WAV Mixes
Task 2 – Production Log Book
Track 1 (Genre Specific Emulation)
For this section of the assignment we decided to choose “Use Me” by Bill Withers as our piece as its distinctive groove and stripped back arrangement seemed appealing to us.
We began by recording the rhythm section, as we saw it as central to the song’s identity. The original track uses a three piece drum kit setup, so we followed suit only using the kick drum, snare and hi – hat. To mic the kick drum we used the Audix D6 placed deep within the kick drum shell. We chose the Audix D6 due to its pronounced low end response and pre shaped EQ curve, as this helped us to emulate the punchy, controlled kick heard in the original track. The kick sound can’t all be attributed to the choice of microphone however as we took the grand piano cover that was in the studio and packed it inside the kick drum and took the resonant head off the kick completely to place the D6 closer to the batter head, Giving us a much tighter sound.
For overheads, we used the Sennheiser MD421 and the OktavaMk012, both angled downward over the top of the snare drum. This unconventional mic setup allowed us the combine the MK012’s detailed high frequency capture abilities with the fuller midrange recorded by the MD421. This very central mic placement allowed us to maintain a good balance across the very limited kit whilst also emphasising the groove of the drum part, as it is very much defined by the interplay between the snare and hi hat.
We recorded the bass guitar by using an AKG D112 on a Trace Elliot bass amp. We chose the D112 as we recognised its ability to capture low frequencies with good clarity and we thought it would be a good choice to emulate the warm, rounded bass tone that can be heard in the original track. We made sure to close mic the amp so we achieved presence and good definition when in the mix.
For the acoustic guitar we decided to use a Neumann Km184 that we positioned one metre away. This approach helped us to capture a more authentic guitar sound, as it gave the sound a chance to naturally develop in the room, avoiding any proximity effect, in character with early 1970’s recordings.
The keyboard was recorded through DI using a Nord Electro 6D as we wanted to get the cleanest, noise free signal that we could without any added colour from the room sound. For this we used the U6 Midi Pro.
We recorded the vocals using the Warm Audio WA-87, inspired by the Neumann U87, running through Empirical Labs distressor compressor and Neve 1073 preamps as they were very popular at the time of recording. We used this gear to achieve a smooth controlled vocal sound, with the compressor maintaining a smaller dynamic range whilst highlighting the emphasised nuances of the vocal performance. We couldn’t find the exact miking technique that was used on this track, so we decided to research miking techniques of the time and landed on having the microphone positioned above the singer, about half a metre away.
In terms of workflow, the first studio session entailed us tracking the guitar and bass parts, and then spending the rest of the session figuring out how to get the drums to sound as close to the original as possible. In the next session we began by recording the keyboard parts. For this, rather than having the pianist play the entire song through in its entirety, we got them to play each variation of the melody at least once and then put them in the correct place in post production. We also recorded the drums in this session, using the methods and knowledge we had picked up in the previous session. In the next session we recorded vocals, however the vocalist couldn’t perform as well as we had hoped as his voice had a very different timbre to that of Bill Withers, so we re-recorded the vocals in another studio session. All that was left to do after this was mix the track, which we did on several different monitor setups to ensure it sounded as good as we could get it.
Track 2 (Live In the Studio Stereo Recording)
For our stereo recording we decided to record a jazz trio, as we felt if our miking techniques were correct and we had a good room layout we could get it sounding very real and wide.
For the microphone setup, we decided to use an XY pair of Schoeps cardioid small diaphragm condensers with a Warm Audio 251 tube mic positioned slightly above the XY pair. We decided upon this mic setup for several reasons, one being that the XY pair would lead to minimal phase issues as the diaphragms are placed so close together compared to other dual mic techniques. We chose to add the 251 tube mic on top of this as the small diaphragm condensers wouldn’t capture bass and warmth effectively enough for us to use them alone and positioned it as close as we could to the other mics to minimise phase issues. One mistake we made in this section of the production was leaving the tube mike with an omni polar pattern, rather than setting it to cardioid. This resulted in some of the sound being reflected off the wall behind the mic, leading to phasing issues, something we unfortunately only noticed in the post production phase.
In terms of room layout, the trio was placed in front of the XY condenser pair, with the double bass being placed the closest and the piano and snare drum being almost equidistant due to the difference in volume the instruments can output. The double bass was placed to the left of the mics, with the snare being in the centre and the piano to the right. We placed the snare in the centre in order to keep the rhythm section in the centre of the mix, as the condensers were panned hard left and hard right respectively. This added a lot of spatial width and realism to the mix.
The post production of this track was very minimal, due to nothing being close miked, leaving everything as room sound. We put a slight cut on the treble and high mids of the Warm Audio 251 tube mic as the signal was sounding too harsh, applied a light compressor to tighten it up and reduce the dynamic range to allow us to bring the perceived volume up and finally added a limiter on the master to prevent peaking but still allowing for dynamic expression.
Track 3 Remix track
I wasn’t initially sure how to approach the remix as this isn’t something I have done before. I started by trying to get some nice found drum sounds to put on the drum rack, which is also new to me. I initially started with the kick drum, which I created using a pop sound with my mouth. I then pitched this down, did some standard kick EQ, added compression and finally a saturator to bring out some depth.
Next I attempted to create a snare, which proved harder than expected so I instead settled for a clap and a finger snap. The clap sound is a combination of 4 different claps I did, with a low cut at 300hz and a reverb with some predelay to put it in its own space. The click was mixed very similar to this however I added some saturation to it as well.
I also tried to create a hi hat sound which did not go very well so I instead recorded two variations of myself tapping a glass with an alan key. The more pingy glass sound I ran through an eq to cut out any unwanted frequencies, into a compressor to even the dynamics and prolong the tail and then into a reverb to make it less dry. For the dimmer sound I ran it through an eq to boost the highs to bring out some brightness and cut lows, and then into a reverb for the same reason. I experimented with some other percussive sounds, such as the “Ahhhhh” that can be heard and the coke being poured into a glass and fizzing. I found noises like this useful to take up the frequency range that cymbals would normally occupy. Another texture similar to these I added was the sound of me rubbing my hands together. I ran this through an EQ with a low cut at 2k hz and a huge boost to the high frequencies. I then ran this into a compressor and saturator specifically targeting the higher frequencies to bring out some sizzle. I then ran this into a reverb to help it sit better in the mix.
For the vocals I pitched them up 1 semitone as they were originally recorded in the key of E minor and needed to be transposed to Ab Major. I then put a heavy reverb on them with an auto shift to keep them in key after some basic EQ. This then runs into 2 different delays, which can be heard being automated on and off throughout the track. I chopped up some parts of the vocals too to create a rap verse feel in some areas. I also recorded bass and guitar on this track.
For the outro I took the same chord progression from the main section of the song and repeatedly pitched and sped it up every 4 bars. I then added a volume automation on the master fader to fade the song out.
