TASK 1 – The WAV files
TASK – Production Log
After speaking amongst the group, we settled on two genres suitable for the briefs. For our overdub, we chose an emo-rock band, due to the earthy, distorted nature of the genre. This was achievable through multilayering the tracks even without processing and naturally an appropriate sound to be recorded using overdub.
We started using a six hour studio session, in 422, to give ourselves and the band enough time to warm up, rehearse, set up the live room and the desk and allow for any altering that needed to happen to achieve the most authentic sound. We had the drums sat at the end of the live room, set up with 8 microphones by myself, Gabryella, Alex and Rueben which provided a more flexible sound and allowed us to monitor the drums for each individual type of drum. Our SM57s were placed on both the snare bottoms and snare tops, the D112 mic was used for the kick in, sennheiser md421 for the floor tom, two octavia MK-012s parallel to one and other for the overheads as a stereo pair. We had a list pre-prepared for the set-up of the microphones, directed by Gabryella, which helped in keeping the organisation of the session to run smoothly. As a group, we worked to wire the microphones accordingly and added the wall box numbers to the list as we went through the instruments. This assisted in effectively setting the desk up. We initially mic’ed up the bass with a DM1B on the cab and then decided to use a DI box to clean the sound and achieve two signals coming through the desk for later mixing in protools. The bass was a notably prominent sound within the demo shown to us, and we wanted to ensure we provided enough attention to the bass during recording to represent this. The guitar was mic’ed up with two separate mics using an SM57 on the speaker cab and the MD441 at an angle towards the amplifier. We did this to deliver two separate tracks into protools, allowing us to combine or choose between the tracks.
Myself and Emre then went to set up the desk and created a session in protools. I set the gain for the drums first as there were more microphones to consider. We found that the kick drum was sounding too hollow, and lacking in depth. We decided to solve this by filling the drum with fabric to deepen the sound, making it richer. This worked amazingly. Once the levels were set, we moved on to calculating the structure of the session itself by communicating with the band about what they found most comfortable. Initially we asked the bassist if he felt happy to record in the vocal booth as this would improve the quality of sound given the essential role of the bass in their song “Terrified” that we were recording. The vocal booth is a smaller and more compressed space, so the bass would sound cleaner which would eliminate any unwanted echo on the track. However the bassist told us he believed he could play better inside the live room as the isolation of the vocal booth would affect his ability to perform, as he’d rehearsed, therefore we removed the idea and went with the best interest of the players for a more authentic sound in the end. We then recorded the guitarist, who used multi-effects pedals to achieve a distorted and chorus style sound. The mics we used for this were designed to capture the heaviness of this sound in both a full on and layered manner from the mainstream middle frequences (with the direct use of the SM57 directly on the cab) and then a lighter and more lenient sound; this was due to the use of the MD441 at the angle to capture and avoid overspill).
Following the initial session, myself and Gabryella booked a vocal booth for the singer, India, as she was unwell for the original date of the recording. This, however, was a blessing in disguise as this allowed us to focus solely on the sound of the vocals and eliminate any complications caused by the use of a larger space. We used two mics, the RE20 and SM57 to capture two versions of her vocals, to which we could then choose whichever was preferable for the end result. We needed mics that would be able to tolerate heavy vocals and a louder sound as the singing involved metal-style screaming aswell. We began by recording India singing the parts that didn’t require screaming initially, as to preserve her vocal agility and because we were uncertain as to whether we needed to re-calculate where she stood relative to the microphones as the screaming sections were significantly louder. This was the correct decision, as we re-levelled the desk when she screamed to avoid peaking, however this would have almost washed out the singing sections with those parts being much quieter.
After this, Gabryella and I mixed the overdub recording using fade ins and outs for the majority of the tracks, to align the introductions of different instruments in the song. We cut out any unwanted silence (either before or after a section was played) and followed this with the fades. As we were unable to use any processing, we had to be precise and ensure all sections were correct and in time, so we listened to the track back after each change made, altering any clips or mistakes. For the vocals, with there being such a drastic difference in volume between the two takes that we did for the different sections, we used volume automation to slightly phase the screaming in order to allow these parts to initially blend nicely with the singing parts but then allow it to remain distinguished when it would briefly spike in levels. This automation emphases her vocals in such a way that deliberately delivers that gritty sound associated with the metal-emo genre of music.
Contrastingly, for our live recording we chose to ask a jazz ensemble to come and perform a cover of “Dear Old Stockholm” by Miles Davis. We used the genre of jazz as the acoustics from the instruments used were suitable to be recorded simultaneously as a collective without distorting. The sound created natural reverb instead and the gentle character of jazz music was easier on the levels on the desk. We asked a jazz band to come in and perform a 6 minute piece which we did across a 3 hour session with a jazz ensemble including double bass, piano, acoustic guitar and drums. Myself, Emre, Gabryella and Alex set up the live room and then I went inside the control room to set up the protools session. We used 6 mics on the drums; an Audix D6 for the kick in, AKG C451 for the hi-hat, an SM57 for for the snare and two Octava MK-012 for overheads in parallel stereo pair. When setting up the live room here, we prioritised the positions of the mics to reduce as much clashing and spilling as possible with this session being live. The next instrument to the drums was the double bass, and we wanted to focus on the lower frequency sounds so we initially used an AKG D112 to face the end tailpiece of the bass but also later decided to use a Brauner Phantom mic on the fretboard to gain an authentic additional recording from an alternative section of the fretboard. This was how we planned to mic the bass until the bassist suggested placing a pencil microphone on the bridge of the bass using hair ties to secure it (a technique he had seen used previously). This was effective as the bassist was expressive and moved frequently during performance, altering how the other mics would pick up sound, so this technique allowed for a medium between the two, ensuring a reliable and clear recording.
The guitar was sat opposite and slightly further forward from the bass, using an SM57 and Sontronics Halo on the speaker cab. The halo was a mic we had learnt, in our sessions, was better for the deeper and warmer tones of a guitar, whereas the SM57 delivered a whole and thinner yet definitive sound, both of which would stand out as complimentary tones in the recording.
Finally, for the piano, placed furthest away from drums, as not to conflict each others sound, AKG C414 were placed in parallel with the hammers, and then two condensers in order to be able to pan the sound later when mixing.
Once all recording was done, we collectively mixed the song and panned both the piano and drums to thicken the sound of the overall recording. We also used fade-ins and outs again here as we were concerned to avoid any spilling of the different instruments and voices before and after takes. We did some volume automation on the bass, as it was a dominant sound initially and needed reduction as not to overtake the recording and further automation on guitar as the volume was wobbly on this track. I later found out this was because the amp was too low in the physical recording. We had to mute certain areas of the guitar and decide what sections should be more guitar-centred to avoid clashing.
LINKS FOR VIDEO MEDIA:
REFERENCES:
Nail The Mix staff (2025) Types of microphones: a metal producers guide to getting brutal tones – Nail the mix Available at: https://www.nailthemix.com/types-of-microphones?srsltid=AfmBOoqaiinn7ErXP8ZskM82PEIYNaQEazWpDXW1Hhq7hW7by32dZWt
Kore Studios (2020) How to record a jazz band – korestudios.com Available at: https://www.kore-studios.com/how-to-record-jazz/e-studios.com
Sweetwater (2022) How to mic a guitar amplifier – Sweetwater.com Available at: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/how-to-mic-a-guitar-amplifier/
