Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)
Pre-Production
Demo Recording
Charlie had already recorded a demo of the song, which we used stem-split as guides while tracking
Arrangement decisions
Most arrangement decisions had been made by the band
Further decisions were made during the production process, such as the addition of a synth and other sound effects for listener interest, and the composition of a lead guitar part
Session planning
The first few recording sessions happened early on, taking place during our timetabled seminars
Later sessions were organised by Charlie and attended by him
Recording
Microphone Choices
Drums:
The main purpose of individual drum mics was to detect transients for sample replacement; for example, we replaced the snare sound while mixing
Overheads and room mics were chosen for a clear recording; for example, the 251 excels in capturing a well defined sound
Acoustic guitars:
Used 2 AKG c414 in mid/side pair for a clear stereo image
Warm 251 was used for further clarity
Also recorded 6-string through DI
Bass:
Recorded into a Focusrite Scarlet 2i2
Vocals:
Warm Audio 87 into Neve 1073 preamp on both the lead and backing vocals, for a rich tone
Guitar:
Lead: ES3333 into DI then Neve 1073 preamp
Rhythm: Stratocaster into Scarlet 2i2
Room Setup
Mostly overdubbed so isolation was not a concern
We rotated the drum kit in 104 to reduce reflections from the wall
Musician Management
Only Charlie and the vocalist attended the vocal recording session for a more comfortable performance
Mixing
Mix plan/concept
Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen was a reference for the drum sound, and The Borders by Sam Fender was a reference for overall balance.
Balance
The vocal is the focal point for almost the entire track, but there is still variation in balance.
When the lead guitar takes interest it needed to be heard clearly.
Background parts (synth) need to be heard when they come in, but not distract from focus.
Pan
Panning was used to create a sense of space without becoming a distracting feature.
e.g. lead guitar was panned right but lead vocal was kept focal by staying centre.
Tone
On the lead vocal, dynamic control was used to place it in the mix, but also to draw out the energy in the performance.
Tape saturation was used on subgroups for glue and vintage tone.
FX
Reverb and delay were important effects.
e.g. lead vocal featured clean slapback delay before plate reverb, similar to Bruce Springsteen vocals.
Backing vocals featured tape delay, which is a more colourful effect appropriate for a vintage tone.
Project Management
Time Management
The studio recordings had to be finished before the Christmas break. We were aware of this time limitation from the start, and began planning recording sessions early on with this in mind. This was effective as the recordings were complete with time left for mixing.
Roles and Responsibilities
Charlie took the primary producer role. This was appropriate due to his familiarity with the song and with the musicians.
The rest of the group also took on responsibilities, such as setting up microphones and controlling the console.
Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)
Pre-Production
Rehearsals
The tune was originally chosen by my band for our jazz SGS performance assignment. Rehearsals took place during timetabled workshop sessions.
Arrangement decisions
Instrumental arrangement was determined by each band member’s primary instrument
Track structure was decided by the band
Session planning
I took the responsibility of session planning
Initially, a session in 113 was booked, which the guitarist failed to turn up to
We rescheduled to a session in 422
Recording
Microphone choices
Drums:
We were aiming for a clear drum recording with a roomy and vintage sound
e.g. using two mics on the kick resulted in a well defined kick recording with both the sub and the transient; m160 on the hihat/ride for a vintage sound
Bass:
DI box
Guitar:
AKG c414 and SM57 on the amp, recorded with 2 different mics for flexibility when mixing
Trumpet:
SM57 and RE20
Room:
2x Sontronics Orpheus in mid/side pair
Room Setup
Trumpet and bass were isolated by placing the trumpet player in the vocal booth and recording bass via DI. The guitar amp was placed on the opposite end of the room to minimise bleed into the drum overheads.
Musician Management
We listened to the musicians’ opinions on the performance and recording
We brought the musicians into the control room to hear the recording to identify strengths/weaknesses and set a direction for mixing
Mixing
Mix plan/concept
We referenced George Benson’s version of Gentle Rain when mixing this track.
