After we decided on the song, we decided to record drums and used “Ken Scott’s Minimalist Drum Micing” technique which consists of using a condenser overhead and a ribbon and condenser for the kick drum. This is the technique The Beatles used to record the drums. We blended signals coming from the ribbon and condenser mics on the kick before we started recording. Two of us set up the microphones whilst the other two set up the desk. Before the session, I created a guide track for the drums and split the stems so during the recording, the drummer could drum to the original track minus the drum track.

For recording bass, we weren’t able to use the Hofner bass (what McCartney uses) and instead the bassist used a P-Bass, which is similar. We used a dynamic mic on the bass cab, opting out of using DI to stay accurate to the way the track would have been recorded.

For the electric guitar, we used a JZ Microphone V67 as it is very similar to the Neumann U67 which was what The Beatles used to record their guitar cabs. During the mixing process, we also used Abbey Road plugins in hopes of achieving an identical sound to the original track. These consisted of plate/chamber reverbs, compression, delay and saturation. Below is the guitar bus, we used the same plugins across all three guitar tracks with some minor changes to each one. For the EQ, cutting the high frequencies and boosting the mids, adds more grit to the sound.

During the mixing process with the drums, we also boosted the mid frequencies to match the original recording, we noticed there is a lack of highs and lows in the original mix, there is a lot of punchy elements and grit, so when EQ’ing the vast majority of the instruments, we kept that in mind. We made the kick punchy without too much low frequencies and added in a noise gate to enhance its punchiness.

Again, we used an Abbey Road plugin for the overhead as well as adding distortion to emulate any extra sound that might have been caught during the original recording. As a whole, the original recording had a lot of noise, hiss and distortion, so using distortion and/or saturation on most tracks in the session was vital. We also put a test oscillator in a separate track and tweaked the frequency of the sine wive to imitate hiss, this was put on and on the stereo out channel, we put a tape machine plugin on it to try and imitate the sound of tape being used in a 1960’s studio.

When recording the vocals we used a condenser mic in order to achieve the cleanest recording. Initially, we were going to use a mic of condenser and dynamic and blend those signals, whoever we decided on using the condenser alone as we did not leave enough time to record again (the other mic did not fit with the isolation shield). Before recording vocals, we worked out the vocal harmonies before the session in order to be as productive as possible.

This is the vocal chain we used on each vocal part. In order to achieve a similar sound to The Beatles, we had to use various processors. We used the Abbey Road compression and reverb, as well as, slap back delay, saturation and distortion. We cut the highs and lows, boosted the mids to attain a gritty sound to the vocals, we often compared our vocals to the original whilst mixing, we each had a turn doing so as the vocals were the hardest to get done since it gives the track its unique sound.

The vocals were the last thing we recorded for this part of the assignment, we had the other parts recorded a couple of weeks before. We struggled to find a male singer that had a similar voice, however we eventually found someone and were able to sort out a time and place to do it.

We chose to record a jazz quartet consisting of drums, double bass, piano and saxophone. We chose to do a spaced pair and a mid-side pair of microphones and positioned the musicians in this layout. On the ‘mid’ mic, we boosted the bass so it would be prominent in the mix and then EQ’d the mid-side pair on one bus and the same was done on the spaced pair bus.

In the control room, we panned the microphones and balanced the levels as we found the piano was still quite loud. Originally, the piano was opened up, however we found that it was far too loud, so we closed it, asked the bass player to face the microphones more and we were able to find a balanced sound.

During mixing however, we found the saxophone is a bit too far from the mics and has a boxy sound which we tried to fix. We did some light EQ’ing on each microphone and used a multi-pressor to compress everything.

For the remix I chose to do an EDM/house track. For the kick, I recorded myself hitting my wardrobe. To make it more punchier and heavier after EQ’ing it, I attached a sine wave to it through a bus, I set the frequency quite low, at around 60 hertz to get a deep kick drum sound. I also added side chain compression to one of the synths to create a pumping effect commonly found in this genre of music. I also recorded myself playing a woodblock and clapping which I used as percussive elements to the remix. I also recorded myself playing egg shakers throughput the track, I then sampled that to created opened and closed hi-hats.

I used two synths in this track, this one being used more as a pad to support the track, as a whole, the track is quite percussive and does not focus of melodic elements of the synths.

I used a bass synth for the bassline which is a driving factor of the remix, I didn’t want it to be buried within the mix as I wanted it to standout. I created a new bassline for the remix and re-recorded the rhythm guitar part from the original.

This is the synth that is side chained to the kick drum to create the pumping effect, it’s used in the track to play the chords, it does not have much melodic interest, more so rhythmic. Being side chained also means that the kick can stand out more which is important for this track as it is regularly heard.