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Task 2: Production Log Book

1500 Words

Please use the sections below to evidence your personal contribution to the production for the portfolio. Please include details for all the tracks produced as a part of this portfolio.

Provide rationale for any of the production decisions that you made as a group. Include any multimedia (pictures, videos, audio recordings etc) evidence to the relevant sections.

Consider the following:

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Method 1 – Live Band/Ensemble Capture

The live band capture only took one session to record as capturing all instruments at once is quicker but more challenging than recording overdubs. We started the session by acquiring all the mics (and any additional kit like headphone and cables) we then set up the mics on the drums, we used a lot less mics on the drums in the live capture than the overdub recordings because it reduces the chance of bleed in other mics and also (seeing as the recording was of a jazz band) a more basic mic setup is needed to get the authentic sound of jazz drums. After connecting the mics to the wall boxes, realised there was not enough space on the short faders to use the standard setup, so we patched the wall bow B input 7-8 to the short faders 15-16. We then loaded up pro tools on the computer and created the necessary tracks after configuring the inputs and outputs to the mixing desk. Once this was all done, the band arrived, while the band practiced, we gain staged all the mics and realised how much bleed the drums were causing. To stop this we used walls between the performers, and turned down the guitar amp as it was too loud. After we began recording we noticed that the main issue was that the double bass was very quiet and was still getting bleed from the drums, we adjusted the walls again to reduce the bleed but the bass was still too quiet. To overcome this, we set up a DI recording which solved the problem. A problem we occurred with the wall placement was that the drummer and bass player could not see each other during the recordings, this is a problem as, especially in jazz music, the rhythm section often rely on cues from each other that can set the tempo or feel of the music. We overcame this by using a wall with a small window so that the bassist could only just see the drummer.

Before the session, the band told us that they wanted to recreate a room sound as close as possible. The drum mics we used to achieve this were:

• sub kick – solomon lo freq
• kick out – Audio technica ATM250
• snare top – Shure sm57
• hi-hats – AKG451B
• rack tom – Sennheiser e604
• floor tom – Sennheiser e604
• over head left – Aston Starlight
• over head right – Aston Starlight
• room – Phantom C

I am happy with this choice of mics, however, personally i would have used an even simpler drum mic setup when trying to achieve a classic room sound for jazz.

We recorded piano by using a coincident pair of AKG 414s, we did this to ensure a stable stereo sound whilst avoiding phase cancellation, we originally plan to use a stereo bar too position both of the mics, however, the stereo bar we was given was damaged so we just used two mic stands instead.

To record the guitar, we used an sm57 and a JZ v67, this mic is well-known for its classic vintage sound which we thought would suit the music perfectly, i believe the guitar is the best recorded instrument in the mix because of the JZ v67.

To record double bass, we used an AKG 414 and an Octava MK-319, the 414 was positioned at the fretboard of the double bass and the MK-319 was positioned at the F hole. This is done so that you can record the lows coming out the f hole whilst also capturing the clunking fretting sounds of a double bass that are so important to jazz music.

I was not present for the mixing session due to illness, however, the rest of the group mixed the performance by focusing on the natural changed in the dynamics which is common for jazz music. They also panned everything to give the mix that roomy stereo feel.

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Method 2 – Overdub Production

On the first session of the overdub production we planned to record a guide track and then captured the drums. Before the band arrived, we acquired the mics, headphones and cables. I setup the mic positions for the drums, guitar and vocals, making sure that the cables were organised and not dangerously laid. Seeing as this was an overdub recording, we were able to use as many drum mics as we wanted as there was no need to worry about bleed and we were trying to get a very clear and smooth sound from these drums unlike the live jazz recording. The drum mics were going into wall box B so we had to patch wall box B so that the inputs started at short fader 1, the guitar and vocal mics were going to wall box A so they were patched so that the inputs were short fader 23-24. Once the band arrived, they showed us a quick demo of the song they were going to record, this was helpful as it told us how the band imagines the track and how they want us to approach the production of it. We created a foldback mix for the guitarist/vocalist and then opened up pro tools and created the necessary tracks before configuring the inputs and outputs within pro tools. The guide track consisted of guitar and vocals, to do this, we gave the vocalist/ guitarist time to warm up before recording both of the parts at the same time as he listened to a metronome. The vocalist was struggling with playing on his own so we recorded the guide track whilst the drummer played his part, this means there was bleed from the drums in the guide track but it was not enough to cause any major issues. We captured the guitar part with a Shure sm57 and the vocals with a Sonotronics Orpheus. After hearing the vocals through the Sonotronic Orpheus we decided to use the mic in the actual recording, this is because we think the mic perfectly complemented the tone of the vocalist and was suitable for the style of music that the band set out to create.

After capturing the guide track it was time to record the drum part, we created a foldback mix for the drummer where the his drums were a lot quieter than ours as he could hear the drums through the headphones. We gain staged the drum mics and realised that the kick out mic needed moving back and the snare bottoms XLR cable needed changing. We captured 2 good takes of the drum and still had time left in the session, so we decided to record guitar next.

The mics we used for the drums were:

• sub kick – solomon lo freq
• kick in – DM1B
• kick out – Audio technica ATM250
• snare top – Shure 545SD
• snare bottom – Shure 545SD
• hi-hats – AKG 451B
• rack tom – Audio technica ATM250
• floor tom – Audio technica ATM250
• over head left – AKG 414 XLii
• over head right – AKG 414 XLii
• room – Neumann KM183

To record the guitar we used an sm57 and a AKG414, the guitarist used effects from his pedal board. After gain staging the guitar mics we were able to get 2 successful takes. We decided as a group to mix the sm57 and the AKG414 because after hearing the guide which was just a sm57, we knew that the tone was missing some presence and we needed the 414.

The plan for the second session was to record the bass part and the vocals, we set up the mics for both parts before the band arrived, we made sure to use a pop shield on the vocal mic (this is to reduce the popping noise that might be made by the singer by pronouncing certain letters like P or B) which was the Sonotronics Orpheus and for the bass, we recorded through a DI box and with a Sonotronics DM1B and an Audix D6 kick mic for the extra low frequencies. We first recorded the vocal which at first were too loud at some parts of the track so we adjusted the gain and told the vocalist to adjust his position from the mic when using varied dynamics. We then gain staged the bass and captured a few takes. We also had extra time after this session so we decided to record a double track of the guitar part, we did this with a Sonotronics delta 2, an sm57 and a DMB-1 pointed at the back of the speaker cone, making sure that it was phase inverted. We captured 2 good takes which the band were happy with, and then we packed away.

I was not present for the mixing session due to illness, however, the rest of the group were able to use automation to fix the volume issues of the vocals, they also panned the over heads and the guitar for increased stereo width.