Cezanne Producciones records, mixes and masters 'El Loco' with Fairlight by DaVinci Resolve

The DaVinci Resolve Studio Fairlight sound module (Blackmagic Design) allowed Cezanne Productions record, mix and master 'El Loco', a ballet work performed by the Orchestra and Choir of the Community of Madrid.

For more than two decades, the engineer Javier Monteverde produces, records, mixes and masters content at Cezanne Producciones, his studio in Madrid. Specializing in acoustic, classical and jazz music, Monteverde has several nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards, and won in 2021 in the category for best Latin jazz/jazz album for Voyager, by Iván “Melon” Lewis.

Drawing on an experience of more than 25 years during which he has worked with giants such as the Madrid Symphony Orchestra at the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Spanish Radio Television Symphony Orchestra (RTVE) and the National Orchestra of Spain, his next challenge was to record for posterity the interpretation of The Fool, one of the most outstanding performances of the 2022-2023 season of the National Ballet of Spain. Inspired by the story of the Spanish dancer Félix Fernández, the work has choreography by Javier Latorre and music by Manuel de Falla, Mauricio Sotelo and Juan Manuel Cañizares performed by an orchestra of more than 70 musicians.

Given the world tours planned for The Fool, As well as the complexity of moving an orchestra on each world date, Monteverde was responsible for record the orchestra in multiple sessions over five days, in which he used 20 microphones, some of them for certain instruments. Likewise, independent recordings were carried out in the studio of the guitarist Juan Manuel Cañizares, the renowned flamenco singer Sandra Carrasco and the saxophone used to convey the accelerated state of mental incarceration of The Fool.

An Organized Puzzle with Fairlight by DaVinci

The recordings of these sessions were uploaded to the module Fairlight of DaVinci Resolve Studio with clips in format Broadcast Wave, which guaranteed the integration of the time code. This is how Monteverde himself transfers his work with the Blackmagic Design system: "Making a mix of an orchestra is like putting together a three-dimensional puzzle. Fairlight uses metadata efficiently and orders the pieces very quickly on timelines within folders in different projects. There were about 2,000 music clips and 24 tracks, all open simultaneously. What could have been something complex and stressful turned out to be extremely simple in Fairlight."

Using functions reverberation to provide depth to the space as well as Fairlight tools to give consistency to recording, Monteverde was able to create a final mix “alienated with what the composer and, in this case, the choreographer, had in mind for the audience.” The software played a fundamental role in this success, according to the engineer: "It is the best in terms of sound production. I have not yet found anything that surpasses it when editing and mixing classical music. And I am not just referring to the tools, but to the quality of the final result. The Fairlight audio engine is extraordinary!"

The mixture was executed with a DAW provided by Area Sounds, official distributor of Blackmagic Design post-production products located in Madrid. Monteverde ended up deciding to integrate a device into its work dynamics. Fairlight Desktop Audio Editor with the model Fairlight Console Channel Fader: "I like to "feel" the music by touch, so it bothers me to operate the faders with a mouse and a screen. I need to touch and move the controls. From the test, it was clear that the quality of the design and operation of the Blackmagic consoles surpassed those of any other device I have tried before," emphasizes the engineer, more satisfied than ever with his work dynamic.