Behind the Scenes at an AIR Studios Recording Session

[@PrinceWesterburg]

I've been to Lyndhurst Hall before and one thing, you almost captured actually, is the utter professionalism of the place - it makes you go home with a renewed rigour to your craft, like someone parent reached out and picked you back up. Very inspiriing place. Great video too!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Amazing professionalism yet with such approachability. We all felt so welcome and everyone really wanted to produce the best possible results. Truly inspiring as you say!

[@danepaulstewart8464]

What a beautiful experience. Nothing could better highlight just why I became a recording engineer. To be able to be present for multitudes of incredible moments provided by a range of artists has been the highlights of my adult life. Thank you for making such a high quality video document of the occasion.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@AndreaGiordaniComposer]

Thank you for this beautiful video, Stephen. Ah what a day we had !

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

An incredible day - was an honour to share it with so many talented people

[@MaxCarola]

You looked very happy!

[@johnmarchington3146]

I can only agree with Jake. What a lovely piece and beautifully played by all concerned.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you John. It was an honour to have it performed by such talented musicians in such an incredible venue.

[@earthbrad]

What a beautiful piece! Nothing quite matches the magic that happens when you have a collection of (top) musicians playing together. That you for sharing this!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching and listening Brad - you are totally right - it’s amazing working with musicians like this.

[@jimsanger]

Brilliant Stephen, and what a fantastic thing for Mr H to do.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Jim - yes definitely an unbelievably wonderful gift!

[@jakehendriksen2841]

Oh, when the viola came in, everything from this whole video "clicked" for me. I got quite emotional, actually. What a gorgeous piece, and I'm so thrilled for you that you were able to be there in the room with them to experience that.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Jake. Meghan played that solo so beautifully!

[@NaderHamdy]

WOW what a nice experience :)

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

It was incredible!

[@kiranthakrar1292]

Just beautiful .... ♥

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you!

[@ruby2thursday]

that was cool!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Jon!

[@keiththeodosiou]

Brilliant Stephen! It took me back there and I will never forget that day!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

So glad we got to share the experience Keith!

[@keiththeodosiou]

@@StephenTallamyMusic Yes, amazing day!

[@ytnsanw]

Big Day Out! Bravo....

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

It certainly was a day to remember!

[@Slynell1]

Fantastic experience for the guys

[@hansimueller9716]

👏👏👏👏👍👍👍wow, this is an brilliant masterpiece ❤thank you sooo much for this 🤩👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Very kind of you to say that Hansi! Thanks for watching

[@oconnellmastering]

Thank you for share.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching/listening

[@NickHintonMusic]

What an inspiring video, thank you Stephen.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you for watching!

[@Pablofrommerkwood]

Beautifully documented experience! Lots of things to learn about this. Thank you for sharing.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching Pablo

[@LukeNyman]

Absolutely beautiful piece, full of emotion.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you Luke! I wanted to write something that the musicians could breathe emotion into. I was blown away with their talent.

[@WillWilson]

Well done mate, made up for ya!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Will. Your time will come too!

[@kevinmcandrew]

Wow what an experience and what a lovely piece of music 🙂

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you Kevin! Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do something like it again one day.

[@Dudadius]

Content like this makes me feel better about AI; there is something transcendental about humans playing music.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Absolutely agree!

[@studentjohn35]

I thought i saw at least two (if not three) original ultra-rare Neumann M50's over the conductor's podium, No words about them?

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

They have an amazing mic cupboard at AIR!

[@JamesButcher]

beautiful piece at the end :)

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you James! It was an emotional experience.

[@VFXCommander]

I am convinced to write more for Violas now. So beautiful.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Such an incredible instrument, more mellow and more haunting than a violin. Meghan’s performance was amazing also!

[@joernbeineke]

... great video and a very nice experience ... and a very nice piece of music also :)

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching! It certainly was an amazing experience.

[@LightsandMotion]

what a beautiful piece!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

[@MaxCarola]

It's a lovely adventure, and I enjoyed that video a lot. I can feel the emotion and the intensity of the moment. Your music is really touching. Thank you!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Max. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@kayo-music]

what a wonderful piece of music!!! thanks for sharing the experience but first and foremost sharing your music with us! all the bass-t from kayo

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@desoconnor7445]

Wow what an experience that must have been ..as the beauty in your mind unfolded before you 🙏🙏🏿✨

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

It was amazing Des! Certainly a memory to cherish.

[@eduardoreyes1272]

Espectacular!!!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Gracias por ver

[@BrianCadoret]

Congratulations, a beautiful recording and video very inspiring.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Brian. It was an incredible experience

[@dariusofwest]

Wonderful writing and performance! Thanks for sharing! :D

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching Darius

[@gezimpira]

Fantastic piece love it 👏👏

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you so much Gazim! It was such an honour to have it brought to life by these talented musicians.

