MPR4C001R~001 224100542 Production Log

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Finlay Alderson 24100542

Task 2: Production Log Book

Pre-Production

The pre-production process for both elements of this assignments:

Overdub:

Pre-production for this the overdub included a meeting between all members of our group, we decided on which song to choose for the recording (Half The World Away) – Oasis. We also chose who would play each part of the song.

My personal contribution in terms of the performance was that I volunteered to sing the lead vocal part.

Rehearsal: Included learning all the lyrics and melody so that my focus when recording was on capturing the best sound, rather than remembering all the correct words.

Session Planning: As a group we decided on a suitable time for all of us to record. We recorded the overdub in 2 different session. Session 1: We recorded the acoustic guitar and the Vocals. Session 2: We recorded the Bass and drum tracks. The arrangement planning for the overdub was relatively straight forward. As we decided we didn’t want to differ too far from the original track, we downloaded the original song as an mp3 and used it as a reference track on ProTools, then followed along as close as possible.

Live recording:

As a group we all decided on who we wanted to record for this element of the assignment. They are called “…”.

Rehearsals/Session planning: We communicated we the Band a week before the recording session to find a suitable time for all members to come to be there. I believe the band had multiple separate rehearsals prior to the recording session. Us as a production teams arrived to the studio 2hours before the band arrive so we had enough time to setup the studio. We allowed enough time prior to recording so we could optimise the studio time when recording with the band. This allowed us to capture multiple takes of both songs the band recorded. We completed our live recording in 1 Session, which was roughly 6hours long.

Recording

Overdub:

Microphones used for Vocals:

We used two different condenser microphones to compare the capture and sound and tonality of each so we could choose which one was more suitable for the project. We used an:

  • AKG C414 Condenser Mic
  • Sontronics Orpheus

Microphones used for the drums:

  • Sontronics drum pack
  • Sennheiser 441
  • Pair of Neiman 184’s

Microphones used for the acoustic guitar:

  • Pair of Neiman 184’s

Live Recording

The band we recording was a second year folk SGS group. Their band consisted of; A Lead Vocalist (Lia) an Acoustic guitarist (Issac) and one Electric guitarist (Sam). Both guitarists also sang backing vocals.

Microphone Choice for vocals:

  • Lead Vocalist – Sontronics Orpheus, Backing Vocals – Shure SM7B/Brainer Phantom V

As Part of the Pre-production for the live recording we had to setup the recording studio before the band arrived. As it was live studio recording, we need all members of the band in the same room whilst recording onto separate tracks. We positioned the band members evenly apart and facing each other. This allowed to musicians to look at each other and perform better as a group as they could communicate easier. The Images below show the positioning of each band member in the studio.

Musician management

  • The musician Management as part of the pre-production was very simple. For the Overdub we communicated as a group and worked out who was going to play/perform each part of the song. Once the arrangement and musical choice was figured out, awe found a suitable time for all of us to be present in the room to record each individual part.
  • The Musician management for the Live Recording very similar. Once we had found a band that had enough material to cover the amount of minutes of music we needed, we sent them all a message and made sure that all band members and production members in out team we able to be there.

Musician Management within the studio:

  • During the live recording, we made sure that each musician was happy with the way the microphones were setup and how there guitar’s sounded. Having setup Sam’s electric guitar, we made sure that he was using an amp setup that he liked the sound of. We used a Fender Champion Twin Reverb Amp, and we patch the amp from the vocal booth inside the studio through to his guitar. This was so he was able to use his desired sound whilst not bleeding the very loud signal into the other tracks we were recording.

Project Management

Project management aspects were simple. As a group we all helped each other out with every aspect of the recording process. We decided not to give each other specific roles. During the live recording, we all helped with there room setup as we all had different ideas on how we wanted to capture the sound of each track. Whilst recording the live band, we all were in the studio helping set levels, gain staging, and helped signal chain.

During the overdub – Whilst I was signing the vocal part, Miles, Raph and Ben setup and did all of the recorded processes. The roles were then put into reverse when Ben was playing Drums, Miles on Guitar, and Raph playing Bass.

Method 1 – Live Band/Ensemble Capture

The capture process of the live recording were as follows:

Vocals:

  • The lead vocals were recorded using a Sontronics Orpheus condenser microphone, we also used a Shure SM7B and a Brainer Phantom V, space close to the singers mouth. All vocal microphones used had a cardio polar pattern. This was so we could minimise bleed and maximise the input of sound from each individual singer, so we had more clarity and separation between parts. Each singer had a timeline straight onto the wall box and into the mixing desk.

Acoustic Guitar:

  • We recording the acoustic guitar by using a pair of Neiman 184’s. We spaced them apart appropriately to capture both a good high end and low end sound of the guitar. One was placed by nearer the neck which helped capture the brighter sound and one the other mic was positioned near the outside end of the body of the guitar. This helped us capture a more wide and warm sound. We then panned one mic to the left and the other to the right, this also helped create a sense of space and room within the guitar part. The 184’s were tied straight into the wall box and into the desk.

Electric Guitar:

  • The Electric guitar was put through Sam’s pedal board first and then we patched the guitar from the wall box through to the vocal booth into the Fender Twin Reverb Amp. This was done in the vocal booth so we could isolate the sound of the Amp without having any bleed into any of the other microphones in the main studio room. We used an AKG 414 to record the sound out of the amp and placed nearer the bottom right hand-side of the amp, this was done to capture a warm and more vibrant sound as the microphone was place on the outer edge of the speaker cone within the amp. The sound recorded from the 414 was put back through the wall box in the vocal booth and into the main desk.

Method 2 – Overdub Production

The capture and recording process of the overdub is as follows:

Vocals:

  • I sang the vocal line for Half The World Away by Oasis. We used 2 different condenser mics for the recording to compare the tonality and sound of each. We used the Brainer Phantom V and the Orpheus. We ended up choosing the Orpheus as it had a much nicer warmth to it. We patch the microphone into the vocal booth as the capture was much cleaner and the sound had much more clarity inside a padded and isolated room. We recorded a mono track into protools and took about 4/5takes on each microphone.

Acoustic Guitar:

  • We recorded the acoustic guitar inside the main studio room. We used a pair of Neiman 184’s evenly spaced in-front of the guitar. These microphones are directional which was ideal for this recording as we wanted to capture each part of the guitar as evenly as possible. We had one microphone place nearer the neck of the guitar and one down by the body. This was so we had a good rounded sound as we were recording both the higher brighter sounds nearer the neck, and the lower warmer sounds coming from the body of the guitar. We then hard panned on mic to the left and one to the right, this was to created a stereo sound and creosote more width within this track.

Drums:

  • We recorded the drums using a Sontronics drum pack. This allowed us to capture all the different components of the drum kit, isolating each individual drum/cymbal. Within the drum pack, we used 4 directional microphones to capture toms and the snare drum. We use a kick drum mic from the kick drum which we place inside the drum. We also used a Sennheiser MD 441 to record the Snare bottom. We also used a pair of Sontronics overheads to capture the sound of the Cymbals. We recorded straight into the wall box and into the mixing desk where we did all the gain staging for each microphone and set correct levels.

Bass Guitar:

  • We recorded the bass guitar by plugging it into a Fender Champion ii bass amp. Once we found the sounds we liked, we used a Sennheiser 441. We then ran the microphone through a Sans amp bass drive DI box, and into the desk through the wall box.