Charm works every time. When you see the eyes of Alain Français twinkle as they do, despite the fatigue, you know he is preparing a surprise, and the latest one is big. Imagine…
A symphony played by forty speakers and a dozen subwoofers, each installed at the location where the corresponding microphones (and therefore the instruments) were located and through the middle of which you can walk.
Move over Futuroscope, Asterix and Disneyland, take a break Surround and Atmos – Learprint arrives and the sound becomes emotion.
A view of the beautiful rehearsal hall of the National Orchestra of Ile de France invaded by microphones, including a couple of omnidirectional Neumann KM133-Ds equipped with diffraction spheres
We had already been invited to listen to it two years ago, when it was only a draft, a rough outline exploring the possibilities of this idea without actually exploiting them. I remember that day in November 2012 when, in the warehouse of De Préférence in Wissous, above the office and hidden from view, Alain presented his necessarily imperfect concept without the multitrack sources necessary for the creation of this incredible sound space, nor anything worthy of being called a confined space. We left rich with chills of frustration and a request to keep it to ourselves.
From left to right: Alain Français, Ann Vermont (responsible for public relations & social media for Sennheiser), Dominique Guerder (project and communication manager for De Préférence), Guillaume Ehret (project manager for digital microphones, Sennheiser Group), and Sarah Leroy (apprentice stage manager at De Préférence and stage assistant for this premier of Learprint).
Two years later, it was Ann Vermont, of Sennheiser France – partner in the endeavor for the fully digital capture using Sennheiser and Neumann – who called us back: Alain had done it again and, this time around, in the most exceptional way.
The appointment is in Alfortville at ONDIF, the National Orchestra of Ile de France – more precisely, at their headquarters, which includes a beautiful rehearsal studio and ancillary rooms of respectable size – for the first official presentation of what is now called Learprint.
On the scene, despite soundproofed doors, we feel the pressure and the “life” of a real orchestra playing, an impression that turns out to be completely misleading. It was Alain’s creation on “play”. So far the score is Alain – 1, Ludo – 0!
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SLU : How and why have you wound up here, at the home of the National Orchestra of Ile de France?
Alain Français : The orchestra offered to share the rights, which now gives me the opportunity to show Learprint in public using their performances. In addition to capturing the tracks that I will need, the same recordings can be used by the orchestra for the production of a CD.
When I came to see the place here, I had the idea not only to record here but also to settle in one of the side rooms with the speakers that are usually in Wissous at my headquarters, to allow the musicians of the orchestra to listen to the results. The response was unanimous: “whoaaa, that’s nice”. Basically, what they see is a sound sculpture. Even the conductor thought it was amazing.
An emotional moment: the musicians of the orchestra discover Learprint and its special and faithful sound, as they walk among the speakers. Where some of them are standing reveals which instruments they play.
SLU : Would you explain what happens in each of the enclosures that make up Learprint?
Alain Français : Each enclosure reproduces not a single instrument, but everything that a single musician is listening to – what he hears from his position. Therefore, he hears many things simultaneously. If you listen to the 1st Violins (one desk of violins – ed.) and hear the trumpets in the distance, this is normal. Learprint also works like this. The whole sonic space is created in the air and that life is picked up by each microphone, in addition to the instrument or group of instruments. Modern music exploits the principle of an enclosure for each instrument, which requires us to recreate a space. In the case of Learprint, the space exists and I have just relocated it.
SLU : Here at ONDIF, you record an orchestra in a “live” room and replay it in a room that is as reverberant.Too much reverb doesn’t make it all muddy? Don’t you prefer rooms that are a little more “dead”?
Alain Français : No, I can add the ambiance very easily; to deal with reverberant rooms, I can adapt. But mostly I prefer live rooms, a true acoustic room that allows me to bring the sound to life.
To restore a sonic footprint, respecting the spatial environment
SLU : What has changed since the first time we listened to your concept ?
Alain Français : Lots of things. First of all, it has a name: Learprint, “The Ear Footprint” And now it is filed with the National Industrial Property Institute. I’ve made adjustments that now allow me to use it also with small ensembles, with which the results are just as good. And, above all, in writing my description for filing for the patent, I understood why it works. The fact that each mic is not too isolated from the others creates a temporal space that depends on the speakers.
