Methods – Overdub Production & Live Band/Ensemble Capture
To start off in this portfolio, we decided on the types of ensembles that would be best for each recording practice. Aware that one of our recordings had to be overdubbed and the other live-recorded, we decided that it would be best to use an acoustic band for the live recording, whether that be a folk or jazz ensemble. This was because, without processing post-recording, it would have been challenging to get a decent, clean result with blown-out, distorted instruments like an electric guitar that would have easily bled into the other microphones in the room during a live recording. However, in an overdub recording, we had much more freedom as we wouldn’t face such issues. Having made connections during her foundation year, coproducer Gabryella had contacts within bands in the second year. She reached out to an SGS jazz band (live recording) and an emo band called Misting (overdub recording), both of which were interested in being recorded for this project.
We did the overdub recording first. We booked studio 422 and began setting up. Daisy and I went into the control room to set up the Pro Tools session whilst Gabryella, Reuben and Alex started setting up microphones in the live room. Afterwards, I also joined the others and helped set up the drum microphones. I positioned a D112 in front of the kick so that it went into the hole in the bass drum, but only slightly, as we wanted to capture the resonance from the contact between the front drum skin and the beater, but didn’t want an overwhelming boom as it was likely that the kick hits of the drummer were going to be aggresive anyway due to the nature of the genre. We placed SM57s on the snare top and bottom to achieve a classic snare sound, and Sennheiser MD421s on the rack and floor toms. In order to capture the high-end shimmer from the cymbals, we used a pair of Oktava MK-012s. The small diaphragm condensers, placed as overheads, widened the stereo image of the drum recording. We thought a small-diaphragm condenser would also be appropriate for the hi-hat, so we used an AKG C451. The initial tone of the toms and kick wasn’t ideal, so I asked the drummer to tune the kit, which made a notable difference. We placed an SM57 and an MD441 in front of the guitar amp, which captured the mid-range well. Dynamic microphones were ideal for the distorted guitars, as they can handle loud sources effectively, staying clean without introducing unwanted distortion to the recording. We used a Sontronics DM-1B on the bass cabinet to capture a detailed, rich bass sound. We also recorded the bass and guitar through a DI box to capture the instruments’ pure tones, without the mics’ colours altering them. On the day of the recording, the band’s vocalist was unwell and couldn’t attend. This wasn’t a huge problem, since the recording was an overdub, so we just had to reschedule the vocal recording for another day. We recorded two originals of the band, but the song “Terrified” stood out as the better fit for the assignment. Once Misting’s vocalist recovered, we arranged a date to do the vocal recording. The recording was carried out in one of the 116s by Daisy and Gabryella. I wasn’t present for the recording as the vocalist struggled with performance anxiety when singing in front of a larger crowd in the studio setting. They chose to use an SM7B and RE20 on the singer. I believe that their choice in the use of a pair of dynamic microphones was wise. Similarly to the guitar, they handled loud dynamics well without introducing clip distortion, and in this song, the vocalist does reach extreme loud dynamics during her screams.
When all sections were recorded, we gathered in a mixing studio to mix the track. This wasn’t a particularly challenging task, since we couldn’t get into that much detail without using plugins. We introduced a fade-in and fade-out to achieve a polished intro and outro for the piece. We had to automate the vocals to bring them out in certain sections and, conversely, lower the volume of the cymbals, which were often overwhelmingly loud. We then panned the stereo elements (the drum overheads) left and right to reach the final mix.
For the live recording, we booked studio 113 for the hour prior to our weekly two-hour specialist study slot, giving us three hours to work with. Gabryella, Alex and I went into the live room to start setting up whilst Daisy prepared the ProTools session in the control room. Although we discussed using alternative micing techniques, we ultimately decided to utilise a similar micing approach to our overdub recording. We placed an Audix D6 in front of the kick drum and used an SM57 for the snare. Just like the overdub recording, we used a pair of Oktava MK-012s as overheads and used an AKG C451 on the hihat. We used a wide stereo pair of AKG C414s on the piano. This gave the piano a grand sense of stereo width whilst capturing a beautifully detailed piano sound. The guitarist chose to use the Fender Twin Reverb amp. We used a Sontronics Halo and an SM57 to capture the guitar. A blend of the sound picked up by the two microphones gave us an intimate, warm guitar tone. The bass excited me. We used a Brauner Phantom C on the fretboard to capture the tactile, percussive sounds from the interactions between the bassist’s fingers and the strings as he pressed on notes. This didn’t work as well as I had hoped, as the condenser microphone ended up picking up more of the surrounding instruments rather than the gentle, intricate sounds from the bass. We also used an AKG D112 on the bass. We placed the traditional kick mic closer to the bridge to capture the low end from the bass. The bassist demonstrated a method for suspending a small diaphragm microphone (an AKG C451) between the bridge’s two stumps using two hair bands, positioning it so the microphone points towards the strings. I’m always a fan of some high-end clarity on bass instruments, which can often be missing if only microphones with a good low-end pickup are used, which can make the recording sound a little muddy. We balanced out the low-end from the AKG D112 by blending it with some high-end detail from the AKG C451. We faced a number of issues related to the bassist. Initially, he was indecisive about whether to sit or stand, making it difficult to position microphones on him. He would also move during the recording, creating fluctuations in the volume we were picking up. Then, during the recording, he would frequently be out of tune, playing notes too flat or sharp. We thought it might be best not to mention it to him, as he might take it personally, since tuning is a sensitive topic for double bassists. It was ideal that we recorded a jazz ensemble, as we were able to easily compensate for the shorter recording length in the overdub to reach the assignment requirements. Jazz pieces are often longer in format, and if needed, the piece can be easily extended with longer solo sections. Just like in the overdub, we recorded two pieces Dear Old Stockholm by Miles Davis and Visitation by Paul Chambers. Although the initial plan was to record Visitation, it was too long for the assignment requirements, and luckily we were quite happy about a take of Dear Old Stockholm.
On another day, Alex, Gabryella, Daisy, and I gathered to mix the recording. We started by cutting out the band members’ talking before and after the recording, and added fades in and out to smooth out the intro and outro of the piece. We found that as the guitarist alternated between using a pick and fingerpicking, the guitar often wavered in volume. To counteract this, we automated the guitar so that quieter sections were louder and better balanced with the other sections. I automated the drum levels to ensure that they were appropriately present in the mix.
Similarly to the overdub, we then panned the stereo elements, the drum overheads and the piano stereo pair, left and right, giving the piece some stereo width. We had now completed both of our recordings for this assignment.
Looking back, I believe that we did a good job in recording both ensembles. However, I do think that we could have been braver and more experimental with our microphone choices. We also could have utilised a variety of other micing techniques. I am still proud of the results, and I do think we demonstrated strong teamwork abilities on this portfolio project.
Bibliography
Davis, M. (1952) Dear Old Stockholm. [Online] Blue Note Records
Chambers, P. (1956) Visitation. [Online] Jazz West Records
