100+ SA-CD title target at Polyhymnia in 2005
“Last year we supported the production of more than 100 SA-CD titles
and our target is to exceed that total in 2005,” comments Erdo Groot,
co-director and balance engineer at Polyhymnia International BV. Based at
Baarn in the Netherlands and formed out of what was originally Philips Classics
Recording Centre, Polyhymnia today offers location acoustical recording services
on a global scale. Recording sets can be transported to any recording venue,
and in co-operation with the Eurosound Mobile company Polyhymnia has the use
of one of the world’s most advanced multi-channel DSD recording trucks
with up to 40 microphone inputs and surround monitoring.
One of Polyhymnia’s surround DSD recording sets is stationed permanently
in Moscow, and with Russian partners a Super Audio (recording) Centre is being
established. Mixing and editing rooms for stereo and surround are custom designed
for the best acoustic qualities, and all have DSD workstations. Polyhymnia
is now fulfilling most of its projects as DSD multi-track recordings (stereo
and surround). Its high quality mastering services include analogue tape to
DSD transfer with a fully upgraded and modified signal path.
Since last August, Leendert van Zanten, a former DSD engineer at Sony Europe,
has joined Polyhymnia International, and offers customers a wide range of
professional DSD field recording and post-production services formerly provided
by Sony’s European SACD Business Centre. These services include rental
of a wide range of DSD recording and post-production equipment plus both technical
and operational support on any aspect of DSD and SA-CD recording, mastering
and authoring.
Polyhymnia has provided all of Pentatone Classics recordings from the start
in 2001 in DSD stereo and surround. Also Pentatone’s series of RQR,
original quadro recordings from Philips Classics from the 1970’s are
being re-mastered from analogue to DSD. For Essential Music - a new Russian
record company founded in 2003 – Polyhymnia is recording all their productions
for release in SA-CD stereo/surround. On their Caro-Mitis record label nine
titles have been released and another six are in the pipeline. Also, for Telarc,
Polyhymnia has been responsible for several recordings including Christus
Apollo performed by Jerry Goldsmith/London Symphony Orchestra & The London
Voices and Mahler: Symphony No. 5 performed by Benjamin Zander/Philharmonia
Orchestra.
[This article is taken from
the Sony SACD e-mail newsletter. For more information, visit www.superaudio-cd.com.]