A view of Learprint as installed in one of the rooms of the ONDIF, the drapes are drawn back in order to liven up the sound. The black platform at the far left is the location of the conductor. Standing there offers astonishing realism. On the right side of the image are the two 802s that handle the bass-violins, backed up by a Yamaha RM series sub. The 2.1 triphonic systems in the foreground are the A5 Series 3, which are no longer in production. These handle the strings. On the floor and in the background are the 251s. The 108Ps and 112Ps complete the setup. If choirs are included in the reproduced work, a row of 112Ps is deployed to reproduce them. The vocal soloists are reproduced, in this case, by the L1.
SLU : There are also more speakers…
Alain Français : Yes, with the help of Yamaha, who has been behind me since the beginning of the adventure. I also got help from Christian Heil, whose 8XT, 108P and 112P I’m using. And, finally, I’ve had the full collaboration of Richard Garnier from Works, a designer who has made it look good. I’m not stacking speakers on flightcases (laughs). We decided to add some scenography to the whole thing with Martin Veith, an architect and friend. He still has a lot more ideas about changing the look of it.
SLU : So you’re not tied down to one speaker brand. Besides, could you be… ?
Alain Français : No, I wanted to choose the brand and models precisely to suit my needs, so I have a partnership with Yamaha and L-Acoustics for certain products, and I bought the 2.1 systems with my own money.
The amp rack consists of three Yamaha IPA 8200s, a model that operates in class D and delivers 8 x 200 W at 4 Ω, four P2500Ss provide 300 W into 4 Ω and, at the top, an LA24 (AKA: Lab.gruppen fP3400) which provides 2 x 1500 W at 4 Ω. It provides 30 amplification channels, as some of the enclosures are active. The HD24HRs serve as backup and DME64N is the brain for the signal routing. At the top of the rack, the RME ADI-648 converts MADI to ADAT for the two recorders.
SLU : In what type of room can you install it? Are you not limited by sound pressure and dynamics of the speakers you have chosen ?
Alain Français : It can be multiplied. For example, we increased it to six systems for V1 (first violins – ed.) and six for the violas, being interdependent on each other, but nothing prevents it from going beyond and up to eight satellites for the 1st violins, six for the 2nd violins, six for the violas and the cellos can be can doubled.
For the latter, I ended up mixing two brands of enclosures to achieve the performance I was after. It’s funny, because I always start from the most powerful enclosure and then move down into the range until I find the sound and the directivity I want.
For example, if I placed 8XT’s on the woodwinds, they’d sound too good; it’s too pretty and not quite as delicate as the instruments can be.
SLU : Perfect is the enemy of the good ?
Alain Français : Yes, often. I willingly defer to a phrase of Pierre Henry, with whom I had the fantastic opportunity to do a concert, who said that microphones should be chosen for their faults.
It’s a bit like that with speaker enclosures. The best is not the most realistic on a specific instrument.
The best enclosures I have for the timpani are mine personally and I love them: a pair of 1969 Tannoys with gold speakers from the Lockwood period. The 112P is too rich…
SLU : And you wouldn’t want to cut them !
Alain Français : No, I prefer to keep them flat.
Minimalist treatment
SLU : Then, what is your Eclipse console for ?
Alain Français : Just the same, we still process certain instruments that, for example, need to be more well-defined than they are in reality and, if necessary, we add some reverb but this is done in Nuendo. The rest is entrusted to a Yamaha DME that takes care of distribution processing for the enclosures before connection to the amps. Since I do not have the resources to include an LA8 or LA4 for the 8XT, I do the preset myself. I did some measurements and it matches pretty well. I did the same thing for the 2.1 systems as well as for the two subs that are installed – one at the contrabasses and a little at the tuba and one on percussion.
A view of the room where Learprint is installed, with the electronics needed to operate it and for the recording of the CD: Nuendo and Nuage, Pyramix, the DME and the many amps, an Eclipse for the stereo mixdown, gains and EQ management, a pair of Neumann monitors with digital inputs and, finally, a TC6000 to create ambience when needed. The recordings are done in Pyramix, in MARS and in a pair of HD-24s for backup. Nuage brings ergonomics to simplify mixing/routing for Learprint and avoids a few thousand mouse clicks… A MADI Bridge routes recordings made in Pyramix to the Eclipse for stereo downmixing and to the Nuage-driven Nuendo to pilot Learprint
SLU : So we have a couple of consoles and Nuendo.
