Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)
REVERIE – Hilden Park:
Pre-Production
Before getting into the studio we requested a demo recording from Hilden Park. The demo had been done very well. This was extremely helpful as each part had been written out including all of the FX and samples. This helped us map out a plan for each part of the recording process and having demo recordings of each part helped with the live tracking further down the line. It also helped us grasp an idea of how they wanted the track to sound sonically and musically.
The band had a last minute switch of drummers a week before the recording, so we asked that they were well rehearsed before coming to the studio. This was to help minimise time re-recording parts that weren’t played correctly so we had more time in session to get the studio setup perfectly. The arrangement of the track prior to the recording sessions stayed identical to the original demo track that we were sent.
We mapped out a solid plan for our first recording session. We originally wanted to try and record them as a group, all at once to try and capture their sound as more of a cohesive performance.
First Recording
Recording:
We placed the drums and 2 of the guitars in the main live room with the vocals and the third guitar tracking in the control room. Trying to create a live cohesive performance was the original intention ass we thought with all there musicians playing together it might capture a more interesting and intimate recording.
We used a very large range of microphones for the drum recording as we wanted to try and capture as much sound as possible. This definitely helped me in the mixing process and I had a lot of chose between the use of certain microphones. However, the use of lots of mics did cause some bleed issues which made it harder to remove some muddiness from the mix.
Second Drum Recording
We recorded the drums a week later after the original recording. This was because of a few problems we ran into. We recorded the original takes with no click track, which is caused major issues when it came to comping different takes together when editing. We asked Hilden Park’s drummer to go away for a week and practise his part really well so when it came to the re-record we would have the drums recorded to the click perfectly. During that week we revised our mic list for the drum which included adding a Sub kick helping define the low-end of the recording. Final Mic List can be seen below..
Through most of these recording sessions, my role was the set up the microphones in the live room and make sure everything was patched correctly in the control room. This included making decisions about which pieces of outboard equipment we wanted to use and making sure it was all tested and patched correctly before we started recording.
Mic List – Drums
First Guitar Recording
Our first guitar recording was apart of our first main recording session where we had all parts tracking simultaneously in a live environment. We 2 of the guitars in the live room and we tracked a DI signal and an FX signal coming out of their FX pedals. Having had issues with editing due to performance and timing issues, we decided to record all of the guitars again to make sure we had it right.
Second Guitar Recording
For the second recording we isolated the guitars and tracked them individually. Using the list of amps stated in green below we were able to create an enhanced, stronger and more texture tone to all three of the guitar parts. The choice to use different amps for each guitar was so we could give each guitar part a different sound quality to them. This made it easier to find space within the mix for each guitar.
Vocal Recording
Prior to the vocal recording, I personally asked Hilden Park’s singer Mike to practise his vocal parts before coming to the studio and upon arrival I had him warm up for 15mins. This was because I felt the vocals in this song weren’t as strong as I would have liked and to get the best vocal we could we needed Mike to be prepared.
I lead this recording with the rest of my group engineering it. This felt appropriate as I have the most vocal and singing experience within the group. I chose to use the WA-251 for the Lead Vocals and I used the Xaudia Beebs in a Blumlein position for the backing vocals. The use of different mics for the lead and the backings were because I wanted the them to have a slightly different texture and sonic quality to them before editing and mixing. Both microphones capture great sensitivity and clarity which is another reason for my mic choices.
When recording we went through the vocal line phrase by phrase. This was so we could perfect each section whilst running through different vocal techniques and talking to Mike about ways in which to pronounces different words and phrases to achieve more clarity and diction with each word. Re-recording each phrase multiple times was very time consuming especially as we had lots of tuning issues. I thought this would be the case so I made sure to book a 3hour session so we had enough time to get everything recorded.
Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)
Live Studio Jazz Recording:
We recorded a Jazz trio. Members included a Drummer, Pianist and a Double Bassist. To record this in a live manner wow recorded in studio 113 so we had enough room to give each musician enough space to isolate them whilst being in the same room. As shown in the photos below we used panels to block any unwanted bleed especially from the drums.
We had the top of the piano open slightly, with a pair of Neumann 184’s setup as a spaced pair and a WA-251 placed slightly further back. We chose a spaced pair because it is the most effective way to capture the full range of the piano with even capture across the whole range of keys.The soft cover was then placed over the top of the piano with the WA-251 to create some added texture and fullness to the sound. We placed the soft cover over the top of the piano to help with sound isolation and help dampen any unwanted beed from the surrounding instruments.
The Double Bass was isolated using 2 panels. This helped minimise bleed and created an isolated space to capture a clear recording. Using the combination of the Sheopes CMC5U and the Orpheus we capture a right tone with the Orpheus recording a lot more of the body and lower end of the bass whilst the CMC5U’s added delicacy and texture. We strapped the CMC5U’s to the bridge of the double bass using a hair band. This meant we could record very close to the F holes.
Full mic list:
Mixing:
Once recorded, we added a light sim reverb from the Lexicon outboard unit to give the mix some space and width. Parallel compression was used on all of the double bass channels using the LA2A. This helped even out dynamics and control part of the recording that were starting to peak. The compression used also helped tighten up the sound along with our use of EQ. Once levels were sorted out, the use of EQ to remove unwanted frequencies and boost frequencies that have resonance and warmth gave each instrument in our Jazz recording space and cohesiveness simultaneously and helped remove bleed.
Track 3 Remix track
The main body and texture of this remix track is made up of 6 vocal chops from the original vocal stem “how deep is your love”. For 3 of these I use the One shot function and various pitch manipulation and filtering is applied to create the desirded sound I wanted. I did this because I wanted to give the drum beat and interesting feel to it and using sections of the original vocal line heard in this track give the preccusiion and textural parts of this track a instant sonic relationshio to the lead vocal. I feel this creates a cohesive sound throughout the track as each sample relates to each other.
The second live tracked instrument is a guitar part in the middle section. This track has a very electronic feel to it so having a natural vibrant and warm guitar solo in the middle helps create interest and contrast. Simple reverb and distortion are applied to the guitar, mimicking a familiar tone used in rock music. This helps reinforce the sense of contrast and interest.
When mixing, I used reverbs such as Valhalla Supermassive to create atmosphere and space. This helped creates an airy tone to the vocals and some of the vocal chops. Heavy compression was also used on the drum parts and vocal parts. I felt the use of heavy processing was appropriate as the electronic characteristics of the processing used matched nicely with the track itself.
