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MPR5C001R~001 Studio Portfolio 1 & Log Book TEMPLATE

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:

Pre-Production

• Rehearsals
• Track development
• Demo recording
• Arrangement decisions
• Session planning

Recording

• Microphone choices
• Room setup
• Musician management

Mixing

• Mix plan/concept
• Balance
• Pan
• Tone
• FX

Project Management

• Time management
• Planning
• Roles and responsibilities
• Structure and organisation

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Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)

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Due to our initial band dropping out, I volunteered my band ‘Cab Driver’ to record for this project. This meant my primary contribution to the group involved the creation of the arrangement, demo material, and overall vision for the sonic direction. 

I began by recording and roughly mixing a demo version of the song which acted as a reference to show the rest of the group the direction for the song, as well as being a scratch track for the other instruments to be layered onto. 

We had already performed it live many times, so the structure and writing were set in stone, however I proposed we double and triple track the guitar parts, as well as adding a densely layered wall of vocal harmonies in the chorus. I coordinated the three other band members to come in for individual sessions, allowing us to take our time and focus on each element rather than cramming them into one session. 

We began with drums, so that the rest of the song could match the groove once it was tracked afterwards. We used an extensive 9 mic setup to record the drums to get a tight, hi-fi sound and a deep punchy kick through combination of a DM1B as the kick out and Shure Beta 91 for the kick in. We used km184s for the overheads for a crips, bright cymbal sound, and set up a room mic on the other end of studio 113 for a large room reverb to add a natural, live band feel.

The references I provided for the drums include July – Wunderhorse and Roman Holiday – Fontaines D.C.. July features a saturated, garage rock/ grunge inspired drum sound with a very present room reverb, and roman holiday leans more towards the slightly cleaner indie/shoegaze indie sound, so we aimed to for a middle ground that allowed the verses to pop and the choruses to have weight and body. We did several takes of the drums to ensure the timing was correct (to avoid having to quantize and lose the live feeling). 

For the guitars, we experimented with several tones, and although I had initially planned to use the amp distortion, I found a blues driver pedal delivered the best crunch sound. It broke up when played hard, but didn’t muddy in the more reserved parts of the song which was ideal for the rhythm part. We chose to place the lead guitarist and bassist in the control room, using a re-amp box so that they could hear the drums and bass clearly and so we could have an additional copy of the signal to use when mixing. As well as this, it allowed for easier communication and less pressure on the performers when recording takes.

During vocal recording, I altered the way I sang the lead line upon recommendation of the rest of the group, which made it easier and cleaner to sing. I chose to record lead and harmony parts in the same session, as it allowed me to match the rhythm and cadence of the main line as accurately as possible – this made them blend well in the final mix rather than standing out as extra melodies. 

During mixing, I discovered the double tracking of the guitars had been lost. To match my original idea for the guitars, I ran the DI signal from the reamp box through a digital amp simulator, and used the Haas trick to double it and hard pan the copies. I kept the real amp recording central, as it contains most of the body of the sound, and added more treble to panned copies to highlight the transient of the pick hitting the strings. This created a wide and filled out sound. I used the same trick for the lead guitar, but only kept the DI amp sim copies in the chorus to create a clear dynamic change and prevent them from obscuring the vocal in the verse. 

For the bass, there were two mic recordings and a DI singal. I used one of the tracks as a compressed low end, and used another as a high pass tone control to bring back the presence. I also added subtle subbass to the thirds track which I kept in the chorus only, increasing the impact of this section. 

For the lead vocals I used heavy compression and an airy hall reverb with a long predelay, inspired by the likes of Radiohead’s ‘All I Need’. This kept the clarity while maintaining the atmosphere in the sparsity of the verse. For the multitracked choir of backing vocals, I sent them to a bus with a tape delay and a low cut, to create an airy, breathy layer to help highlight the soft lead melody. It is in keeping with the FX driven shoegaze/alt-rock genre that prioritizes texture and atmosphere over defined parts.

Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)

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For the jazz recording, Flynn proposed the group we should record. They had written an improvised storytelling piece, and already had a musical director who was also narrating and playing saxophone, which made communicating with the band much easier. The first few takes of the song were almost ten minutes long, but we were able to quickly come up with an abridged version for the assignment. 

We spent time discussing the plan for our microphone choices and room layout, using artists such as Herbie Hancock and Gil Scott Heron as references for the sound. Due to the scale of the group we were recording (8 instruments) we opted for minimal but effective micing techniques. We were initially going to use Glynn Johns on the drums, but opted for a simple six microphone setup to help balance the drastic dynamics of the kit throughout the song when mixing.

We struggled to hear the double bass in the mix, so I adjusted the D112 to be as close to the strings by the bridge as possible. When adjusting, I asked the performer to move as he would when playing to avoid limiting his performance or hitting the microphone during a take.

During the recording process, we experienced some separation issues, so I moved dividers between the drums, guitar and bass to limit bleed. 

Once we began mixing, we started by creating a rough balance on the faders, and then discussed what needed fixing and what creative decisions we would add. In regards to analogue equipment, we heavily used the Drawmer 1968 compressor on the vocals and saxophone, and the lexicon reverb to the saxophone to add an additional space beyond the two Orpheus central room mics.

We used subtle compression on the drums and guitar, and spent time going through the upright bass frequencies on the desk to pronounce the low end end most effectively. 

Track 3 Remix track

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For my remix track, I drew on a range of genres to create a guitar driven, electronic fusion track. I began by identifying the key and rough tempo of the sample, and then chopped up the sample to fit to the metronome. 

I used newer artist Mk.gee and iconic guitarist Andy Summers from the Police as references for my guitar tone. Mk.gee’s signature sound involves running his guitar through a tape recorder so that it only breaks up when hit hard. I used the ‘Glow’ saturation plugin to mimic this. I also tuned my guitar down a whole tone to get more body, mimicking his baritone guitar. I double tracked and hard panned the riff, and added chorus for a very wide sound, leaving space for the vocals in the middle. 

To add tension in the introduction, I added some violin drones, which I gradually bent upwards to replicate a slide on a violin fingerboard. I also used a vibrato plugin to make it sound more natural. 

For the drums I used a combination of kits and sounds, pulling from different genres to make a blend. I used the track ‘The Dealer’ – Nilufer Yanya as a reference, as it has heavily saturated/compressed drums with deep chorus guitars and a soft female vocal. I used a tube compression plugin to achieve the gritty sound, with a chorus at the end of the chain. I layered an electronic dance kick with a subbass plugin underneath this more acoustic sounding kit, providing impact in important moments. In the post chorus/drop section, I used a gated reverb on the snare for a more 80s feel. 

In the choruses, I layered a guitar riff over the wide chords with several octaves and triple tracking that is hard panned. This helped it stay present amongst the business of the mix without being too far forward. For the bass tracks, I played in a part and split the signal across a bass amp sim and a distorted guitar amp sim, using them to create a ‘trashy’, rough tone that maintained its low end. I used a noise gate on a bus of the two tracks to avoid excess noise. 

I also recorded my own backing vocals in a stack of harmonies to add support to the word “love”. These were recorded with a Rhode NT1-A, with the air setting applied on the interface to bring up the high end. 

I chopped up the sample in the post chorus, putting the word “love” on a different track with a tremolo effect. I changed the settings so that the tremolo causes the vocal to drop in and out at 1/16th notes, rather than move left to right. 

I also recorded my own backing vocals over the second verse section, using the vocal transformer plugin in Logic to shift the pitch up an octave and alter the formant to sound more like the original sample. I added chorus to the singers voice in this diction too, removing the lengthy reverb that is applied on the rest of the song for a moment of contrast. 

1650 words

12 minutes 5 seconds