MPR5C001R~003 Studio Portfolio 2 & Log Book
Commercial Pop Track
For the pop track we wanted to go in the direction of a laid-back modern r+b style similar to Drake or early The Weeknd songs. For example, we repeatedly referred to ‘Passionfruit’ (2017) by Drake –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COz9lDCFHjw– throughout the early production process for the soundscape and flow, then again when undergoing the mixing process.
The foundation of the instrumental came from a beat another member of our group Ethan Hudson made, comprised of a warm pad, some synth plucks and muted drums. A few risers and vocal samples were also dotted amongst it. To start off with, we split the stems of the original beat to allow for more freedom when arranging the track, and to remove unwanted parts later down the line.
In our studio group Monday sessions we gradually layered the track more and more. This includes:
- Additional pads (made through vital) in octaves to give the chorus more harmonic range
- Adding another octave to the synth plucks in the chorus for the same reason
- Reversing the vocal samples and spreading them out through the track
- Taking the original hook from the foundation track and allocating it to synths from the quick sampler, as well as having the hook open the track in addition to the choruses to introduce it as the song’s motif
- Piano VSTs to reinforce the chord progression in the chorus
- A shaker made from the ESP synth using the noise oscillator and a fast mono tremolo
- A retro synth subbass in the bridge to fill space in the mix where pads cut out
- A String ensemble pad with a low pass filter on it to emulate a moody synth.
When having the opportunity to work with session musicians on the 16th of February we opted to use the time we had with them on the pop track, recording a groove with live drums and bass to balance out the amount of synthetic instruments we used to create the rest of the instrumental.
In the session (room 113) we recorded multiple takes of the drummer trying out various different rhythms so we could treat each one as its own individual loop and decide which felt right in different sections at a later session.
For the bassist, we set up amps as well as the DI signal and showed him the bassline sequenced from logic that we had as a stand-in.
This blend of both synthetic and acoustic instrumentation helped the track feel a lot more candid as opposed to the heavily sequencer based pop often seen in this decade.
Despite this line of thinking we still wanted to include at least some of the original sequenced drums in the mix. To achieve this we used MIDI triggering to analyse the live drums and keep the electronic drums perfectly in time with the live ones. This caused a few issues when it came to Logic quantising the MIDI correctly but was worth the effort for the effect.
Next, we asked Saskia Collinson to write lyrics for the song and contribute her vocals. She had been sent the foundation track by Ethan at the beginning of this production, so we got to hear a rough demo of her vocalising and trying some melody lines out which was a good confirmation that her voice fit the production and style we were aiming for.
On the 12th of March Ethan and I met Saskia to record in room 109, using an AKG-414. After listening to how the track had developed since the demo we experimented with which melody lines she would sing and revised which lyrics did and didn’t work, as well as enunciation of certain phrases.
After a few takes we had lots of different versions of each section in the song, so after finalising which takes would be put in we then rerecorded to double track everything, as well as adding basic harmonies, countermelodies and adlibs.
We also incorporated the ‘motif’ played on the samplers into the chorus vocal line.
Knowing that the song had to be commercially viable, it was important that the mix wasn’t too busy otherwise the centrepiece of the track (the vocals) would get lost amongst the other instruments. This also meant keeping the high end of the mix relatively untouched so the vocals could slot in easily. To help achieve this outcome the vocal EQ has a cut from 20-200hz. Usually in pop tracks this would be a more drastic cut, but I wanted to keep the vocals from sounding too overproduced, and the mid frequencies help them retain a more organic sound.
Like with the blend of live and sequenced drums, I applied this ethos to the rest of the mix, focusing less on processing and letting the sounds stand on their own:
- Light reverb with minimised bass frequencies are applied on the vocal tracks
- The ratio of compression on the drums isn’t as heavy as other pop tracks so they can fall in with the synthsoundscape
- In the bridge ad libs are swamped with reverb to create distance between them and the lead vocal
- The same reverb is applied to the live snare channel in the bridge, with a more mid centric EQ
- Chorus sent on the synth plucks to help widen their impact in the stereo field
- Standard panning on drums, all other instruments are either slightly off centre or mono
- Chorus doubletracked vocals are panned hard left and right
Acoustic Track
For the acoustic track we recorded Isaac Jo’s folk band, composed of him singing with an acoustic guitar, a cello and piano. We didn’t manage to add drums but the arrangement of the original song Isaac wrote stands very well by itself
All the recordings were overdubs, starting with the vocals and the guitar as the guide for the rest of the instruments on the 2nd of March, followed by cello on the 20th of March, and finally piano on the 1st of May. All the sessions followed a similar pattern, we didn’t need to do much directing as the song had already been written and rehearsed several times.
Piano recorded with a space pair and a mid setup (schoeps omni)
Piano recorded with WA-87
Vocals recorded with AKG-414 and an XY pair schoeps omni
The track is very sparse in its arrangement at many points throughout its runtime, as well as only featuring acoustic instruments, so I had to approach the mixing process delicately so as to not upset the balance of the raw dry audio.
- EQ on guitars is cut from 20hz-60hz to remove rumble
- Guitars are panned hard left and right
- Piano is panned mid left and right
- Cello panned very slightly off to the right, with 15hzk-20khz cut to avoid harsh noise as string instruments tend to have
- Vocal panned centre
- Light compression on all channels as to allow the mix to have a wide dynamic range due to the softer sounds in the track
- Fast decaying reverb on all channels to help boost the atmosphere slightly, slightly longer on the vocals
Location Recording
For the location recording we recorded the Woodoo Project live at Hyde Park Book Club, consisting of guitar, piano, bass and vocals.
Unfortunately I couldn’t be there for the scheduled date as I had a serious back injury preventing me from doing anything.
As this wasn’t recorded in a studio setting the natural sound of the room is a factor to take into consideration when mixing this track. In addition to the instrument mics there was also schoeps omni room mics panned hard left and right to make sure the natural sonics of the room can be recorded.
- Using the EQ I’ve boosted up the frequencies usually present in all of the instruments in a studio setting e.g the 20hz-100hz range of the kick.
- Heavier compression on the drums than usual as they dry recording is lacking in punch
Overall I think we worked well as a group on the pop project as everyone contributed their own ideas towards the final outcome. With the other two there’s not as much collaboration as a lot of the musical choices weren’t up to us and we were only there to capture their sound. If I were to redo this project again, I would’ve spent another session with Saskia for the pop track and had Isaac in the room for all of the other acoustic recordings, seeing as he is the one who wrote the song and can dictate on how he wanted it to be captured.
