March 2021
In November 1987, Canada’s Cowboy Junkies recorded the tracks for The Trinity Session, which, when released one year later, received worldwide critical acclaim. It was recorded in The Church of the Holy Trinity, located in downtown Toronto, Canada.
In the album’s liner notes is a line that reads: "A Digital R-Dat recording, using only a Calrec Ambisonic Microphone." R-DAT stands for Rotating-head Digital Audio Tape, with R-DAT recorders coming to market in the late 1980s.
While it’s true that The Trinity Session was made using a single Calrec Ambisonic microphone, was it really captured using an R-DAT recorder? In this video, Peter J. Moore, the album’s producer and engineer, tells the truth about the technology of the time and what really went on during the recording. The answer might surprise you.