Task 1 – WAV Mixes
Task 2 – Production Log Book
Track 1 (Genre Specific Emulation)
Pre Production
In the planning stage we thought it would be a good idea to get the drums done first to set the rhythm of the track. This means that when recording the baselines and chords into the DAW, the drums give you the familiarity of the track to keep you in time easier.
When recording the bass guitar we were short for time getting things done, as we had not yet been informed that the project was going got be extended by a week for everyone. Because of this and due to recording taking place in Easter break, the bass player I had organised to come in was leaving Leeds to go back home. Due to this he didn’t have much time to practice the bass as I had to push the studio session forward to accommodate him.
We decided what equipment to use before entering the studio. This was from research online to influence our decisions Though the internet is not always reliable we took the risk. A common mic we found Oasis used was the neumman U87. This mic isn’t available at Leeds conservatoire and so we had to adapt to our available resources.
Recording
Drums – For the kick in we used a Shure beta 91A and for the kick out a Audix D6. For the snare top we used a Shure sm57 and the same for the snare bottom. For the Toms we used 2 sennheiser md421s and a sontornics dm1T. Lastly for the overheads a pair of Neumann km184’s.
Playing the drums was a friend of Jack’s and this recording took place in studio 113. It gives us the option to utilise the big performance room which can give a larger reverb effect.
Piano – For the piano we had Jack playing. This took a good amount of takes since Jack isn’t primarily a piano player but the chords progressions were simple enough. The mics used were a pair of 414s to capture the low and high end.
Guitars – For the guitars I got in contact with a guitar player who was unavailable in Leeds during Easter break. To solve this he recorded his guitars from his home with recommendations from us. With suitable equipment available to him we were able to receive good quality audio files and guitar playing. The mics used were an CM25 MKIII condenser mic and a nova black condenser mic.
Bass – When recording the bass it was just myself and a bass player in the studio 109. Originally the mic setup was an Re20 and shure sm57, yet a problem arose when the bass amp was acting faulty. To get past this we decided to insert it straight into the interface instead. When testing the sound it sounded similar to the recording, especially when the bass is quiet in the original mix of don’t look back in anger anyway.
Vocals – We used a brauner phantom C in studio 113’s band room. This gave some natural acoustic ambience to the recording. We had a second mic as a room mic to pick up a quieter spacier vocal aswell.
Some midi strings and backing vocals plus some acoustic guitar was also added later on.
Mixing
Before mixing the track we analysed it’s elements to be accurate as possible. High ends were boosted with EQ as the track is harsh and lacks warmth from the low end.
This is the EQ for the rhythmic guitar.
The drums had compressors and EQs applied to tune their frequencies appropiately aswell as dB levelling.
Here are all the levelling and plug ins
Project Management
The time management of our assignment was a struggle. Not enough action was taken place to arrange studio sessions early enough to reduce stress and therefore increase the quality of our recordings which could be better in a more relaxed environment. I also think not enough people talked enough in our group to allocate studio session time equally between us since we all only get 6 hours a week.
Our planning wasn’t great. On occasions people suddenly couldn’t make the sessions due to illness. An example of this is when Sam couldn’t make it to play the guitars we had planned to do. This meant we improvised by recording piano and some vocals instead. Although this wasn’t ideal for us our improvisation proved useful to us.
Track 2 (Live In the Studio Stereo Recording)
Planning was slow. We had a last minute group come together involving a drummer, a saxophonist and a double bass player. The genre of the music being recorded was jazz. Sam was able to get 109 studio to record the day before deadline. This gave us some worry as 109’s recording room is small and to fit an ensemble and mic appropriately would be difficult.
The three of us present in the session, Sam, Jack and Me had mostly never met any of the performers before and so establishing a good relationship with them was crucial.
Recording
We used a pair of 414s in one corner of the room. Unfortunately the we had an issue with one of the 414s. Because of this we didn’t include what they picked up in the final mix.
Using an XY miking technique we set up two Neumann KM 184s that were positioned in the opposite corner to the 414s, behind the drum kit.
We then used two Oktava MK 319s stereo pair facing towards the bass and a pair of c451b with a narrow stereo field facing the sax.
We found having a smaller room was advantageous by the fact each instrument could be captured at a louder volume and therefore clearer. Multiple takes were taken and we had to instruct the group to shorten their piece of music to around 3:30 mins instead of their 5 min takes. To do this we told them to start wrapping up the track at the 3 minute mark using a talk back mic.
Mixing
Heavy reverb was applied to all tracks using fab filter. This really made the instruments sound fluid.
Some track levels were much lower than others due to the volume of the sax being very loud.
Track 3 Remix track
I decided to make a pop track. This was decided because I found the Oasis vocals so distinct and as a producer I’m not experienced in making dance tracks.
To organise this remix I got a guitar player to come play a lead guitar over a chord progression i came up with in A minor. I chose to write the remix in A minor as its the relative minor of C major which don’t look back in anger is recorded in which enables the vocals to sit nicely with the remix instrumental.
Choosing to record with guitars seemed essential to me to keep an Oasis vibe going. Guitars a prevalent in so many oasis tracks and a key part of there sound,so to not include them would reduce familiarity with Oasis.
Recording
Guitars.
When recording the lead guitar, my guitar player felt most comfortable recording through the interface. It also let me communicate more freely to him as we weren’t separated by a wall if we were to use an amp in the recording room.
The rhythm guitar was recorded by myself, in my room using as a focusrite interface. This is because it was a chord progression I had made before the assignment was a thing.
Synths.
I use two synths in the track, a synth for the bass and a synth for a pad. The bass synth is a preset from alchemy. I like the analog texture it gave off.
The Pad synth is a preset from serum 2. I would’ve made this synth myself but was running out of time. I chose a string like synth because Don’t look back in anger used strings and so it gave the Oasis theme a bit more prevalence.
Vocals.
I took the lead vocal and processed it into quick sampler in logic. Here i spread the transient markers along key vocal parts. Before using the quick sampler I time stretched the vocal; to the right bpm of 108.
Some improvements I could make is the timing of the vocal.
Percussive Found Sounds.
I used a kick, snare and hi hat for my percussion. The kick was made using my fist hitting my desk. I then extracted this audio file and processed it into quick sampler, which I did for each found sound. I struggled with how not punchy the kick was. The snare was made from tapping foil like packaging. The hi hat was made from a pound coin dropped on my desk.
I used two different parts of audio for the kick sound.
I also used two different audio parts for the snare.
Mixing
Vocals were the hardest to mix. I’m not a fan of the Oasis vocal, I compressed and EQ’d, had reverb and parallel compression on buses.
Some buses here aren’t being used.
Percussion
I added an exciter to the kick to increase brightness around the top of it’s frequency range. This helped differentiate it from the bass. A FET compressor was applied to increase the punch.
The hi hat was duplicated and panned left and right with an exciter and reverb and an EQ exagerrating the high frequencies.
The snare had exciter, reverb and EQ on high end.
The bass had sidechain compression to reduce clash with the kick.
Pads were panned left and right for a fuller mix and rhythm guitars aswell. Guitars had a logic preset for them called Radio Days.
Guitars had mulitple effects.
Over all 3 of the tasks I’m happy with the end result of this assignment.