[@soulflower8687]

What a beautiful piece. The final dynamics instructions and other little touches added by Ben and the players really lifted it into something very special. I wish you the best for your future composing career.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you so much! Really kind words. It was an amazing experience - hopefully many more to come

[@brainwasher3742]

What a sound..

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Amazing musicians in an incredible studio

[@kelvinfunkner]

such a delicate emotional piece! Brought tears to my eyes after the big section and everything came right down so tenderly....wow. Such excellence on every level...writing, arrangement, musicianship, conducting, technical and production, and finally the amazing team work by so many people on one cue...it was breathtaking!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you so much for the kind feedback Kevin. It really is amazing when you have a whole team of people working together to create music.

[@fernandoferreromusic]

beautifull!! thanks

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks for watching Fernando

[@BorgarFraBruum]

Beautiful piece

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you Borgar!

[@YujinBaek]

Honestly such a helpful video that you took us the whole journey from the beginning to the end. Thanks so much! Hopefully i can get to record at Air studio one day :))

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Dreams can come true! Keep working at it and hopefully your time will come too.

[@TheCueTube]

Very cool experience indeed! Well done everyone! Couple of thoughts...as someone who's come more from, well, 'contemporary' music formats (rock, pop, blues and so on), I'm really amused every time a bunch of ostensibly, to my eyes, classical musicians is referred to as a 'band'! How long has that been fashionable?! It amuses me no end, for some reason! Do they not mind?! Also, shout out to Arthur to reach out if he's ever back in Cumbria! Coffee on me! Anyhoo, thanks for sharing this!

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

I wonder if these musicians identify as “classical”… my experience working with them was very “contemporary”. Whichever way… they were incredible!

[@TheCueTube]

@@StephenTallamyMusic Hehe fair point. It's all about perspective I suppose! Anyways, great band!

[@gilesmoss5860]

Thanks for the fascinating, honest, glimpse into what was clearly an incredible session. I'd noticed the odd pic and comment about this session on Twitter/Discord and was hoping someone would share what you got up to : ) Great work, and the track you created is beautiful.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thanks Giles… we were very lucky to have Robbie capture video of us during the sessions so we could focus on enjoying the experience.

[@Topsyturvey72]

Beautiful

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Thank you for watching and listening!

[@DanielHolter]

Just lovely, all round! 1000 kudos. The waves of crescendos on the intro and outro are sublime, so emotionally compelling. Would be very curious to hear and compare the first take with the master one, if that's ever a possibility that would be great fun. Also wondering about the Coles mic above your heads that appears to be aimed up at the ceiling? A polarity thing or maybe a tonal difference with the back of the capsule? Mic geekin, sorry.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

I asked the engineer the same thing about the Coles. They are bi-directional (figure of 8) so it doesn’t matter which way round you hang them! Apparently most ribbon mics are figure 8.

[@DanielHolter]

@@StephenTallamyMusic yes, confirmed! love that about ribbons, especially the Royers which are a touch less dark on the back side of the 121 model, have used that oddity for some vocal tracks that needed a bit more up top... just had never seen Coles aimed like that, thanks for the reply and info!

[@MaxCarola]

Very nice and interesting. If you want to export the markers you can use MIDI. Export the midi session and then import it in logic. All the markers will be there.

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Great tip for next time, thanks!

[@vasosvasiliou6567]

Wwooww awesome place brother good going ❤👍 ware is it located??

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

AIR Lyndhurst is near Hampstead Heath in London

[@darrensngmusic]

Hi there! Just watched your vid and congrats on the successful session at air :) Found the tip on exporting/importing AAF from protools potentially handy. One question tho - does AAF retain the playlist information (where the diff takes can be found in protools) and reflect it in when imported in other DAWs as well? If not, how would you go about doing a comp of your recording in logic? thanks :)))

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

I’m afraid I’m a total Pro Tool noob so I’m not sure the answer to that. AAF is mostly a multi track timeline format and so playlists would need to be in a format that can be converted that way.

[@dalegrisa725]

Hey Stephen! Beautiful writing and a very cool Vid! What was the instrumentation breakdown? How many violin, viola cello and bass?

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

Hi Dale. It was a 3 x 1st Violins, 3 x 2nd Violins, 3 x Viola, 3 x Cello and 1 x Bass. A lovely size for a chamber ensemble

[@FVDaudio]

✨✨👌🏻👌🏻

[@MaxCarola]

In the RX I can see some video noise through all the recording around 15k

[@YourMajestyTheKing]

does air studio have air conditioning

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

It was actually a cold day when we visited! The main recording hall had electric heaters (which were quiet) but I can’t imagine they would have air conditioning whilst recording!

[@YourMajestyTheKing]

@@StephenTallamyMusic i just feels that it's a shame if such a special place lack air conditioning

[@julioricardo2415]

0:30 please remove the squeak from the door

[@StephenTallamyMusic]

It certainly could do with some oil!

