Project Management
We formed a group chat to discuss our sessions, roles and scope of the project. To keep it simple, I offered to use my account for all the Pro Tools sessions, which I shared at the end of each session via Onedrive – a detailed archive was important to me so we could be prepared in the event of an accident.
Each session we mixed our roles so every member could build experience. We chose local students to make access to the studio easier.
First, we recorded the indie band Jeanine. I booked this as one five hour session as soon as we were all available. The live recording would only need one session to record, which would allow us to focus on the overdub project for the remaining sessions.
After the sessions, I used my time during the Winter break to bounce both mixes. I cross-referenced these on my near-field monitors (Kali LP6) with my DT-770 headphones. I sent these to the group for their opinion and adjusted accordingly.
Method 1 – Live Band/Ensemble Capture
Nails by Jeanine:
Live Recording Pre-Production
Jeanine’s track, “Nails”, suited the assignment best. Featuring four instruments, we could divide the roles appropriately.
I managed the guitar capture and oversaw the Pro Tools session. Amy acted as the liaison for Jeanine, keeping communication consistent and help answer questions from both sides, allowing us to agree on the date, time and preferences in gear.
As there are only four instruments in the track, there was a risk of the song sounding dull over time, so I tasked myself to use a recording method that could evolve with the song.
1hr to set-up before the band, and 1hr break for a fresh perspective and mitigating ear-fatigue.
To ensure Jeanine recorded with all their effort, we promised them more recording time for another single under the condition that Nails must be finished first.This incentive led to several takes with negligible mistakes.
I suggested that we position them in the studio so they can always see each other perform to prioritise their chemistry together.
We concluded that their single needed a wider a dynamic range that was on their reference track and directed Jeanine with this in mind.
Seb, Polly and I agreed that take 11 sounded best, the softer intro and ending crescendo make a dynamic contour throughout the track that felt satisfying.
Drums
Our group left the Glynn Johns technique and instead close-mic’d the toms with two dedicated overheads. I encouraged this change by pointing out that it would allow more control at the levelling stage. The cymbals in particular would now use two dedicated overheads and allow us to pan them hard-left and hard-right.
This is an alt-rock track going for a live sound, but I still request some of the ringing be dulled. We found that aiming the MD421 mics further to the centre was effective.
Guitar
Days before the session, I studied the studio’s guitar amps to better assist the guitarist. I found that the AC30 could provide the low gain, overdriven tone on the reference track. I asked the guitarist to show his usual signal chain, and after experimenting further I found that his multi-fx pedal complimented the Twin Reverb.
As guitars can go out of tune and sometimes break during prolonged playtime, I brought a tuner and guitar strings.
The C414 captures the left speaker cone in a way that sounds flatter and truer to the source, while the SM57 adds a darker layer when blended together. This drew out a depth I felt was necessary to keep the mix interesting.
Panning them together in stereo creates a larger-than-life sound that can be automated to let the performance evolve over time. The blend between the two sources can evolve over the arrangement.
The SM57’s lower sensitivity was taken into account here. It serves as a backbone for the C414 signal during louder sections but naturally backs away during softer parts of the song.
Bass
I suggested that the DI would work best, as the bassist can stay close to the drummer without an amplifier causing bleed.
To make sure his tone worked with the guitar, I asked him to test out his Line6 Helix preset. We liked the sound and agreed that this would work well.
Vocals
The guitarist doubles as the vocalist, so I had to make sure both sources could co-exist without excessive bleed and possible phasing.
After placing the performer in the vocal booth, we ran the guitar cable through from the live room amplifier.
The performer could hear their amplified signal through their dedicated cue send into to the closed-back headphones. This performance had a reoccurring plosive in one particular spot where I decided to attach a pop-filter to the stand.
Method 2 – Overdub Production
Songbirds and Snakes by Angelina X:
Overdub Pre-Production
The track we recorded is titled “Songbirds and Snakes” by Angelina X – this time we swapped our responsibilities around so everyone could try something new. I recorded the drums and directed/recorded both Angelina and the bassist Sunny.
I interpreted the music as a similar style to Kate Bush, Angelina confirmed when asked, so I relayed this to the group and suggested we use Kate Bush’s sound as a guide for our recording method. This led to us approaching our respective roles with more artistic license, by liaising with Angelina, we split the project into multiple sessions which allowed more time to test new ideas and find musicians that could best represent the track. When we struggled to book the studio during busier periods, I assisted by working on the Pro Tools project from home.
Unlike the live project, I spent time comping the relevant tracks to further refine what we had recorded. As the only one who has a copy of Pro Tools, I agreed to comp in coordination with the work Amy and Polly did previously, and refine to project for submission.
Drums
With Angelina’s arrangement in mind, I decided we should close-mic the hi-hat and underside of the snare as a method of capturing as much detail to work with as possible. The D112, SM57 and MD421s on the kick, snare and toms provide a controlled frequency presence on the drums, whereas the Oktava MK-012 draws out a great deal of the overall high-end which can be adjusted to taste.
Testing inputs and reference track playback.
Piano
The piano was recorded with a stereo CM1051 set. The piano front stayed on as we felt it sounded too bright and poppy, we instead wanted to find a haunting quality that could support the lamentation felt with the character that Angelina performs.
Once the main part was recorded, I assisted by directing the other layers of piano. Due to the main piano performance having a delibertately loose groove, I found that recording layers could accidentally “smudge” the rest of the performance. I felt this was a bad quality to include, so I solo’d the main piano and worked section by section with Angelina to really dial in the timing. When mixing, I set the pan left/right to reflect the microphones crossover and found this glued the other instruments together nicely.
Vocals
We opted to use the JZ Vintage 67, the closest microphone available that bares some similarity to the Neumann U87 artists like Kate Bush would use for the studio.
The proximity effect was controlled by spacing the pop-filter forward a visual mark. We directed Angelina to sing 1-2 inches from the filter as we felt this was the optimum recording spot.
Amy directed Angelina’s performance alone to limit distractions and keep the performance focused. I used this as an opportunity to book a mixing room where Seb, Polly and myself could focus on finishing Jeanine’s rough mix.
Bass and Guitar
We scheduled Sunny to re-record the bass part, this time with involved direction from myself. I felt that the old bassline needed tightening up rhythmically, and some fills obscured the tone of other instruments. With my less-is-more approach, the bass follows root notes in busier sections, this restraint allowing other parts of the arrangement breathe.
Recording guitar last, we patched a channel for the DI box in the control room as I needed to speak with Sunny directly on what to perform.
I brought a stratocaster and we both pitched ideas to support the arrangement. I suggested he articulates the chords with fingerpicked double stops. As we were running out of session time, I suggested he strums guitar chords for the chorus. I recorded a number of takes in a playlist to choose from during the comp phase. We did not use an amp due to time constraints, though most DAWs can run a variety of amp simulators (which is my preference regardless).
