Jasper Sharp 24101628
Task 2: Production Log Book
Project Management
We used the same musicians (barring one) for each track as following:
Jack Higby: Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar
Zach Nolan: Rhythm Guitar/Bass Guitar/Lead Guitar
Leo Thomas: Drums
Katie Wilshire: Vocals
Evan Lang: Bass Guitar (Misery Business only)
The rest of the group participants are members of our production group.
Evan Lang is not included in the group as he was informed separately, and only in one song.
The selected musicians have performed as a band together previously and have chemistry between them before even heading into the studio as a result. This is the primary reason why we chose them. They also didn’t need a significant amount of rehearsal time to be ready to record, and were ready as soon as our allocated studio time started.
Pre Production
- The first session was on the 21st of November from 9pm-11:15pm (Week 8 of term), we were cut short as all equipment had to be returned by 11:30.
- Shelby and I arrived around 15 minutes earlier to pick up the kit and set up the microphones and amps.
- We also ran into an issue with Pro Tools where the correct input/output presets had not been loaded onto the studio we were using, an issue I hadn’t encountered before, but will work around next time by checking everything in the studio is set up properly on my account on a previous day to maximise studio time.
- The vocalist (Katie) had never recorded in a studio setting before so she was in a very unfamiliar environment. As she was used to being on stage performing, moving around while singing was practically second nature to her. Naturally this wasn’t ideal for the recording, the first few takes seemed to have her fade in and out of the recording during the verses, and then suddenly get louder during the chorus. After going through a few methods, we ended up putting a chair behind her which she could either sit on or physically prevent her from moving around in fear of tripping up for the more ‘vocal-power’ intensive tracks.
- In this session, we recorded first takes for Misery Business, Trouble Found Me and Sir Duke. I operated Pro Tools while we took turns on the SSL desk trying out different mixes to try and match to the original as close as we could.
- The second session was booked for 7-10pm on the 27th of November (Week 9 of term). I wasn’t able to be at this session as I wasn’t in Leeds. The final mixes and versions for Misery Business and Trouble Found Me were recorded here, while the instrumental for Sir Duke was finished.
Recording
From top to bottom:
Overheads: MK-012
Snare: SM57
Kick: D112
AKG 414 in the vocal booth
DI box for Bass Guitar
Amp settings:
Fender amp:
- Low volume
- Mid to high drive
- Mid to high treble EQ
- Mid Bass EQ
- Mid to high Mid EQ
- Low master volume
- No reverb
- Mid to high presence
VOX amp:
- Master – Low volume, no tone cut
- Tremolo – No depth, Mid speed
- Reverb – Low to Mid
- EQ – Low to mid bass, mid to high treble, low to mid volume
- Normal – Low to mid volume
Method 1 – Live Band/Ensemble Capture
Track 1 – Cover: Misery Business – Paramore (2007) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VPotzhpAGE
- This track is our primary rock track and the most intense out of all the songs we chose. Some parts of it we weren’t able to replicate without processing, for example the intro which is likely VST instruments with filters and distortion etc.
- To achieve the style of guitar sound in the track we naturally thought to record using amps as opposed to DI, apart from the bass. With no post-production the bass would sound clearer without the spill from the other amps.
- We kept both the lead and rhythm guitar amps next to each other but opposite so they’d pick up each other’s natural spill, but not cause any feedback to occur.
- Vocalist (Katie) was placed in the vocal booth, which was uncomfortable for her at first as she is used to playing with the band around her, however she got over it fairly quickly once we adjusted the levels of her headphone mix. The guitarists and bassist were placed as far away from the drumkit as possible.
- We used the Glyn Johns method to mic up the drum-kit (available at https://drummagazine.com/glyn-johns-technique/ published by drum magazine.com)
- We took a few tries to get the intro right as the drummer had confusion about who he could and couldn’t hear.
- The AKG 414 was the most versatile vocal mic we had experience using and worked well for Katie. The SM7B was our choice for the amps because of the mostly flat response and its durability against loud volume levels.
- Kick mic was placed very far inside the drum with some fabric to muffle it for a flatter sound.
https://leedsconservatoire.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=4d6aa5a0-6ce1-44c5-8074-b26000274547
Track 2 – Cover: Trouble Found Me – Madison Cunningham (2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV4FR-yaqr8
- This track is a contrast to our other more upbeat selections, having the lowest BPM and more of a sparse texture to let all of the parts shine through on their own.
- This song only contains bass and a rhythm/lead hybrid, the hybrid being played by one person.
- The style of guitar playing is also changed to suit the more laid back jazz groove.
- Settings on the rhythm amp were also changed to fit the mood of the song, like increased reverb.
- Other than this, the rest of the general mic setup and room organisation was the same.
- Katie seemed a lot more comfortable singing this song and sounded much clearer without all of the heavy guitars and drums featured on a track such as Misery Business. In addition to this, her voice sounded a lot more natural on this track.
- This track took considerably less takes than Misery Business.
Method 2 – Overdub Production
Track 3 – Cover: Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder (1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnNgASBdCeo
- This track is unfinished as we never managed to get Katie’s vocals onto it, due to files being lost/corrupted.
- Despite this, the recording of the instrumental went smoothly, and provided a solid foundation as we could tell the band had heavily rehearsed it.
Conclusion
Overall, I think that the planning of this project could have gone a lot better, seeing as the studio sessions we arranged were quite late in the semester. We encountered some large problems because of this, like the first demos of the recording being completely lost as we saved them in the wrong place on the system and they consequently got wiped as a result, not to mention the lack of vocals on Sir Duke. Given another opportunity to do this type of project later in the next 2 and a half years I would definitely plan ahead and factor in contingency time for unexpected issues like this.
I do think that some of the group disorganisation came from a lack of confidence, as some of us have had to do assignments like this before and some haven’t (or struggle to communicate), but I’m confident that next time I’ll take more care in the preparation and will try to avoid situations like these.
Nonetheless, I was satisfied with the band’s performance and rehearsal schedule, and would definitely use certain members again for other projects. In addition, I think that overall the general capture of the sound was up to standard for our level, and we made educated decisions when deciding which mics/amps to use.
The only things I would change about the recording if I had the chance to do this assignment again would be the way the drum was miked up (some of the audio in the overhead channels sounds strange) and I would run the song a few times just with vocals, as we may have thrust Katie into the deep end when it came to her being comfortable in the studio.
