Arioso Strings Recording Session at Melrose Knitting Mill
We are so excited that Arioso Strings has just released the incredible recording session they did at Melrose Knitting Mill. We were honored to be chosen as their host venue.
Are you looking to add a touch of elegance to your wedding or event? We highly recommend Arioso Strings. They have performed at over 1000 weddings in the past ten years and their musicians are some of the finest in the Triangle. They play with the NC Symphony, the NC Theater, The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), and the Chamber Orchestra of The Triangle. Their years of experience playing wedding and event music, along with their professional training, make your event stress free and beautiful.
We hope you enjoy the videos below and keep reading for the Q&A we had with the group’s founder, Mary Page Block.
Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colby Caillat
Can’t Help Falling in Love by Weiss, Creatore and Peretti
Something (In the Way She Moves) by George Harrison (Beatles)
Theme “Married Life” from the Pixar Movie “Up”
Musicians & Team
Mary Page Block: Violin
Lucy Greenleaf-Carter: Violin
Emi Hildebrandt: Violin
Matt Chicurell: Viola
Rosalind Leavell: Cello
Nathaniel Yaffe: Sound Engineer and Videographer
L.M. Block: Photos
Q&A With Mary Page Block
We hopped on the phone (social distancing ????) with Mary Page Block to learn more about Arioso Strings and what went into this project.
The group decided in mid-December of 2019 that they wanted to have a professional video online to showcase their offerings. They started by spending a lot of time browsing YouTube to see what other quartets had done.
It was important to us to have a gorgeous and professional video online but we did not have a big budget to work with.”
Rosalind Leavell is their talented cellist. Her husband, Nathaniel Yaffe, is a cellist with the North Carolina Symphony and is also a sound engineer. Nathaniel did the videography and sound for this project and suggested that recording the video in a venue, instead of a recording studio, would give people a sense of what it is like to have live music at their event.
I started by looking at venues we play at often. Melrose is the most beautiful. They have gorgeous colors that the camera picks up, great light, and high ceilings that give good acoustics with the wood floors. Cement floors are difficult to record in. Wood floors, wood walls, and high ceilings are ideal, which made Melrose perfect. I know Jessica Tilton, Melrose’s venue manager, well and I even performed at her wedding. Melrose was always my first choice so I called to see if the space was available. I thought this would be a great way for clients to see what we look like and sound like in a venue.”
So you may ask, “how do the videos sound so great when they are not done in a recording studio?” A lot of thought and planning, plus the right team, was the answer.
We had to have a rug underneath us while we were recording to help mitigate foot tapping as it could eaisly be picked up by the microphone.”
When asked what the most challenging part of this experience was, Mary Page said…
Picking the date! We ended up recording on February 25 and 29, 2020, but it was hard to find a date that worked for all of the musicians as well as Melrose Knitting Mill.”
Lastly, we asked Mary Page how they decided on using Nathaniel Yaffe as their sound engineer for the recording.
We wanted to use someone who is experienced in recording string musicians. It takes a very special mic and very special training. We knew he was the perfect man for the job.”
Visit Arioso Strings online to learn more about booking them for your next wedding or event.