1500 words
Please use the sections below to evidence your personal contribution to the production for the portfolio. Please include details for all the tracks produced as a part of this portfolio.
Provide rationale for any of the production decisions that you made as a group. Include any multimedia (pictures, videos, audio recordings etc) evidence to the relevant sections.
Consider the following:
Pre-Production
- Rehearsals
- Track development
- Demo recording
- Arrangement decisions
- Session planning
Recording
- Microphone choices
- Room setup
- Musician management
Mixing
- Mix plan/concept
- Balance
- Pan
- Tone
- FX
Project Management
- Time management
- Planning
- Roles and responsibilities
- Structure and organisation
Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)
For this element of the portfolio we recorded an emo/post-hardcore band called ‘Misting‘. This band consists of a guitarist, bassist, drummer and a vocalist with metal screaming capability. As an integral part of our pre-planning we had to be very smart in regards to our microphone choice as we took into consideration: the tonal shifts in the guitar, the change from distorted to clean guitar, the softer vocals in comparison to the screaming.
Below are the microphone selections we decided on:
- Kick in – Audix D6
- Kick out – Sontronics Dm1b
- Snare Top – Shure Sm57
- Snare Bottom – Shure Sm57
- Rack tom – Sennheiser Md421
- Floor Tom – Sennheiser Md421
- Hi-Hat Neumann Km 184
- OverHead L – Akg C414 [Panned L]
- OverHead r –Akg C414 [Panned R]
- Guitar amp Delta 2
- Guitar Di
- Bass Di
- Vocal Shure 58
We recorded this track in studio 104 and decided to record the three instrumentalists in a live setup with the drums, bass and guitarist in the live room; however, the guitar amp was in the vocal booth. We re-amped the guitar due to the effects on the guitar amp needing to be as clear as possible so in order to create more isolation we placed it in the vocal booth.
After we got a great and accurate recording that the band were happy with, we set up another recording session just with India (lead vocalist) in order to overdub her vocals onto the track. We decided to do it this way so we could really focus on getting the best capture of her stylistic variation. Originally we were unsure whether a Rode K2 was going to be versatile enough to be able to capture the screams however, I suggested we move her further back and stick with the same mic as I had known other hardcore groups use it themselves. Therefore the K2 was used all the way through.
After listening to all the takes we got for some of the screams, we realised they sounded distant due to the positioning and the dynamic shift wouldn’t allow for the screams to have the impact they needed so,
I suggested we layer 3 of the scream takes, to make up for the physical distance between the singer and the microphone. This allows for the screams to sound full and really punch in through the mix and stand out.
Desk channel organisation.
Floor tom Oktava mic.
Guitar mic setup (in vocal booth).
Hi Hat microphone position.
Sennheiser tom mic.
SM57 Snare microphone position.
Rode K2 Vocal mic (in vocal booth).
When mixing this track we got a very accurate recording from the get go so it needed
minimal tweaking. The only notable thing we had to do was filter through our vocal takes and comp them together and use tools such as automation in order to get the cuts to flow seamlessly. Personally, I just added basic plug-ins such as a bit of compression and reverb to allow some of the more stagnant tracks to have the same movement as the isolated guitar amp and just to fill space in the mix.
Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)
Whilst wrapping up our guitar based band recording, we then started looking for a jazz or folk group in order to begin our next section of our portfolio. However, we really struggled to find a group that was available and had either worked together before or were an already established / rehearsed group. We would have preferred this as it avoids any issues with mistakes or uncertainty from the musicians whilst recording, therefore streamlining the process and avoiding time wasting. Once we finally found a group, we knew it would consist of: drums, piano, bass and guitar. We knew we’d have to take into consideration the fact this assignment had to be a live take and we had to consider our microphone placement and also the minimal amount of post-production we were allowed to do.
Spaced pair over the drum kit.
Below are the microphones we decided to go with:
- Kick – Sontronic Dm1b
- Snare Top Shure Sm 57
- Snare Bottom Sm 57
- Over Head L – Akg C451- Spaced Pair- L pan
- Over Head R – Akg C451 – Spaced Pair R pan
- Guitar amp Beyerdynamic m160
- Bass – DI Box
- Piano High strings akg c414
- Piano Bass Strings akg c414
Due to not being able to digitally add to this during post-production, the main challenge of this recording was getting the best recording we could. We chose Take 4 as the best take.
We then added Pan L and R for Overheads to fill any empty space in the overall mix, panning the overheads allows for an equal spread across both sides as well as more of a live full sound. Using the mixing desk we utilised the EQ section and boosted the low end on the overheads and kick drum. We felt the clarity of the overheads and kick could have been better to have a more impactful and full sound so decided to add the Drawner 1968 compressor to the overheads and the Drawmer DI 241 to the Kick. Personally for a jazz track i believe it needs to have a lot of movement in regards to the sound as most jazz venues are designed to allow for the sound to travel so suggested we add the Lexicon PCM 92 to both the piano and guitar as these carried the melodic element. Finally, once we were happy with our final mix we used tape 1 & 2 send, mix out L & R to print the hardware mixed version.
Mixing desk channels and layout.
Logic session during the recording.
Evidence of the piano microphone placement.
Track 3 Remix track
During the time of creating this remix, I was heavily into more acoustic and atmospheric music such as ‘Obstacles’ by Syd Matters. Before picking up a guitar I put both of the verses together as I thought that structurally that made more sense. Obstacles utilises a lot of repetition in regards to the lyrics and relies on the instruments to dance around and come in / drop out in order to keep the listener engaged. I also noticed that there is a consistent emphasis on panning. I also didn’t like the original chord progression
Once I was happy with how the vocals had been trimmed and rearranged I proceeded to add in the acoustic guitar which I recorded in 104 in the control room with an SM7b, I chose this approach rather than getting a guitarist in as I didn’t want the playing to be exactly perfect, I wanted to be able to still hear me tapping in the background and my hand sliding up and down the fretboard so I used quite a high gain level, high enough so that these elements could slip through but also not loud enough to clip. I used the same microphone to record the snare and floor tom as well, I brought each drum into the live room and recorded them individually rather than at a kit as I felt it gave me more control over the beats and could align them with the guitar efficiently. I wanted reverb to be a big factor in this track also so when recording I left the control room door open to allow the sound to travel out a bit more. I stood approximately 8 feet from the microphone so more of the room sound was captured in comparison to a dry isolated mic technique we used on the previous tracks.
In regards to post production, I added plug-ins such as reverb, automation and panning as I was recording because I wanted to immediately hear how the track was going to come together and also prompt creativity from hearing the reverb carrying and accentuating various transients within the track. The only part I chose to add in via a midi recording was the bass, this song is very prominent in the low end so I had the bassline sit slightly higher in comparison to the rest of the instruments.
