MPR4C001R-001 Production Log Book 1

Student Number- 25104152

Task 2: Production Log Book

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:

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Method 1 – Live Band/Ensemble Capture

The initial meeting and recording on the Jazz band was on Thursday 6th of November in room 422. We hadn’t discussed what mics we were going to use as 3 of us had never heard the band being brought in, so we wanted to listen to their sounds and see how we wanted to emphasise the style with the mics when we got in the studio. The band were friends of Max’s and had practiced together beforehand, this was nice to have the prior organisation and chemistry so we didn’t have to worry about arranging the band.

When we got to the studio we gave the band a listen, unfortunately the guitarist couldn’t make it as he was ill, and the Sax player could make the session an hour late, so it was a bit stressful trying to find someone to cover the guitarist, luckily we did. We started off by recording the drums so the other instruments could be guided with this as the base. We used an AKG D112 MKII for the kick drum for its punchy, present sound, we also used Shure SM58s for above and below the snare, and to capture the depth in the cymbals we used two AKG C414s as overheads. We then recorded the bass using a D112 MKII again, which gave it a lot of power. We also decided to try and capture an ambience in the room by using a delta ribbon mic, as it figure of eight, we faced both sides to the wall to capture the reflection and reject the main sound sources directly. The Saxophone mic was a Rode K2 tube condenser mic, providing the warm smooth sound we knew we wanted. We set it half way between cardioid and omni polar patterns (subcardioid) so we’d capture blends omnidirectional and cardioid pickup, capturing sound from the front and sides with a natural, open quality, reduced proximity effect (bass boost up close), and less rear pickup than omni.

After managing to record all the instruments and getting a few takes, we went to mix the song in room 107 on November 21st. I could only be there briefly, so I utilised the limited time I had to suggest that we make the saxophone the main feature of our recording, but also have all the instruments quite quiet to add to the softness of the track. I also helped choose the best take, which is the one we ended up using in the end. When we had panned it and mixed it, we got rid of all the unnecessary bits in pro tools, trimmed the start and the ending and added a fade both in and out to smoothen the harshness of the saxophone coming in and out.

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Method 2 – Overdub Production

For our overdub, we decided to do a cover of Creep by Radiohead. This was mainly chosen for practicality because the song itself is considered one of Radiohead’s most simple and straightforward in terms of technical depth, which allowed us to have one experienced multi-musician record all the parts, meaning our job was to get the best takes and make each instrument sound as accurate as possible. Our first studio session to record Creep was on Thursday 16th November, it was booked from 10:00am until 16:00pm in studio 104. We put a lot of emphasis on wanting to book this studio as we already had experience with the systems in the room, the layout and the mixing desk. Only 2 of us actually had used other recording rooms, so we thought productivity would be maximised if we didn’t have to learn the features of a new studio. This large time slot also allowed for us to record every single instrument and part, which was not expected for our first oficial studio session together, but we worked as a team allowing for efficient recording. We also had Will, the multi instrumentalist who is doing his masters in music production at the moment, we realised it was a blessing to be abke to have one instrumentalist record all the parts because he was reliable, was able to help us set instruments and microphones up with expertise, and we didn’t have to worry about the organisation of a whole band, we could focus on each instrument bit by bit and then move onto the next without anyone having to wait for their part.

When we were planning for the overdub recording I did some research on the microphones used by Radiohead themselves to record Creep, but the only one that was documented was the Shure SM58 to record Thom Yorke’s vocals, so we used common sense and focused more on replicating the instrument sounds rather than putting all the trust in the microphones. When we discussed what mics we would use the night before the session and made a list of everything we would need so we could maximise studio time and organise ourselves. For the vocals we origionally decided on using an AKG-C414 as it isolates vocals and background noise really well and it is a reliable condenser mic. However, someone wanted to try a Neumann U87 clone as the audio would come out warmer and the C414 can sound quite cold and dull. We decided to leave the vocal mic decision for the next day, to test out the C414 and see if the sound was adequate. For the dums we also couldn’t decide what to use for the snare, we were torn between using 2 Shure SM57s for above and below it, or 2 Neumann KM-184s because their sound is very crisp and snappy. That was another thing we decided to try both of and also get expertise from Will, who knew what mics complimented his voice and the snare. We also decided we wanted to use an SM57 for the electric guitar amp, C414s for the drum overheads and a stereo recording of the piano, and Sennheiser MD421s for the toms. The next day I couldn’t make it into the studio until 13:00pm because I had lectures in the morning, but my team briefed me that they had already recorded the drums, electric guitar and bass and showed me each part individually, explaining they changed the mics up a little bit due to Wills recommendations, which were mainly to increase practicality and not waste time trying more than 2 different mics. When I walked in Will was in the vocal booth recording the chorus with an AKG-C414 mic, I noticed we were getting a little bit of feedback on the mic so I advised him through the talkback mic to step back slightly. There were times he went a bit off tune or rhythm, especially hitting the high note after the last chorus, but I mentioned this to my peers rather than Will directly because I didn’t know him well and I thought the feedback would be better coming from Dan, who introduced him to us and has known him for a while. I then helped decided which vocal take was the best and most accurate paralel of Creep itself, mentioning that we could always combine bits of two good takes together. In one of them, for example, Will hit the high note perfectly but as he shifted keys down we got some mic feedback, so I suggested combining this take with one where he didn’t hit the note as well but feedback on the mic was minimal.

The last instrument we recorded was the piano part right at the end of the song. Lottie did this as we decided Will needed a well deserved break, and Lottie is a very capable piano player. I offered a lot of feedback on each of the takes and Lottie was rushing a little in the first few, I told her to calm her nerves, turned up the click track in her headphones and we agreed that the fourth take was perfect rhythmically. I helped pack up and made sure Dan had saved the pro tools session properly, and by the end of the day we had a complete overdub with all the best takes we could get that we just needed to mix.

We mixed Creep on the 22nd Nov, we booked studio 422 from 10:00am- 14:00pm. I mentioned that I thought the guitar should be the most prominent component, but most of my group wanted to put more emphasis on the vocals. We panned it through 2 channels, mixed it so the electric guitar and vocals were the loudest, the drums, piano and bass layering over each other to create a nice backing for the lead aspects to shine, then we finalised the mix in a lesson and got rid of everything we didn’t need in our pro tools session, converting the file.

To reflect, I loved doing the overdub and being able to communicate with the artist about what we wanted our end result to be. I wish I would have been able to be there for the whole recording, and I also wish I would have been able to do some more practical work, manning pro tools.