Alain Français : Yes, as the Nuendo, driven by Nuage, serves as my mixer, so to speak, and provides its little alchemy. The Eclipse in our case only receives the signals from the microphones, adjusts their gain and then distributes them in MADI to Nuendo. We must have all 55 signals in 48 kHz/24 bit.
The Nuage control surface and the screen showing Nuendo and the VERY large number of tracks it manages. In the background you can see the amp rack.
SLU : A little alchemy ?
Alain Français : Yes, I can, for example, route an instrument other than just where it should go, to make it a little more open. For example, the timpani: in addition to 112Ps, I can also send them to adjacent enclosures, on the assumption that, in any case, the microphones are picking up rather widely this – by definition – very noisy source.
SLU : Speaking of microphones, tell us a little about how you go about miking...
Alain Français : I’m using ten microphones with a conventional stereo pair, plus two points in the string section, two extreme points, two stereo pairs at a distance and, finally, two points for ambience very far off. On top of all that, I have around forty points of close-miking. Acoustics permitting, I let some instruments have some space, about two meters.
Close up of one of the Neumann digital mics, with an omnidirectional capsule mounted and equipped with a diffraction sphere.
SLU : What do you do with your 10 ambient mics ?
Alain Français : These help me capture the sound of the room where the performance is taking place and to provide ambience in the one where it is played back. Of course the number depends on the room where the reproduction takes place.
SLU : How do you work this? Do you walk constantly from the room where the orchestra plays to the one where Learprint plays, since you happen to have the musicians next door ?
Alain Français : Yes! However, I have noticed something. When I mix sound with this process, the session can’t exceed three and a half hours because, after that, I’m tired. I don’t mix in stereo. Instead, I treat an instrument in 40 speakers by managing each one in a complex space, which is very tiring. However, the funny thing is that I find myself working in a fairly conventional way, using a primary pair, to which I add the point mics. The base remains the strings; then I “move down” the orchestra bit by bit. As the approach is similar, it allows me to understand the CD quite easily.
SLU : You do both things at the same time ?
Alain Français : Yes and no. Mireille Faure is in charge of the artistic direction of the project. We share the sound, but it is she who, though a freelancer, is attached to the orchestra and is responsible for the CD.
SLU : How did you share the choice of microphones? You have different needs, don’t you
Alain Français : I gradually made a few compromises and they have proven to be close to the experience that I have of the orchestra. The classical approach is completely different from ours, but we can meet in the middle. For example, I use the Sennheiser 8050 or MKH50, that people in the classical field don’t know well, if at all. The MKH50, for example, offers a certain directionality. If it is not quite right, I go to MKH40, which opens up a little more. The tonal balance hardly changes! When you go from the Neumann 184 to the 185, the sound is very different, not to mention the 143. In the orchestra I also use MKH-8090s, I swapped these for the 8050 without feeling a change in the overall color.
Part of the packing boxes of the Sennheiser mics used, here MKH 8050, 8040 and 8020.
SLU : So, if I I understand correctly, for Learprint you need to capture specific instruments with directional microphones, unlike a conventional classical recording…
Alain Français : Yes, absolutely. I have to discriminate a little, especially in “tutti” passages, when, if you’re in the place of strings, you can’t hear them. The advantage of the 8050, compared to a traditional hypercardioid, is that it doesn’t twist one’s ear. But I also have two omnidirectional Neumann KM133s, which I remix into the strings.
SLU : Does it take a lot of time to install Learprint in a room ?
Alain Français : No. I was very surprised, but we did it relatively quickly and, again, this is the first official debut; we can only do it faster the next time. What took time was the recording part. Just the choice of microphones took a whole day, as each one had to correspond to both applications. So we listened to flat stereo settings and Learprint matrices for some microphones before committing to them. All of the microphones are used for Learprint but not necessarily for the CD, which uses fewer of them.
A natural soundscape through “temporal” distribution
SLU : From the standpoint of our readers, I think they will wonder what type of space you recreate with Learprint.
