the Themes For Orchestra And Choir albums from Immediate Music were recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, as well as many orchestral releases from Audio Network (we had the pleasure to go to one of their recording sessions), Liquid Cinema (Cinematic Themes & Inspirations), Music Junkies, Larry Groupé (Excelsius)…
AIR LYNDHURST STUDIOS
Based in a former Congregational Church, the AIR Studios were used to record music from audiomachine (Helios, Phenomena), Corner Stone Cues (Eton Path, Air Lyndhurst), Switch (Vanguard), and Position Music (Tom Player’s Resonance Theory).
LOS ANGELES, USA
SONY PICTURES SCORING STAGE
Brand X Music recently recorded music in this studio, known as the largest film scoring venue in the world.
EASTWEST RECORDING STUDIOS
Various companies, including Brand X Music, Two Steps From Hell and Ninja Tracks, recorded music in this historic recording studio complex, located in Hollywood.
CAPITOL STUDIOS
Two Steps From Hell’s famous album Legend was recorded at Capitol Studios, another historic complex in Hollywood.
SEATTLE, USA
BASTYR CHAPEL
Bastyr Chapel’s amazing acoustics are the reason why this secular venue is regularly used for recordings – it attracted audiomachine (for their album Labyrinth), as well as Full Tilt, Brand X Music, X-Ray Dog, Corner Stone Cues (Requiem for a Tower), E.S. Posthumus and VonLichten, who shot several video clips in the chapel.
SALT LAKE CITY, USA
L.A. EAST STUDIOS
Non-Stop Music regularly records music at L.A. East Studios, housed in a “turn-of-the-century” church building – particularly for their labels TrailerMade, Xtortion Audio, and Full Tilt.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
TRACKDOWN SCORING STAGE
Trackdown’s Main Hall is one of Sydney’s most exciting venues, as well as a scoring stage and recording studio. Several trailer albums were recorded there, including Epica and Millennium from audiomachine and Quest from Q-Factory.
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
Many companies, such as Impact Music, Immediate Music, Must Save Jane, Universal Publishing Production Music (for the Universal Trailer Series), Position Music (Vendetta), Q-Factory (Epic Action 1), See Trailer Tracks (Asylum), Killer Tracks (Heroes & Villains), Brand X Music, Downtown Music Services (Epic Trailer Series albums), Focus Music (Hollywood Trailers albums), have recorded music in Prague, either in the famous Rudolfinum Hall, or in various other studios also based in the city, such as Smecky Music Studios or the CNSO Studios (studios of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra).
RUDOLFINUM DVORAK HALL
Impact Music and Immediate Music both recorded music in this beautiful hall, one of the oldest concert halls in Europe, and known for its excellent acoustics.
SMECKY MUSIC STUDIOS
Must Save Jane, in particular, recorded music at this venue, created in 1946 and praized for its first grade acoustic qualities.
CAPELLEN MUSIC PRODUCTION
Various trailer music companies regularly work with Capellen Music Production, founded by Petr Pololanik. They record music in various halls in Czech Republic, particularly the much-acclaimed Cinematic Concert Hall in Zlin and Capellen’s Large Recording Stage in Brno.
Many albums from Two Steps From Hell, Thomas Bergersen (Illusions and Sun), Fringe Element, VideoHelper, switch, Position Music (Jo Blankenburg’s albums Vendetta and Elysium), audiomachine, Brand X Music were recorded with Capellen Orchestra and Choir.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Trailer music companies also often record in Budapest – for instance, Sencit Music, KPM Music (Dramatic Cinema), Sonoton, Cavendish (various albums including Moviedrome IV), Killer Tracks, West One Music and Fired Earth Music – we went to one of the recording sessions in 2011.
Studios used include Studio 22 of Magyar Rádió (Hungarian Radio) and Studio D of Tom-Tom Studios.
SOFIA, BULGARY
Several companies also record music in Sofia, such as Killer Tracks (Apocalypse 2012) and Sonoton.
BULGARIAN NATIONAL RADIO STUDIOS
Some of Sonoton’s music (several of the Sonoton Trailer Tracks albums) was recorded at the Bulgarian National Radio’s main studio.
KRAKOW, POLAND
ALVERNIA STUDIOS
This 13,000m² domed complex is a film studio that includes several scoring stages, where Fired Earth Music recently came for their album Epic Heart.
SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
F.A.M.E.’S PROJECT
Several companies or artists have already worked with F.A.M.E.’s, a music recording company, which often works at the Macedonian National Radio and Television building (MRTV), in Studio M1.
ICON Trailer Music, Lost Track Productions, GrooveWorx and Delicious Digital (Red:Mist) are among F.A.M.E.’s clients.
To complete this list, feel free to send us a message or write a comment.
are you sure, Must Save Jane was created in 1946? 🙂
It depends on how you read the sentence 🙂