What is a Re-performance®?
Author Kevin
Bazzana refers to our process as a “live realization of the original
interpretation.” Zenph® Studios takes audio recordings and turns them
back into live performances, precisely replicating what was originally recorded.
Our software-based process extracts every musical nuance of a recorded
performance, and stores the data in a high-resolution digital file. These re-performance
files contain the details of how every note in the composition was played,
including pedal actions, volume, and articulations – all with millisecond
timings.
These re-performance files can then be played back on real acoustic pianos
fitted with sophisticated computers and hardware, letting the listener “sit
in the room” as if he or she were there when the original recording was
made. Most importantly, the re-performance can be recorded afresh, using the
latest microphones and recording techniques, to modernize monophonic or poor-quality
recordings of beloved performances.
For example, click here to read about our new state-of-the-art
recordings of Glenn Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations re-performance.
The Sony Masterworks team deems it "a sonic rediscovery of an iconic twentieth-century
recording."
Important to this process is the use of high-resolution data. Those familiar
with the MIDI specification (now more than 25 years old) may know that regular
MIDI isn’t really sufficient for capturing and replicating fine nuance. It’s
like the difference between regular TV and high-definition TV. The high-resolution
specs we’re using vary among instruments, but all offer 10 bits of data to
preserve the velocity of each key (compared to 7 bits in regular MIDI), as well
as detailed information about the key and pedal positioning.
We feel the word “re-performance” summarizes this technique
perfectly.
Original Performance, New Recording!