Alain Français : I would call it a temporal distribution. When you play it back, all you do is reposition the sound to where your sources are actually located. Tests have been done with another installation that is still unknown, which has been envisioned by someone who came to me to present it. It is based on a kind of big 5.1 with a processor. Unfortunately, it remains a fairly flat plane, even with the aid of advanced processing in terms of phase to inject some life into it. The advantage of Learprint is not having to rely on any tampering whatsoever with the sound. The placement of microphones for the pickup and the speakers for the diffusion build the ensemble, which should also be heard with the destruction that occurs naturally at the level of phase. This is the most interesting thing.
At the rear of the venue, where the audience will be, Alain uses small Yamaha NXW speakers, four channels driven by the pairs of ambient microphones and the pairs at the extremes, in order to further increase the realism. This addition is extremely important to recreate a sound similar to that of the room where the mics are. Like the rest of Learprint, this addition is fully scalable to suit the needs and desires in the application. It can even go up to encircle the “orchestra” of speakers, to build a vibrant and realistic sound by exciting all the peripheral walls; a kind of acoustic treatment.
Learprint could also evolve and grow, or be scaled down. Alain has a large stock of 2.1 triphonic systems that will enable him to deploy it in many places. It will also be possible to increase the sound pressure by incorporating, for example, L-Acoustics 105Ps to strengthen the lower end of the spectrum.
SLU : This installation also requires real expertise in microphone placement…
Alain Français : Even leaving aside this rather special case, microphones should always be adapted to the application. You need to know how they work and how their directivity is configured. There is still something very important and I showed Mireille (Faure, CD Artistic director – ed.) who understood it: the coupling between the instrument and the floor. There are lots of books that show the distribution diagram of instruments, but the effect of coupling with the ground is never taken into account. The ‘cello and contrabass rely heavily on the ground, in my miking I am using this parameter a great deal.
A genuine burst of crazy laughter from three musicians. This had as much to with the discovery of their instruments as with a little sandwich they found!
Learprint forces you to think about that because, since you can hear it, you must reproduce it. There are a lot of schools for sound engineering and it is good for young people to attend them to learn the basics, but the “on the job” is so important for learning not to stay locked into the content of books and courses.
We must confront reality, experiment and adapt. The theory can and should be adapted. It’s like telling you that you should use a certain microphone because it is good. No… we must find the one that is best for each application.
Another example: the bassoon radiates sound from the bottom of the instrument and also from the top. At the bottom, it is very delicate but very weak; at the top, the sound is powerful but very aggressive. If we use the more convenient method of placing a microphone at the top, we capture a mixture of both – and of many other instruments, as well – but mostly there will be a predominance of the aggressive sound.
I talked to the two bassoon players of the orchestra and each agreed that the most pleasant sound of his neighbor – it means a lot when you play this type of instrument – came out well miking the lower part of the instrument. The microphone was moved down and, since then, we are very happy with the sound of the bassoons.
SLU : Alain, right now we are hearing the orchestra in the distance (and in my recorder), right?
Alain Français : Ah no, this is the fake one (laughs).They are taking a break and, what’s more, the isolation in their rehearsal room is perfect. (Alain – 2; Ludo – 0) Also, I can play louder; I still have the margin.
SLU : Have you measured precisely the average of the real orchestra and that of Learprint? A long LEQ, I mean.
Alain Français : Not yet, but I’ll do it, I have the tools for that. I wonder if it has the same dynamics.
SLU : Do you compress some sources or do you leave them all untouched ?
Alain Français : There are two or three instruments that I have to compress slightly as they are miked very close, but the rest is uncompressed, so that I can better respect the real dynamics of an orchestra. Between the introit of Verdi’s Requiem, which is struck on the ‘cellos, and the Dies Irae, there is a colossal crescendo over seven minutes, and when it gets right to the Dies Irae, it’s madness. It can be done without problems and without aggression with Learprint. It happens as it should.
SLU : How would you compare what you’ve done here to multichannel distribution systems or to the latest systems that work on the phase to localize the source ?
Alain Français : It thumbs its nose at them. The most common comment I receive is “here it is right”. There are systems that bring the singer out to you as a sonic hologram but, if you move one meter, she’s gone… I do not know where. I listen to a lot of movie soundtracks in 5.1. It’s pathetic. First of all, the guys do not risk because they are too afraid of the diffusion and how their work will be come across in the living rooms of everyday people. Also, the very principle of multichannel creates a very limited space.
