Description
Louis Desjardins: Executive Producer
These performances were recorded live to tape with no editing by the seven members of Smoke & Mirrors. The power of their playing will immediately become evident upon the first drum “thwack” behind the hypnotic bell-toned overlay of the opener “Udacrep Akubrad” …. This recording has all of the attributes of the great recordings of the “golden age” of recording: spaciousness, image three-dimensionality, timbral and textural accuracy and wide dynamics. Crank it up and enjoy!
—Michael Fremer
I first heard the test pressing for this album on Louis Desjardins’ Kronos turntable at the 2024 Munich High End Show. I played Juego de Relojes first, because it offers every bell and whistle vinyl playback can offer, tests the lacquer Bernie and I cut, the metal parts, and the vinyl pressing, to the limit. This track should sound good on a regular turntable, but on the Kronos it was a revelation. I am doubly happy that Louis offered to serve as the new release’s executive producer. It is an honor to be working with you, Louis. Our musicians join me in sending you their thanks. Smoke & Mirrors takes us on many journeys in this album. These are refreshingly fully developed works, each very different from the others, each with its own story. As a whole, these pieces illustrate the breadth of contemporary classical music written for percussionists, as well as the flexibility and virtuosity of Smoke & Mirrors. We recorded each piece live to tape with no editing, to create the most lifelike performance possible. Take heart in the skilled and musical members of Smoke & Mirrors percussion ensemble, who actually play this way (and this well) in real life.
—Bob Attiyeh, producer
Yarlung Records newly recorded and released Smoke & Mirrors walked away with this year’s top prize! …This recording’s huge dynamic range (this is not a piece for the weak willed amplifier), instrumental colors and especially cornucopia of percussion instruments including bass drum and tam-tam will give even a thoroughbred audio system everything it can handle and even a bit more.
–Myles Astor
Here’s a … label dedicated to recording young and established concert artists with minimalist recording techniques using vacuum tube microphones recorded directly to two tracks. [Smoke & Mirrors Percussion Ensemble] presents a wide tapestry of rhythms and harmonics skillfully arrayed across a broad and deep soundstage. There’s an immediacy, clarity, and transparency to this modern classical percussion recording that seemingly brings the performers to your living room.
–Jim Hannon
Features
- 180g Vinyl
- 45rpm
- Recorded April 12-13, 2023 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts
- Recording Engineers: Bob Attiyeh & Arian Jansen
- Mastering Engineers: Steve Hoffman, Arian Jansen, Bob Attiyeh
- Vinyl Mastering: Bernie Grundman
- Made in Germany
Musicians of Smoke & Mirrors ensemble:
Joe Beribak
Jessica Cameron
Edward Hong
Katalin La Favre
Kevin Schlossman
Derek Tywoniuk
Wai Wah Wan
Music Selections:
Avner Dorman: Udacrep Akubrad
Diego Schissi: Juego de Relojes (Game of Clocks)
Derek Tywoniuk: Watch me vanish, watch me?
Derek Tywoniuk: Happenstance Mov IV On the Road
Maurice Ravel: Sonatine Mov III Animé
AKG C24 Microphone: Gearworks Audio
Yarlung Audio Microphone Preamplification: Elliot Midwood
Album Cover Photograph: Jeffrey La Favre
Graphic Layout: MikeDesign
Steve Guerrero –
I’ve never been disappointed by a Yarlung Records Release. Smoke & Mirrors Percussion Ensemble is no less extraordinary than previous titles.
The use of Marimba, Toms, Kick Drum, Glockenspiel, Tin Cans, Piano (along with other percussion instruments I may have heard but not known the name) creates a magnificent auditorium overflowing with glorious stereocilia stimulation! The album delivers gut soothing lows, tight punchy mids and angelic highs. The tone and melodies evoke vivid imagination and emotion.
Juego de Relojes (Game of Clocks) took me on a surreal imaginative journey through a giant Asian Grandfather clock. During ‘Happenstance’ I found myself rowing a tiny boat into the belly of a giant whale. You get the picture.
This album is sonically superb. Your high end audio system will ****** you like never before. This production is so precise and powerful it will temporarily inspire even the most modest audio system to produce audiophile sound quality! Enjoy!
Bob Attiyeh –
Thank you so much, Steve. I remember how much fun we had listening to this test pressing together in the Imhof Studio. And it makes me happy that the final pressing (first pressing, granted!) measured up to that test pressing. What I know of your sound system is so far from “modest” as to be funny, but I’m glad that regular folks will be able to enjoy this album too.