Flynn Boxall 25101838
Method 1 – Live Capture
Live recording 1: White Sugar Machine, Original:
| Instrument | Microphone and placement | Reasoning |
| Drums: | Kick: D6 kick in, pointed at beater Snare: SM57 x2 top and side Toms: C414 , placed as close as possible without clipping (pad on + cardioid) Overheads: X1R Ribbons and K2 Mono OH. Ribbons placed fairly far from drums. | Kick: D6 captures attack well as it picks up more high end, and cuts the mids to avoid a boxy sound. Snare: 57s capture the mid range well and boost the highs around 4 – 9khz where the bite and actual snare part sits. using a top mic captures the body and attack in the low mids, this meant we could turn it up if it gets lost in the mix. the Bottom mic allowed us to capture the brightness of the snare and create a closer and clearer sound. Toms: 414s, close placement and cardioid to reduce bleed and capture more body of the toms. We had issues with the sound level from them, so turned the pad on and moved them slightly further away. Overheads: Overheads: I based this on the ‘From the Basement’ recordings by Nigel Godrich. It uses a ribbon pair as overheads to capture the room as well as the kit with a figure 8 polar pattern.This gave an impression of the sound of the room. They roll off some high end which can reduce harshness in the cymbals. I placed them further from the kit to both capture the room and create a larger and more classic rock inspired sound. The K2 gives a strong mono signal to improve clarity of the drums. |
| Bass: | Amp (Ashdown) : D6 sub speaker DI: | D6 works well picking up the sub bass from the cab which would be useful to mix in if needed, especially as we cant EQ. Taking a DI signal meant we could avoid bleed and have a clear reliable bass signal |
| Rhythm Guitar: | Sm57 RE20 | Sm57 picks up a bright high end as well as body from the cab. It is very reliable and use very successfully all the time, so if the RE20 isn’t as good it can be used by itself |
| Lead Guitar: | Sm57 Sontronics Corona | Used the Sm57 for same reasons as on the rhythm guitar. The Corona can pick up a lot of presence at around 10k, but it also picks up more body and low end of the guitar. This can be mixed with the 57 signal to bring out some more clarity and help it stand out against the Rhythm. |
| Vox: | SM7B: facing away from other instruments, but still in the room. | This picks up a clear vocal sound as is very reliable and is a standard vocal mic. by using a dynamic we aimed to eliminate some room sound. However in the end we did not use it as it picked up too much room and the band wanted to overdub the vocal take later on as they wanted to use the recording as a demo. |
| Room and ambient: | Neuman TLM 102 (facing guitars) Sontronics 8TC (facing drums) | As part of the sound we wanted to embrace bleed and emphasise a larger live sound. using rooms can also help give each instrument their own space. I placed the 8TC facing drums as its a small diaphragm which helps it pickup the dynamics of a kit, and the TLM facing guitars to pick up try and pick up the sound of them all together. Condensers also will pick up each instrument in more detail, as well as pick up more bass. |
Drums:
Bass and Guitars:
Room and ambient:
Live recording 2: Actor Musician group: Flo Rida, Low
During the recording the desk had issues connecting with the interface, this meant we lost some inputs, but it was just one of the snare and kick mics, so we still got a decent capture. However there was a larger issue with the musicianship, especially with the bass guitar being out of time at points and out of tune.
I organised the initial recording of this group after seeing a clip of them on their instagram, they were very easy to work with as they were very enthusiastic. I knew the keyboard player is a very high quality musician, and trusted the whole band would be, however I should have gone to a rehearsal or spoken to them in more depth as I didn’t realise until we began recording that the bass player had only picked up the instrument in the past few weeks specifically for this performance. this meant some of the musicianship was not up to standard.
the plan for the session was a mix of ones Christian and I had made beforehand.
