Members of the production group:

• Myself (Charlie)
• Rhys
• Sophie
• Eloise
• Harry

Live Recording:

Pre production:

Rehearsals:

The jazz group were already experienced in playing the song together before the session which meant no rehearsal was necessary.

Arrangement decisions:

The band came into the session already knowing what to play.

Session planning:

• Recording Session was booked in studio 422 from 7pm-11pm on 19th November.
• We chose to use a jazz band for the live recording because jazz musicians usually tend to play better on recordings when they’re playing at the same time.

• We used instagram as a way of contacting the jazz band and when communicating as the producers.
• The microphone list below was made before the session took place which saved time when booking equipment.

Recording

Microphone choices:

Drum Microphone Choices for live recording:

Input (on wallbox)	Instrument/Part of Drum Kit	Microphone
1	Kick (In)	Audix D6
2	Kick (Subkick)	Solomon LoFreq
3	Snare Top	Shure SM57
4	Snare Bottom	Shure SM57
5	Rack Tom	Sennheiser MD421
6	Floor Tom	Sennheiser MD421
7	Overhead Left	Oktava MK-012
8	Overhead Right	Oktava MK-012
9	Bass DI	Radial DI Box
10	Keyboard (Left)	DI out of keyboard
11	Keyboard (Right)	DI out of keyboard
13	Saxophone (Close)	ElectroVoice RE20
14	Saxophone (Room)	Brauner Phantom C
24	Talkback	Shure SM57

Line inputs 1,2 and 3 in main room were used for headphones and playback.

Patch bay in control room:

We patched the saxophone signal from the vocal booth wall box into 13 and 14 to align with the other inputs.

Over Head Mics:

The MK-012’s as an overhead pair captured the full dynamic range of the drum kit, giving it detail in the cymbals when heard among the other instruments.

Two Kick Microphones:

We used the LoFreq sub kick mic to capture more low end in the kick when blending with the Audix D6. This achieved more presence in the kick sound.

Snare Mics:

We used two mics for the snare to capture lots of the frequency range in the snare.

Rack and Floor Tom Mics:

Only two toms used as that is the typical drum setup for jazz music.

Keyboard:

We chose to use a keyboard that had a stereo output so we balance the stereo width in the mix. The signal was recorded through DI on the keyboard.

Bass Guitar:

To reduce bleed in the room, we chose to use a DI box to capture the bass.

Saxophone:

The microphone setup for the saxophone consisted of two mics (RE20 and Phantom C). The RE20 was placed closely to the bell of the saxophone and the Phantom C was placed further away fulfilling the role of capturing the room resonances.

The RE20 captured a polished high end when the saxophone was playing high pitch notes. In another way, the RE20 allowed for a controlled low end when acting as a close up microphone.

To add to the clarity of the saxophone, we thought the Phantom C would work best. The outcome made us realise the mic effectively fulfilled a sense a clarity.

Room Setup: Studio 422

Recording keyboard and bass through DI opened the opportunity to put them in the same room as the drums with the reason being that there would be no bleed captured in the live room. This allowed for effective communication between the three musicians in the room when playing. The saxophonist was put in the vocal booth to reduce bleed.

Project Mangement:

Time management:

• Setting up all the equipment like microphones, mixing desk and Pro Tools session to an hour.
• The musicians turned up on time which meant no waiting around after setting up microphones.
• We finished the session early which gave more time to pack up.

Planning:

• Overall planning went fairly smoothly with frequent communication on making sure everyone who was attending were going to show up. However, Leaving the recording session down to the last few weeks of the semester added pressure on getting the recording done. We overlooked the fact that we didn’t have a backup band to attend encase the jazz band couldn’t make the session last minute.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Myself and Harry had the role and responsibility of setting up the drum microphones ensuring cables were placed out neatly.
• I made sure to make the musicians feel welcome in the session
• Rhys set up the saxophone microphones, bass DI box and keyboard.
• Sophie and Eloise were setting up the Pro Tools session
• Finally we all collectively set the gain levels in the control room

Structure and organisation:

• We created a mic list before the session which also included backup microphones
• Two members were in the control room and three were setting up at the start of the session

Overdub Recording:

Pre Production

Rehearsals:

The band made sure to rehearsal effectively in their rehearsal session on the popular music course to ensure the takes done in the sessions were to a quality standard.