[@RemyRAD]

It really is a shame. I did not leap. At the opportunity. Sir George Martin presented to me. Back in, 1983. And wanted me at the Montserrat, facility. After training in the, London facility. At due to commitments called love. I had to decline his offer. Which he was shocked by. So was I. Because I am a stupid idiot. She divorced me, 7 years later. When she became a famous opera singer. And no longer needed my money and support. And because I was known to help others, out. As I was a Fool and fell in Love. As I was, Recording, Silly Love Songs. That had nothing to do with them. Whoops. It was in fact singer, Alessandra Marc who I later married. Google her. I recorded her first album. That put her on the map. After we had married and produced an album for a Los Angeles record label. On location in, Wellington, New Zealand. With the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. And around the same time as that. A science fiction movie had just been produced called, The Quiet Earth starring the now late from lung cancer, Bruno Lawrence. Along with Allison Rutledge. If memory serves me correctly and it doesn't at 67 years of age now. And the very handsome co-black lead. Whose name I now forget due to my 67 years. Of a now shrinking brain. And it's an awesome, cult classic, science fiction movie produced in Wellington, New Zealand. And I know all the sites! I was there! And the sun has blinked! Whoops! POOF! We's all gone! And all that's left are there sheep! I think? Maybe not? They didn't feature the sheep? They have 10 million sheep and 3 million people. And a lot of nearly knee-high boots. That would have been left behind! And what were they for? You don't want to know! They told me! Okay okay I'll tell you about all of those nearly knee-high boots. They were so sheepherders. Could slip a female sheep's rear legs. Into their boots. So the sheep could not escape a good reaming. Whoops! Naughty! Bad Sheep Herders are, Sheep Rapists all! Or so they told me. When I was there. Whoops! So funny! And I think it's based in truth? Because more male convicts floated over from Australia or something? And there weren't enough girls except for sheep! And they designed special boots for themselves! But that movie did not feature their boots either! Which would have been left behind. There would have been 1/2 million of them! Or more! What were they doing with all these boots? It's not that muddy! It's not that snowy! It's subtropical up in Auckland. It's like San Francisco. In, Wellington, New Zealand. And I never made it down to, Christchurch. Which is nearly Antarctic! In one little island or two. The size of Manhattan. With one, 10th the population. So there's lots of room to move. Around 10 million sheep. That's a lot of sheep shit! New Zealand is filled with sheep shit! And guys that FUCK them. Oh yes they are perfectly normal. Bah ha ha ha ha! Is a country full of sheep FUCKER's! Oh my God! Though? I did have a lot of fun there for my one week only in, New Zealand. What's really awful about New Zealand? It's not the sheep. Not the boots. It's the, Vegemite/Marmite black gooey stuff. With dirt. They spread on bread. Because they never invented peanut butter nor jelly. They have black gooey stuff with dirt they spread on bread. And they love it! This shows what happens when you brainwash people. You could feed them doorknobs and they would love it. If that's all you fed them! It's very funny. What people will put in their mouths! In desperation. To eat anything. Including black gooey stuff with dirt on bread. They say Yum! We say Yuck! Ugh! Barf! Vomit! Hurl! Ugh! YOU EAT THIS STUFF!? WHY?! But the real Fosters from, Australia. Was great! Not like the crap we get from Molson's in the USA! That taste like Molson's! It doesn't taste like, Fosters! Geez? I wonder why? Yuck! Molson's! Canadian Horse Whiz! And so you have to be there to taste the difference. If you are a true beer lover with no beer gut like me. Because I taste and enjoy a beer. I do not guzzle it relentlessly. It's a fine beverage to enjoy a couple of. And so I'm also a beer snob. Today. I very much like the American microbreweries that have brewed and popped up in recent years. Very hoppy IPA Ale's. With very high, alcohol content. More bang for the buck with, Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA at 9% that's 18 proof! Almost as strong as wine! In an effervescent, refreshing and hoppy beverage. With a real kick! And more bang for your buck! It is an, Efficient Beer! And you save money. As you will fall over dead. If you drink an entire sixpack! So no need to be gluttonous with Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA. Just so you know. You don't want to vomit out good beer! Bud Light? I could understand. Which is not the Rednecks of Beers, after all. Who knew? Kid Rock guzzled plenty. He must be Gay! For a Prissy Outburst, like that. Doth protest too loudly, methinks? LMAO! LOL! Kid Rock is Gay! So he had to shoot some beer! To try and make people think he wasn't. And the fact that he actually says he wants to, FUCK Mr. Bud Light! Who knew he felt that way? He's Gay! And so I only speak the truth. I have major traumatic brain damage. That's all I can do. RemyRAD

[@madworker1927]

Lol who is gonna read this 🤣

[@yishihara55527]

No offense, but you people are like ice salesmen in Alaska.