We again took 2 pieces (Lyttleton St Mvt II, and Kithara) and made before-and-after recordings. This time the focus was on the sections of the orchestra – “Can I hear my section?” “Do I like what I hear?” “Are we too quiet/loud?” “Is there anything we need to make sure that we all do in the same way?”
We then divided into sections for 20 mins to address whatever things we had noticed, and made a 2nd (considerably better) recording of Harmony Mvt II as a result.
One idea that emerged was for the mandolins to divisi their three-note acccompaniment patterns, so that the bass note could be more easily sustained under the 2 higher notes. I thought this was very effective and certainly tightened up the group sound.