Method 1 – Live Band/Ensemble Capture
Pre Production
We decided to record a jazz band for live capture. Jazz musicians tend to prefer playing live rather than overdubbed, which makes a good fit for the live method.
Eloise contacted a jazz band:
The band had rehearsed: they came prepared with what to play.
Over text, we arranged studio time and planned how we would record the band.
The studio booking time took into account time for setting up and packing down, so that we had enough time to record.
Before recording, we put together an input sheet for the microphones we would be using. This was a useful stage of planning as it allowed for a streamlined recording session.
Recording
Room setup:
We recorded the band in studio 422.
The pianist used a digital piano with stereo XLR output, which enabled us to record a clean signal.
We had access to an upright piano in the room, but chose not to use it. Despite an acoustic piano offering a more authentic sound, this decision was made because a we would be recording live drums in the same room as the piano. It would have been very difficult to isolate these live sounds to a satisfactory level, so the keyboard was used instead so that we could record a clean signal from both.
The bass was recorded through a DI box. Similarly to the use of a keyboard, we chose this over using a bass amp because it enabled us to isolate signals, which we prioritised over having an amped bass tone.
The sax player was recorded in the vocal booth, which was also with the intention of getting a clean signal.
Two microphones were used: one close to the instrument (ElectroVoice RE20) and the other acting as a room mic (Brauner Phantom C).
In retrospect, the RE20 may not have been the best choice: it did not provide an ideal tone, possibly due to its frequency response (<15kHz). The Phantom C provided a clearer tone.
Finally, the drum kit setup:
Kick drum: Audix D6 in and Solomon LoFreq outside, which gave us a deeper low-end sound.
Snare: 2x Shure SM57 on the top and bottom
Toms: individually captured with 2x Sennheiser MD 421
2 Overheads: Oktava MK-012, which we chose due to their clarity, as well dynamic range and frequency response that work well for capturing the sound of drums.
We recorded several takes, including several different jazz standards in their repertoire.
For some takes, the band requested to record in darkness. We let them do so by turning of the lights in both the live room and the control room. This was not very practical for us, the producers, since it made communication with the band more difficult, and also reduced our visibility of the console.
This was an example of the musician’s interests conflicting with ours; however, it was important for us to listen to the musicians’ needs in order to record the best possible performance.
As the only jazz student in the group, I was an advocate to allow the band to perform in ways that that may differ from other genres, such as recording without a click track.
Project Management
Time Management and Planning:
We had planned four hours for the recording session, in which we set aside an hour for setting up, and time after recording for packing down. This was evidently an effective plan because the session went very smoothly.
Structure and Organisation:
We only arranged a single recording session with the band. Going into the session, we had no contingency plan for if the single session was not enough. This was not a problem: the recording went mostly smoothly and we recorded all that was needed in the time we had. This was still worth mentioning because it could have caused a problem, and should be kept in mind next time.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The recording session could have benefited from prior discussion about roles and responsibilities.
During setup, three people were setting up mics in the live room, while two set up the pro tools session and the console. I was involved with setting up the drum microphones.
Method 2 – Overdub Production
Pre Production
Before finding a band, we spent some sessions recording ourselves.
This was useful in practicing the overdub method.
The recordings could also be a useful backup if we could not find a band.
Later, we recorded Eloise’s pop band because they would be easy to contact and arrange sessions.
The band was put together as a part of the pop course, comprising of a singer, guitar, bass and drums.
They had rehearsed their arrangement of a song given to them, “Erase Me”.
This song turned out to have a difficult structure to record by overdub: they play the intro at a free tempo. To address this, we planned to record the band together to capture drums, and then overdub the other parts.
We contacted the band to plan a recording time:
Recording
We did our first recordings in a seminar in 104 (4th December) to track drum and bass.
We had the dummer, bass player and guitarist together in the live room, and the vocalist in the vocal booth.
Guitar and bass were recorded with DI boxes to isolate from drums:
Drums:
kick: Audix D6 in, Solomon LoFreq out
rack tom + floor tom: Sennheiser e604
snare: Sennheiser MD441 top, Shure SM57 bottom
hi-hat: Oktava MK-012
OH: 2x Schoepps Cardiod CMC5U.
This was a similar setup to the live method, with two mics on the kick to define the low-end sound.
However, for the toms, we used e604 mics, which are useful for recording toms because they have an accurate low-end, reducing the possible muddy sound. They were also convenient for toms due to the clip on design.
We used the MD441 on the snare due to its accuracy, offering a natural snare sound, as well as its super-cardioid pattern, which helps with isolation.
The band wanted to hear the vocals to help with their performance, so we also recorded vocals with Shure SM7B.
We did further recordings in 109 (5th December) to record vocals and guitar.
Vocals were recorded with Rode K2 and Beyerdynamic M160. We recorded through preamps (Neve 1073 DPA and DBX 580) due to the lack of a console in 109.
Amped guitar was also recorded in this session, using two microphones:
Sonitronics Delta2, which specialises in high SPL sound sources, so is useful for recording a guitar amp
Sennheiser MD441, which has exceptional detail, so is useful for capturing a rich guitar sound.
A third recording session done in 116 (7th December) for further vocals and keyboard, as well as balancing.
We used a Nord keyboard, recorded via DI.
Project Management
Time Management
During session 2, the band turned up late. This was not a significant problem because it gave us time to set up for the band.
Our final recording session was close to the end of the semester, and after some of us had left Leeds (7th December). In hindsight, it would have helped to have left more time after finishing recordings in case of any potential problems.
Roles and Responsibilities
In sessions 1, we were all involved with setting up microphones and setting up the console: specifically, I set up the guitar and bass and some of the drum mics. Sessions 1 and 2 could have benefited from prior discussion about roles: session 1 felt particularly rushed due to the time taken to set up.
Some of the group (myself included) were not able to be present for session 3. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to have put in the effort to all be there, or to organise a time that we could all be present. If everyone had been there, we could have avoided running into issues.
Structure and Organisation:
We had some issues with organisation after recording. The audio files from session 3 had not been saved properly, and once we had realised, we had all left Leeds for the end of the semester. This meant that we had to submit an earlier backup, using recordings we had up to 5th December.
This was an important learning point: ensuring we had multiple backups of all recordings would have prevented this.