Arrangement Decisions:

Eloise also being part of the production course meant that she could use her band’s own arrangement of the song ‘Erase Me’ by Lizzy Mcalpine to record in our overdub sessions.

Session Planning:

When planning the sessions, we discussed about possible types of bands and even considered using a singer songwriter. Eventually we decided to use Eloise’s band to make contacting and arranging dates easier to navigate.

Recording

Session 1: Studio 104

Session 2: Studio 109

Session 3: Studio 116b

Session 1: Final Take of Drums

Microphone choices for drums:

Part of Kit	Microphone
Kick (Out)	Audix D6
Kick (In)	AKG D112
Sub Kick	Solomon LoFreq
Snare Top	Sennheiser MD441
Snare Bottom	Shure SM57
Rack Tom	Sennheiser E604
Floor Tom	Sennheiser E604
Hi-Hat	Oktava MK-012
Overhead Left	Schoeps Cardioid CMC5U
Overhead Right	Schoeps Cardioid CMC5U

Kick Mics

We used the LoFreq sub kick mic to capture more low end in the kick when blending with the Audix D6. This achieved more presence in the kick sound.

Hi-Hat Mic:

The Oktava provided more detail in the hi-hat when blending the overheads as well.

Rack and Floor Tom Mics:

Snare Mics:

The MD441 being dynamic allowed for the hard hits of the snare to be handled efficiently. To capture more frequency range we added a SM57 on the bottom.

Overhead Mics:

We used the CMC5U to capture the natural sound of the kit. The placement of the overheads was moved frequently so we could achieve the best possible capture of the whole kit.

Guide Vocals:

For the first session we used the SM7B to act as a guide vocal for the drummer and bassist.

Session 2: Final Takes of Bass, Electric Guitar and Vocals

Preamps in session 2:

The absence of a mixing desk meant we used the audient and dbx50 to capture, lead vocals, bass, and guitar.

Electric Guitar:

We used the Sontronics Delta2 and Sennheiser MD441 to capture the natural sound of the low and high end from the twin reverb amp.

Bass Guitar:

Vocals:

We used the Rode K2 and the Beyerdynamic M160 to capture a natural and bright sound to the lead vocals.

Session 3: Adding add libs and harmonies on Vocals and addition of Keys part

Same setup was used from the 109 session for added vocal harmonies.

Interface and Preamp setup on vocal overdub:

We used the warmth of a Neve 1073 to capture the vocal harmonies.

Keys:

Room Setup’s for all sessions:

Due to the recording being an overdub project, the room layout didn’t matter as much. The frequent use of DI reduced bleed and in doing so also meant that the musicians could communicate efficiently when being in the same room.

Project Management

Time management:

During the first session in 104, we took a while to setup which added more pressure on getting the final take of drums recorded in time. During the second session, time at the start was wasted due to miscommunication about when the band would arrive.

Planning:

Leaving the overdub recording to do towards the end of the semester added pressure to finishing the overdub.

Session 1 in 104: December 4th at 9:30-11:30am

Session 2 in 109: December 5th at 9am-12pm

Session 3 in 116b: 7th December at 1pm-4pm

Roles and Responsibilities:

104 session- Everyone contributed setting up the drums as our tutor was explaining in depth on overhead mic positioning and how to achieve the best possible capture from the CMC5U’s.

109 session- two members in the group were setting up the bass, guitar, and vocal equipment whilst the others were setting up the preamps and the pro tools session in the control room.

116b session- my contribution was providing a balance of levels to the mixes. Rhys and Eloise had the job of recording vocal harmonies.

My contribution to the first sessions consisted of mainly setting up the drum kit and achieving a sonically pleasing sound in the drum’s rawest form, using the microphones. The rule of not using any processing in the postproduction stage meant that getting a great sound from the drums using the mics was important to me personally. Once I helped set up the drums, I went onto help set up guitar and bass ensuring that the DI was plugged into the intended input on the wall box whilst also ensuring the cables were placed safely on the floor.

Structure and Organisation:

As mentioned, the mistake of leaving the overdub project to the last-minute added stress to the project. Although the completion of the overdub project was done on time, when we all went home, we found out that the final session with the balanced mix were not saved correctly. This impacted the whole project negatively and has turned out to be a learning experience.