The recording method we decided to work on first was the live recording. We decided this because setting up microphones for a live studio setting would be more complicated and require more planning, and therefore any compromises made due to time constraints would impact this method more than the overdub. We decided that an appropriate genre for this style of recording would be jazz, as typically the instruments are played much softer than in other genres, and would allow us to have less bleeding into the microphones. JJ knew a 3 piece jazz band who could be a potential candidate for this recording. On the 21st October, JJ was able to arrange a meetup in the Leeds Conservatoire cafe with the band, who called themselves G10 for the purposes of this project. G10 consisted of a piano player, drummer, and a vocalist/double bass player. We initially decided that we would use G10 for both the live and overdub recording, as they had two songs they wanted to record. We also thought this would be beneficial for us, as we would be able to potentially work on both recordings within one session, saving us time. However this wouldn’t come to fruition in the end due to scheduling issues and they would only end up doing the live recording with us.
On the 17th November, we had our live studio recording session. My role during this session mostly consisted of choosing the microphones and setting them up in the live room, ensuring that microphone placement was optimal and that any hazards within the room such as wires going across the floor were mitigated. For the piano, I suggested that we use a spaced stereo pair of microphones, as a this creates a wider sound for the piano but still leaves room in the mix, and was also easier to set up physically due to the placement of the piano in the room. The microphones we used for the piano were a pair of Neumann KM184s, which were appropriate for the piano as they are condenser microphones and will pick up on the harmonic richness of the piano. Additionally, they are small diaphragm microphones which means that the piano doesn’t sound too thick and ensures that it leaves room in the mix.
On the day of recording, the vocalist/ double bass player wasn’t able to make it, so the band got a different bass player last minute to play his parts. However, the bass we were recording was electric, so we were able to simply record a DI, rather than having to use microphones.
Additionally, the band got a different vocalist to come in for the session. Thiago suggested we use an RE20 for their vocals as the sound that it captures works very well for the style of music we were recording.
For the drums, we miked up the kick, snare, and toms up close alongside a stereo pair of overhead microphones. For the kick, we originally used an Audix D6 but midway through Thiago suggested we switch to the Sontronics DM-1B, which we discovered had a much nicer sound. For the snare we used a Shure SM7B on the top as it is a high quality dynamic microphone that would be able to capture a rich sound from the snare, while not sounding too harsh due to the rolled off high end, and an SM57 on the bottom. For the toms we used a pair of Sennheiser MD 421 microphones, as they are reliable dynamic microphones for when it comes to recording toms. For the overhead microphones we used a pair of AKG C414s as they are large diaphragm condenser microphones meaning they can pick the brightness of the cymbals and get a really wide sound.
We had enough time during this recording session to record two different songs live. The first song was an instrumental piece and the second one included vocals. Both songs were roughly 4 minutes in length. In the end we decided to use the instrumental track because during the mixing process, we found that there were noticeable mistakes in the song with vocals that we didn’t spot during recording, and we weren’t able to feasibly hide them. In retrospect, it was a mistake on our part as we should have listened more carefully during the recording process.
The overdub recording was less organised, as we didn’t have a backup option if G10 were not able to do the overdub recording. Fortunately, Ben was able to gather some musicians for the recording. The musicians he gathered were vocalist Maisie, drummer Adam, and guitarist Mike. The song we were recording was an original made by Maisie, which was a pop/electronic track, and was roughly 6 minutes in length. The overdub recording spanned multiple studio sessions.
My role in these recording sessions was similar to the live recording, I set up the microphones so that they were placed appropriately and ensured that they were all patched in correctly, as well as ensuring that the desk was set up correctly. I once again also made sure that any hazards within the live room were mitigated to ensure the recording process goes as smoothly as it can.
In the first session, we recorded Maisie’s vocals and Mike’s guitar. For the vocal, we used a Brauner Phantom C as it is a large diaphragm condenser mic that has a very rich sound. For our initial guitar recording, Mike wanted to use a Vox amp, which we double miked using an SM57 and an Xaudia GRX. We used the SM57 as it is a very durable mic, and is able to withstand the transients of an electric guitar, and we used the GRX because it is a ribbon mic, which has a very rich and heavy low end which can create quite a pleasant guitar tone. We pointed the GRX at the centre of one of the cones of the amp as it would result in achieving a very bright and full sound, and we placed the SM57 facing the edge of the cone, so that we could get a more darker and duller sound that we could blend in with it, giving us more control over the tone.
In the second session, we recorded Adam’s drums as well as more vocal takes. For the drum recording we used a similar microphone setup as we did in the live recording. For the kick, we used a D6 as it captures the low end punch of the kick nicely. For the snare, instead of using an SM7B we used an MD 441 on the top as it is a dynamic mic that can withstand the punch of a snare, while having the sound quality comparable to that of a condenser. Once again, an SM57 was used on the bottom of the snare. For the toms we used Sennheiser E604s as they are durable and can handle high SPLs without distorting which makes them optimal for miking up toms. For the overheads we once again used a pair of C414s for the same reasons as we did in the live recording.
In the third session we rerecorded Mike’s guitar, as we felt that the original recording of the Vox amp sounded too thin and not very pleasant. We decided to use a Fender Twin amp instead, as it has a much fuller sound that fit the pop sound more. We used the same microphone setup as we did for the Vox amp recording. Additionally, Ben played the bass parts through a DI box as we were not able to get another musician in time. We used a DI for the bass as there isn’t any specific tonal qualities we needed to catch outside of the raw sound of the bass.
For the last recording session, we noticed that one of the chords played by the guitar didn’t sound like it fit properly, and so Ben overdubbed the guitar part with one chord being altered so that it fit the song better. We used the same amp and microphone setup as the third session for this so that the part wouldn’t sound out of place.
At the end of the project came the mixing stage of both recordings, which I was present for and did give some suggestions, however it wasn’t a process that I took much control over. The recordings we ended up with already sounded fairly balanced before the mixing stage, and we were not allowed to do anything other than control the dynamic levels, therefore there was not a whole lot of work that needed to be done to the mixes before they were finished.
