Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)
For the guitar based production we began by exchanging ideas and delegating tasks among our group. I was responsible for sourcing and booking the band, I decided on a local band made up of leeds conservatoire students called Pharmacie to perform their song ‘Nine Lives’ as it is an extremely guitar based track that focuses heavily on guitar melodies and solos while also utilising both a lead and rhythm guitar.
This session took place in studio 422 with me, Jimmy Critchley and Finn Humpleby present for it on 19/11/25
We began by before the session writing out a track sheet and discussing which roles each of us will be taking throughout the session.
I began by compiling a list of microphones that we would use for this session to be used alongside the track sheet to help the session run as smoothly as possible.
when it came time to begin our session with the performers, i was in charge of setting up the microphones and discussing with the band how they would like the session to go, e.g. foldback mixes and drum sounds. whilst i was doing this, Jimmy and Finn were also doing things such as setting up the logic session and preparing the desk for the PFL process and gain staging
Vox amp with 1 Sm57 and 1 C414 to capture different parts of the guitars tone
Fender amp with 1 Sm57 and 1 C414 to capture different parts of the guitars tone
We also sent the live drums to a group on the desk and then to an outboard compressor as we thought it greatly improved the sound of them, i was responsible for patching the drum group through to the distressor and making sure it was being returned and recorded properly whilst the others tuned the settings on the compressor to get the best sound
Patch bay sending and returning drum group
Distressor with the parameters used on the drum group
I also ran a second session on my own on the 5th of december 2025 (5/12/25) with just me and the vocalist as vocal overdubs needed to be recorded, for this i used an SM7B and a pop filter, in this session i recorded main vocals, a vocal left and right track and backing vocals to be layered on top of the track.
SM7B with pop filter
Mixing desk used in the session
When mixing this track, i put a lot of emphasis on the two different guitars and bringing out their tones without making them fight with the vocals, i did multiple different mixing sessions over the course of a few weeks usually spending around half an hour to an hour on the track each time. Much of the individual track EQ was done as the instruments were being recorded in, this allowed me to spend much more time focusing on the overall cohesiveness of the track.
Panning was a heavy focus due to the guitars and vocals which took up similar frequency ranges, this really widened the steroe image of the track giving much more depth. I also used automation on the panning of the backing vocals to create a energetic and alive feeling withing the song.
The short term LUFS value at the loudest point in the track
Multiple vocal tracks with processing
Final bounce of the track contained below (3 minuetes 20 seconds)
Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)
For track 2, we decided to go with a 4 piece jazz ensemble which i had got in contact with, this ensemble consisted of drums, bass, piano and trumpet. The pre production on this track was mainly focused around planning the main session as recording a band fully live required a lot of room setup and acoustic control, me, Jimmy and Finn were responsible for multiple different parts of this as i made a track sheet and spoke to the band about the track and got them to send over some demos so we could get a better idea for what we were recording.
During the session in studio 422 (8/12/25) we each had our own responsibilities to make the session run smoothly, i mainly focused on setting up microphones and mapping out the room including doing things like moving instruments like pianos and setting up soundproofing to get more control over the room sound
The sound desk including labelling for the tracks
The piano after being moved to reduce bleed with a stereo pair of Oktava MK 12’s to capture the full range of the pianos sounds
C414’s as drum overheads to capture a very detailed sound and also the ability to change polar pattern if we so desired.
Microphone list for the drums on the jazz track, chosen for versatility and also minimal bleed.
during the session there was a lot of mixing done to the tracks as they individually came in, especially the drums as in this track they are extremely complex and also feature a solo in the latter half of the track.
The mixing session was done by me and Finn Humpleby, we did it in studio 104 on the 18th of december (18/12/25)
We both undertook similar jobs with the pair of us rotating oevery few instruments to have a go at mixing it whilst the other got further back in the room and listened while giving opinions.
The use of outboard processing was very important in this track as we wanted to apply both compression and reverb to multiple instruments, we achieved this through the use of grouping for both drum and bass compression and auxiliary sends for reverb whilst bringing the wet signal back on a different channel to be mixed in
Distressor compression unit we used for drums
Draumer compression unit we used for bass
Lexicon reverb unit we used for reverb on the track
Patch bay setup
Grouping, auxiliaries and master bus
I was also responsible for controlling the master level to create the fadeout effect at the end of the track.
Final bounce of the jazz track below (6 minuetes and 18 seconds)
Track 3 Remix track
The remix task began with me researching different styles of music that would be good to build around this vocal, i put lots of time into learning about soundscapes and ambient music involving live instrumentation. Particularly i looked deep into the work of Yosi Horikawa, a japanese producer who creates ‘Organic Electronica’ by manipulating sounds of objects found mostly in forests and woods.
I took great inspiration from this when starting my remix and decided to create a soundscape based on live synths and manipulated drum parts.
Snare drum that was being captured by an Sm57.
I captured the sound of coins sliding down the drum head from close range, this gave an incredibly resonant sound that i would later use reverb and delay on to create occasional background noise
Ride cymbal captured by an Sm57.
I played this ride using a voila bow so i could capture the tail end of the rides normal sound without hearing the initial impact of a regular drumstick.
Kick drum captured with an Sm57.
this kick drum was heavily processed with reverb and then kept in the centre of the track to act as some rythm among all the different soundscape synths and pads i used.
Along with the drums i also utilised the live synths available in 109 as they have many great presets which i then further tweaked to create my own sounds that got recorded into the track.
Elektron synth i used to create the bed of static and glitching noises the rest of the track sits on top.
i also used this for a synth that comes in playing chords i the latter half of this track.
Korg minilogue i used for small lead lines that occur during the beginning section of the track
After recording these instruments in, i also used some of the logic synths like alchemy to create some more layers to really capture that soundscape ambient sound. i also utilised a lot of panning to create a very wide stereo image further increasing the depth of this track.
Space designer reverb used on the bowed cymbal
Tremolo used on the bowed cymbal
The mixing of this track was done over multiple sessions with my main aims being to further expand that soundscape feeling of it being a large track that takes up a lot of space, this was eventually achieved using multiple processors like the ones mentioned before along with things like compressors and standars EQ.
Final bounce of the remix task below (1 minuete and 40 seconds)
