“In order to create the big sound CNN were looking for I wanted live strings on the Sonic Identity and Main Theme track,” says Anthony. “I record a great group of musicians here in New York and they're not your normal session players, they're all virtuosi in their own right and a real joy to work with.

“I don't have a large live room but it can hold up to six players and that's always a challenge from a sound point of view, as there's not going to be a lot of air for the sound. The tonality of the room is actually great, though: I have the usual Auralex foam with T-fusers dotted around for a more natural ping!

“However, with six players tracking four or five times the same or divisi parts, I thought it would be cool if the players swapped chairs between each take to get a different sound on the spot and ambient mics. It’s my ‘musical chairs with strings attached’ technique. This caused a riot with them [the players] and they loved it. It really made a difference to my normal string sessions. The depth was gorgeous and the mics picked up each player’s own way of doing things, but with this technique it was different on every overdub, giving it a larger sound.”

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