Possible applications
SLU : Tell us how can you now propose Learprint to the public…
Alain Français : Ideally it should be the public that discovers it. It would be nice to be able to install it for a few months in a museum for people to come to understand it and its particular way of delivering sound. They could travel in time.
SLU : But I was thinking of the Philharmonie de Paris, it would be ideal and logical to go there, right ?
Alain Français : We had a visit from them and the idea was discussed but, unfortunately, it may not happen because of a tight budget. (Which was further tightened on December 16, 2014, when a reduction of public funding was announced – ed.). We also could have participated in the Boulez Expo at the Cité de la Musique, from March to June, 2015, but it won’t happen because they couldn’t let us have the historical tapes. In any case, what it takes is avoiding adding any image to the sound. Everyone who has discovered Learprint, about 200 people, have commented on the lack of something that inundates us daily… namely, the image. The problem is that it crushes the spatial rendering of Learprint into two dimensions and it takes away the mental construction of the orchestra that we all have.
A picture that also says a lot about the educational aspect of Learprint. Each player who entered the room spent time listening, first with a smile, impressed by the rendering of the ensemble…
SLU : Learprint could become an educational tool...
Alain Français : Absolutely. We were talking about the Philharmonic. It would be wonderful if they could record the works the orchestra performs, creating a media library from which they could pick extracts for work purposes or rehearsal and replay them through Learprint. Each member of the various formations could listen, as could the section leaders or even the audience, who could await the evening’s concert with music.
It would require simply writing and strictly observing a miking standard that would subsequently allow the distribution including the matrixing, researching the levels and the possible insertion of ambiance other than that of the hall where the recording took place, the most simple and quick to implement. In any case, it is possible to save everything so that, once it was captured, the work could always be replayed at its fullest potential.
… and then increasingly more serious while commenting his playing and any imperfections in it when confronted with the enclosure reproducing his instrument or his desk.
Imagine that one room in a multiplex cinema could have Learprint installed and, using a media library, each day there could be a program of musical works. For example, this week, at the Learprint in Bordeaux, Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” could be playing.
People might finally rediscover true sound, light years from what is offered to them on CD, radio or, even worse, on MP3. And, above all, it might be possible to stroll through the orchestra while it plays for a few minutes… before and after the concert, in order not to obstruct the diffusion of certain instruments when people pass in front of them.
SLU : Where would you place Learprint in your career ?
Alain Français : For me it’s sort of a life’s work. I have always been considered a somewhat atypical, although stubborn, man, with the peculiarity of never doing things like others. When I see the Concertmaster of the ONDIF also excited about Learprint, I’m happy. I have always made choices motivated by pleasure more than by greed. “De Préf” was built the same way, with a great team with whom we’ve gone on for fifteen years having fun, and Learprint comes from the same mold. The way in which Yamaha first, then Christian Heil, Works and now Sennheiser, decided to support us, well, it’s all good.
SLU : And now what are your plans ?
Alain Français : Now that we have the music and the rights to go with it, we’ll get started. I might put together a demo from the various works we’ve already tracked. I have contacts that are beginning to take shape.
Two friends face to face. Alain Français and Dominique Guerder
Dominique Guerder (Partner in De Préférence and Project Manager for Learprint) : Exploiting Learprint is the big question that has been arising for three years with Alain, and we are confronted with various problems.
First of all, we are technicians, not artists. This does not help us at all in our efforts. Then, just like any novelty, Learprint creates a certain inertia. People are interested… but slowly. It will come !
Sennheiser France, a special partner
Sennheiser France has been a very active participant in this endeavor, contributing by lending a lot of material for the project and organizing appointments to present Learprint. Guillaume Ehret, from Sennheiser France answers a few questions.
SLU : Can you tell us what you’re doing here today ?
Guillaume Ehret (Project Manager for digital microphones) : This is a natural collaboration with Alain on his innovative project and with Mireille who is recording the CD. As one of Sennheiser’s claims is the quest for the perfect sound, we could not ignore Alain’s adventure with Learprint, as he is, in his own way, going the same direction.
