Avid Technology : Peter Maffay Pulls the Plug for MTV Unplugged Show Recorded by Ronald Prent Using the Avid VENUE | S6L

We discussed the technical side of the recordings with mixing engineer Ronald Prent and recording engineer Peter Brandt.

What was the line-up to be recorded?

Ronald: Well, 'unplugged' means that no electric instruments are allowed - with a couple of exceptions: In this case, for example, there was a Hammond organ and a pedal steel guitar. However, everything else was analog, including acoustic guitars, a grand piano, percussion, drums, and of course, vocals. In addition, there were also three wind instruments and three strings: saxophone, trombone, and flugelhorn, as well as a violin and two cellos.

Peter: What is interesting is that in Unplugged, instruments are played in a completely different way. Instead of drumsticks, for instance, often hot rods or brushes are used, because otherwise the drums could be too loud. Familiar instruments are handled differently.

What were your areas of responsibility for this production?

Peter: I provided the technical infrastructure for the recordings, from the splitter, to mic preamps and A/D converters, to the outside broadcast vehicle. That is our flexitrailer, a large trailer that we uncoupled from the tractor unit, and in which we recorded for three weeks. We put the sound studio in front of the hall, so to speak, and from the first day we captured every note on the hard drive. It is very luxurious to be able to do this over three weeks.

Because Peter Maffay is very quality-conscious, from the beginning he had every rehearsal recorded. This allowed the band to develop musically, based on the recordings, and we had all the time in the world to polish the sound. In most cases, it is usual to start recording only one or two days in advance, and to have to make the best of the situation. In contrast, we had the opportunity to try out many different microphones and to alter microphone positions. Absolutely luxurious, and greatly to his credit, all the technical crews, including those for the lighting and sound systems, and ourselves, were on site three weeks in advance. The fact that an artist creates such possibilities and is also prepared to pay for them is really exceptional.

Ronald: We had the luxury of making a mix every day. We gave these to the musicians for optimizing the arrangements, and also to the lighting engineers for programming. We were also able to become more familiar with the space and the positions of the instruments and microphones, and could react to changes made by the director. It was like Formula 1 racing-we really had time for fine-tuning, and no compromises were made. Naturally, that is exceptional.