| Instrument: | Microphone and Placement: | Reasoning: |
| Drums: | Kick in: boundary microphone Snare: Sm57 top Toms: MD421 rack and floor Overheads: Schoeps Cardioid | Kick: I wanted to use boundary mic as it picks up a lot of the attack of the kick. this allows it to punch through, and leave space for the bass to fill the lows and sub. we did also have a D112 on the kick out, however the issue with the desk connecting to the interface meant it didn’t record. Snare: Sm57 captures the full range of the snare well. putting it on the top captures the attack and body of it which can be lost, however the bottom and ring of the snare is picked up well by the overheads so a snare bottom is not needed. Toms: MD 421’s pick up the mids and low mids consistently so work well for the toms. they also add some presence to help them cut through and not create too much mud. Overheads: I wanted to use the Schoeps as overheads as I have worked with them a lot before. I chose cardioid to reduce bleed as to get a tighter sound to fit the genre. |
| Bass: | DI | provides a reliable signal without bleed. it does lack some character however 422 is a small room so it would pick up a lot of bleed. |
| Keys: | DI | We used a Nord, this worked well for the same reasons as the bass DI |
| Vox: | Backing: 2 Sm7b (with booster) Lead: JV V67 | Sm7b’s pick up a warm vocal sound, and are very reliable. using a dynamic as they are less sensitive so will pickup less bleed from the drums. JV V67 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone. This allowed the lead vocal to picked up in detail, with the large diaphragm favouring the smoother dynamics of a vocal. |
My plan:
Method 2 – Overdub
Overdub Recording: Aretha Franklin, I Say a Little Prayer:
We ran out of time towards the end of the project, which meant some parts had to be recorded at home. This was due to not starting the project early enough, then failing to organise musicians effectively in late November.
Pre Production:
- Downloaded the original
- Quantised in Abelton Live
- Stem split in Logic Pro
- Transferred the files into Pro Tools to record
- In Pro Tools we did re-arrange it slightly due to points where the track comes out of time
| Instrument: | Microphone and Placement: | Reasoning: |
| Drums: | Glynn Johns: Schoeps Omni: overheads Top and Side Sm57: Snare Top D112: Kick Out | The Glynn Johns technique is a quick and reliable approach to drum recording. it also more resembles recording approaches completed at the time Say a Little Prayer was released. The schoeps are Omni small diaphragm condenser microphones. Omni meant it captured the sound of the room as well as the kit, allowing it to sound larger and more ‘live’. capturing the the reverb of the room helps as we cant add any reverb in post. condensers are more sensitive so captured the whole kit in more detail. small diaphragm allowed the transients to be picked up in detail. snare top favours the body and attack which can be lost with just Overheads, while the high end will still punch through. it does also capture the whole snare which creates a closer sound and can give more energy. The D112 on the on the kick out picks up more of the low end of the kick which is lost on the overheads. it picks up the punch around 50 – 60 hz which is lost on the overheads, which pick up more of the attack. |
| Percussion: | Schoeps Omni: Overheads from drum recording | we used the same overhead set up from the drum recording to record some claps, knee slaps and clicks. This picks them up in detail and allows them to sound more like they were recorded in the same space as the drums. |
| Percussion reverb: | Ran the percussion through a fender amp with the spring reverb | Sm57 works well on a cab and was already setup in the session |
| Bass: | Di: Sm57: Speaker – pointed at the centre D6: Sub speaker on the cab | A DI signal captures the full range of the bass well and reliably. however can sound uninteresting by itself, it also gives us little control over it in post. The Sm57 aimed at the centre of the speaker picks up more of the attack clarity of of the bass. The D6 on the sub speaker captures the sub frequency well without building mud around the mids. These three inputs can be mixed to boost more low and highs almost like an Eq. |
| Keyboard: | Midi recording: using Keyscape VST | Rimirez recorded this at home over Christmas so didn’t have access to the studios. keyscape replicates real keyboards, which would have fit the sound of the song better than a synth sound. |
| Guitar: | Audio Technica AT2020 – positioned towards the sound hole rather than fretboard | this creates a warmer sound and reduces some fret noise which will fit the sound of the genre |
This plan was not used in the end.
