Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)
For this part of the portfolio, the group decided to use my band, Cab Driver. This was due to how much easier it would be throughout the whole process, as I knew we could rely on everyone, and I also know how the song should sound, which would help in the recording process.
Pre-production
We got a demo of the track and marked out the different sections, stem split the different parts and changed the tempo. This helped us as during the recording stage, as it members could record their parts with a backing track that didn’t have their instrument in it. The tempo was changed as we play it faster live than on the original demo recording. We planned an 8 hour drum session, a session for both guitars, and a bass session.
Recording
We wanted to experiment with different mic setups for drums.
This was the original set up. We used a 12-inch snare to get a tighter sound. We thought the overheads and the kick-in weren’t capturing how ‘big’ we wanted it to sound, and the Hi-hat mic wasn’t sounding bright enough.
Here you can see what we changed, having considered what was wrong with the other set up. We also moved the overheads further away and more focused on the cymbals, compared to where they were originally in hopes to gain a ‘bigger’ sound. This worked for us, and we were happy with the sound.
For the guitars, we used a 441 and SM57 on a Fender hot rod.
I chose this amp as it is the same as we use live, so I thought we could replicate the same sound. We also used a Sontronics Orpheus as a room mic, in hopes to achieve a big sound, however we later found out that it just made it sound more muddy. In the same session, we added a 12 string acoustic, doubling Ben’s guitar part in the choruses and bridge to add texture. My guitar tone relies heavily on my pedal board, so I spent time making sure it was dialed in beforehand.
Here you can see we used two 184s in an XY pair to get a stereo recording of the acoustic, as we planned to have them hard panned left and right.
For bass, we utilised one of our timetabled studio sessions, and got a DI recording of the bass part. We then reamped it through a guitar amp and a bass amp. The guitar amp was to get a grittier, more distorted tone, and the bass amp was to enhance the low end. We also used a chorus effect from outboard gear.
Mixing
Problems I found when mixing was that the rhythm guitar didn’t have much bite or body to it – it sounded a bit weak. To overcome this I used the logic ‘Phat FX’ plugin to give it a bit more edge and used compression and reverb to try and give it a bit more body. I made use of effects sends to send the guitars to 2 separate buses with the same reverb and panned each hard left and right.
I also found that the snare and kick sounded a bit weak, so I used drum triggers on both, adding 2 extra kicks and a rimshot snare sample. This gave them more body and it meant I had more control of the tone of each. When mixing the kick, I ensured one of the kicks covered the high end ‘click’ sound and another covered the low end ‘thud’ sound to gain a fuller sound.
To make the vocals match the big sound of the track, I used reverb and delay, increasing the amount of wet delay in the bridge to make it sound more atmospheric.
Project Management
A problem we faced with time management was the vocals. We struggled to get them recorded before the Christmas break due to things such as busy schedules, studios being fully booked and the singer being sick. In the end, I suggested we record them in one of the 116 rooms, which we did. I did all the management of the musicians and sorting out studio times myself, as they are all my friends. I did most of the arrangement and planning of the track as well, including which microphones to use for guitar.
Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)
Pre-production
We decided this would be the track that we would mix with outboard gear, as it would require the least processing. Lucas had a band in mind initially that were planned to do it, however the drummer unexpectedly was unavailable to do it so we had to get a new band last minute. We planned a six hour session in 113 in order to limit bleed as it has the most space. we planned for the saxophone to be in the vocal booth, and DI bass and keys in the live room with drums.
Recording
Since the band were well rehearsed, recording went smoothly and we got plenty of good takes to choose from. One problem we encountered was the keyboard was tuned differently to the rest of the band for the first few takes, which we quickly fixed.
I had a big input in setting up the microphones, as me and Lucas were the first to arrive, and I set up while Lucas set up the logic session. We managed to soundcheck the instruments before the musicians arrived, to allow for a smoother recording process. All the mics used can be seen in the photos above, apart from the sax which we used an re20 for.
Mixing
We mixed this in one of our timetabled studio sessions.
Here shows the patches we did for the mix, feeding it through a reverb, compressor and gate. I did a lot of the printing back onto logic from the mixing desk. We used a lot of the EQ and panning on the mixing desk too.
Project Management.
Lucas did most of the musician management, as similar with me in the rock track, he knew all of them personally. The project went very smoothly and we completed it in about a week. My role involved a lot of the set up of microphones, and helping throughout the mix stage.
Track 3 Remix track
Pre-production
I planned to do an electronic remix of the vocals, as I thought it was the most clear path to go down since the original is also an electronic track. I set up a Logic session after downloading the audio file and got an idea for what synth sounds I wanted to use.
Recording
I recorded most of the track using a MIDI keyboard and my electric guitar. For the required live parts, I have 3 different guitar parts recorded, one doing the main riff in the chorus, another doing harmonies, and one that I added a reverse effect on to act as a riser into the chorus. the other parts are chopped up apple loops of static vinyl sounds that I have processed.
Here is the recorded guitar parts. I used the arpeggiator built into my MIDI keyboard to record the bass part. After starting the remix, I decided to do it in the style of artists such as Portishead and Massive Attack, hence why I added the processed loops.
Mixing
When mixing the drums, I added a vinyl filter effect on them, to match the vibe of the rest of the track. After doing this I realised it had lost a lot of the low end frequencies, so I doubled the track and added a filter to single out only the low end frequencies, to add them back into the mix.
For the vocals, I added a long reverb and delay, to match the style of the genre.
I realised the kicks and snares didn’t sound full enough, so I doubled the kick and added two more snares to give them some more body and impact in the mix.
Project Management
I gave myself a week to complete this track, which I believe worked successfully. Due to the length of each of the other two tracks, and the maximum length of the assignment, I had to keep the length of this minimal, which explains why I couldn’t do much with the structure of the vocals.
