Musicians can record while far apart

Press, 10 March 1987, Page 45

Musicians can record while far apart

NZPA-AP New York Stevie Wonder and Nile Rodgers, though thousands of kilometres apart, got together to make a record, demonstrating technology that producers said could unite musicians worldwide. Their studio stretched from the boroughs of Queens to Staten Island via fibre optics, then across thousands of kilometres of space to a GTE satellite and back down to Los Angeles, where Wonder performed. “The technology will allow recording artists to work together from virtually any big city in the world,” said Ben Rizzi, coowner of Master Sound Astoria, which sponsored the session. Just as important, Mr Rizzi said, was the quality of the recordings the sessions produced.

Through use of computers, fibre optics and digital technology the music played at a remote studio can be recorded thousands of kilometres away with absolute clarity. “This is not a copy, but a clone,” Mr Rizzi said. "It’s very personal and it’s very comfortable,” said Mr Rodgers. “It’s an aural experience ... and it works great.” Harry Mendell, who organised the artists and is a consultant to Master Sound, estimates the cost of a four-hour recording session to be about SUSI2,OOO ($21,360). The companies donated services for the demonstration. The first music recorded was a vocal overdubbing of a Wonder antidrug song, “Stop, Don’t Pass Go,” by a chorus led by Rodgers.