Balance
As the solo instrument shifts, the balance had to change to draw focus. This was achieved by physically automating faders when recording the console mix.
Pan
The entire drum kit was panned slightly, as was common on vintage jazz records.
Tone
Most tone was achieved by compression. This involved use of the distressor for dynamic control and slight saturation on the trumpet, and VCA compression for dynamics on the drums. We also used parallel compression.
FX
The most common effect used was reverb. There was reverb at the recording stage, in the guitar amp, which we let the guitarist set to shape an appropriate sound for the genre.
In mixing, we put reverb on an aux send through the lexicon unit. This was mostly on the trumpet, but was subtly dialled into all instruments to give a sense of coherent space.
Project Management
Time Management
Time management was adequate: the recording took place in early November leaving time for outboard mixing
Roles and Responsibilities
I was responsible for organising the recording session
During the session, we all worked on the room setup and openly discussed any changes to the plan
During recording, I was playing and the rest of the group took roles in the control room
Track 3 Remix track
Pre-Production
Rehearsals
I approached this as a primarily electronic track with minimal live components, so rehearsals did not take place at the pre-production stage.
Demo Recording
A few prototype tracks were made, experimenting with reharmonising the vocals, before settling with a more simple arrangement.
Arrangement decisions
I decided to create a loop-based arrangement typical of electronic genres.
This involves a repeating 2-chord progression, where development is textural rather than harmonic.
I planned to create some instrumental loops over these chords, two of which were live instruments, and others were digital synths.
Recording
Microphone Choices
The intention when recording instruments was to create a lo-fi background texture.
For this sound, I used the lowest-quality microphones I had: the speakers of wired earbuds. They required high preamp gain and loud playing to pick up an audible signal, which was noisy and distorted.
Room Setup
The recording did not require a good room sound, so I was content with recording in my bedroom.
The recorded instruments were acoustic guitar and trumpet.
Trumpet was straightforward to record: as it is a loud instrument, positioning the earbuds close to the bell delivered an appropriately coloured sound with minimal noise.
Guitar was trickier. The earbuds had to be placed as close to the strings as possible for any guitar sound to come through, and the result was drowned out by noise. The solution was to make this sound a feature of the arrangement; filtering out the noise left a poorly defined guitar timbre that worked as a textural loop.
Mixing
Mix plan/concept
I began the FL session with the mix template that I created for drum & bass music, which was designed to remove tedious setup.
The basic mixing was approached on the fly while arranging. For example, the decision to process the drums’ dry and room signal in parallel before the drum bus was made while programming the drums.
Balance
Balance was important in a piece driven by textural shift. The vocals are the focus when appropriate, but at other times parts such as synth melodies are brought out.
Pan
Uses of panning included creating a wide drum sound and forming direction in focal elements.
Much of the panning was not done in the mixer: for example, synths were panned at the source and effects such as phasers created stereo width.
Tone
Tone of live instruments mostly came from the lo-fi recording setup.
Vocal tone was altered, majorly by simply shifting the vocal up a whole tone.
Drum tone was achieved through use of samples from the amen break, a heavily compressed parallel room sound, bus compression & tape saturation, and parallel compression.
The vocals were also occasionally dialled into the parallel compression bus for presence and emphasis.
FX
Live instruments used processing such as tape saturation and heavy filtering. Spectral expansion was used on both guitar and trumpet to draw out harsh frequencies. On the trumpet this had a similar effect to a harmon mute.
Other effects included:
Plate reverb on vocals, for deep sense of space
OTT compression on synths: sounds bigger by equalising dynamics across the spectrum
1:1 compression for subtle saturation
Project Management
Time Management
This project could have been a problem for time management (could have become left until late in the Christmas break).
However, I was able to start early and dedicate an appropriate amount of time, so I am content with my time management.
Planning
Planning could be criticised, in that I did not have a clear sense of direction when I began the production.
This caused restrictions: a lo-fi recording was a forced decision because I had not decided which instruments to record until I no longer had access to a studio.