The assembly of the Sennheiser MKH800-Twin and MZD8000 converter module, the outgoing two-channel signal is in AES42, as with all Neumann digital microphones.
He is part of our network of rental companies that have an inventory of at least 16 digital microphones, so we integrated his stock to reach a total of 52 digital microphones or digitized microphones such as the MKH-800 Twin becomes once passed through the MZD 8000 converter module.
As this module is stereo, it converts both channels of the MKH-800 Twin. This mic is different, because it gives you the choice of polar configuration even after recording and not only before.
SLU : You have so many demo mics ?
Guillaume Ehret : The Sennheiser Group has a kit that is used to support events that are important in terms of communication or innovative projects. This kit is ample enough to cover a large orchestra, while providing the flexibility to choose microphones. It was important for Alain to be able to discuss and decide which ones to use from our range and how to place them in order to get the best results.
SLU : I see a lot of capsules with wide, hypocardioid patterns.
Guillaume Ehret : Yes. Thanks to feedback from our customers and users, we realized that, for example, the digital KM184 cardioid version is less interesting in terms of directivity and in terms of sound reproduction than the analog version. With the “D” version we will either be trying to focus on the sources or, on the contrary, to get more air. For this we have available all the necessary capsules, which have been around a long time. The KK143 of the KM series is little known, but it is fun to see it in use in digital kits; it is back in style and delivers a beautiful and very natural low end.
Some of the DMI-8 interfaces employed to collect the AES42 streams from the 100% digital microphones used capture the sources for the CD and for Learprint. The Dio Core of the Eclipse with its analog inputs is no longer needed much!
SLU : So, this kind of operation is only good for you, because your products are highlighted by the high-quality capture and diffusion. The circle is complete.
Guillaume Ehret : What’s more is that Neumann digital monitors are being used at the output of the Innovason Eclipse. It stands to reason.
SLU : Not completely, since I do not see the speakers of your brand in Learprint.
Guillaume Ehret : You’re right about that, and it will become part of a discussion with Alain. I hope one day we can install Learprint at the Innovation Campus at Sennheiser in Hanover and, then (laughs!!), your question will be an interesting topic for debate, although Alain’s approach is to select speakers according to very specific criteria, which do not necessarily correspond to ours.
It’s difficult to explain and describe, Learprint captivates immediately, even behind a half-open door. Nothing is perfect, and the very existence of an electroacoustic chain of transducers, processing, amplification and speakers inevitably takes its toll on the sonic complexity of an orchestra. Nevertheless, for the first time, there is the mass, density, depth, space, detail and explosive dynamics of this ensemble and, as one approaches the individual speakers, it gets down to the very essence of what combines to create it.
Now the “technical” boasts the same power of seduction and emotion that only the orchestra performing live can generate. I understand that this could scare some policymakers. Alain the magician? Maybe a little but, above all, he’s an outstanding sound designer, just as good in capturing – where he excels – as in reproducing; in the reassembly of a space that lives and will open your eyes. The range of applications is bound to be huge. What classical music room could do without Learprint, a spectacular and immensely educational tool? Which museum, music school, event management box, Las Vegas casino, futurist exhibition, Broadway musical, house of worship, multiplex could not succumb to what could be called the death of multichannel.
We have always wondered about the best way to reproduce sound in a space. Alain submits a very convincing answer, as complex as it is convincing. Ideally, one would hope to achieve a precise standardization of the miking and do the same with the reproduction, in terms of speaker models, placement and timing. This would enable the construction of a bank of works, comprising audio tracks and metadata capable of controlling mixing/distribution and amplification in each room equipped with Learprint. These metadata would include the nature of additional effects, specific levels and routing, and the amount of ambience that should be available to recreate the piece and the room where the recording took place.
“And the phase?” you might say… The interactions, accidents, everything seems under control and at no time do you not feel any discomfort. The construction of the ensemble, on the contrary, seems to feed on the overlap of sources. It’s stunning.
Not much is missing now for his dream to come true and for Learprint to become an everyday object, as beautiful as it is exciting. And, then, do we not say that “l’impossible n’est pas Français” (the impossible is not French”)? We will certainly keep you informed on the next steps in its development. Until then, take care of the hair on your neck, as it is guaranteed to stand up when you hear Learprint.
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