Track 1 (Guitar-based band production)
Initially we struggled to find a band to record but in the end, we recorded my own band and original music. I booked room 113 between 9 – 4 so there would be plenty of space and we could confidently record everything without the stress of a time limit. Most of the microphones used were chosen due to previous experience, however some were chosen because of the live nature of the rhythm section. One example includes the SM57’s for the bass and electric guitar. This is because they are dynamic microphones which are “great at rejecting noise around them” (Sturgis, 2018) such as the other instruments which causes fewer issues when mixing the track. The same thinking applies with the use of the DI boxes on the bass and acoustic guitar, which allowed us to record an entirely clean signal. During set up, we separated the microphones to reduce spill from other instruments. This included moving the bass amp into the corner of the room surrounded by panels, facing the guitar amp towards the wall, and moving the vocal and acoustic guitar far away from the drums. Whilst this was effective for some instruments, the acoustic guitar and vocal contained spill from the cymbals, despite the panels placed between them. This was less of an issue for the guitar thanks to the DI output that was also recorded, however the vocal needed to be re-recorded at a later date.
Through the recording stage, we had some issues with the headphone mixes such as damaged equipment and the click not being loud enough for the drummer. Eventually, we removed the click and performed together which worked better due to us being a new band and preferring to play to the drummer rather than outside sources. This also benefitted the final product as it creates a live feel to the track which works due to the high energy nature of the song. We recorded around 10 takes until we got one that we were happy to use as the base of the track. We then used the guitar setup we had before to record the solo and a distorted tone (resetting the gain to account for the change of tone) for the choruses and certain sections that needed to be emphasised such as at the end of the first break. These were done to “create richer sounds” (Izotope.com, 2025) and allow for a more dense mix which is necessary for a song of this style.
When mixing, I found that due to the overdub of the solo, I had to remove the original guitar part at that section due to the two occupying the same frequency range and tone, which made discerning the two difficult and would have muddied the mix. Along with this, the distorted guitar had to be heavily EQ’d and placed far back in the mix due to it taking up a wide range of frequencies and eventually served as just a tool to fill out the sound during higher energy sections.
Overall, this project resulted in a good quality track but could have benefitted with more thorough checks on each individual microphone as many issues regarding spill could have been avoided and each instrument could have been more isolated allowing for more clarity and easier mixing. This also could have been corrected by changing some microphones such as the AKG C414 on the acoustic guitar, which could have benefited from being recorded by a dynamic microphone such as an SM57.
Track 2 Live in the studio (jazz/folk ensemble)
Finding a band for this project was quick and easy due to me knowing various people on the jazz course. Before the studio session, I wrote up a microphone list which was mostly chosen from past experiences, however, there were some specifically chosen for this piece such as the AKG C414’s for the overheads due to the sensitivity and high quality sound they produce as well as the KM 184’s for the ride, hats and fingerboard of the double bass as they are more directional, have a “small presence peak at 9kHz” which brings out a more defined attack on each instrument, and are “unobtrusive” (Fraryguitar.com, 2025) making them easy to work with and stays out of the way of particularly expressive performers. When miking up the instruments, there were various changes made from the original plan. This included changing from a Nord to using the grand piano as that was what the pianist preferred. Along with this, we had to move the double bassist onto the carpet from concrete floor which would have caused the spike to make an unpleasant scratching noise. Whilst sound checking , we found that on most microphones, there was very little spill from other instruments due to how soft and sparse a lot of their parts were, with the drums in particular being quite tame. Generally, we EQ’d on the way in to clean up the sound and allow for creative additive EQ when mixing through the desk at a later date as there is a limited amount of outboard gear available, therefore causing us to think more critically about the sound on the way in rather than being able to fix it all in post. This was also the reasoning behind using a compressor on the vocals on the way in to control the dynamics and allow for more freedom when it came to mixing, however, I made sure it was only showing approximately -3db of gain reduction at most in order to not kill the vocal and keep the performance sounding natural.
Whilst recording, a few adjustments were made, mainly focusing on the double bass which caused some issues. This included spill in the microphone on the fingerboard. This was corrected by placing a panel between the bassist and drummer and making sure it had a window, due to visual communication being essential for their performance. Along with this, the EQ was altered on the double bass and drums as I found that we had overdone some elements of the EQ which resulted in a worse sound. After we had everything set up to a high enough standard, it took around 5 – 6 attempts to get the take that we agreed was performed the best.
When mixing, Sam W and I used the Audient desk and the various outboard gear available. This included slight compression on each of the instrument groups to help glue the different sounds from the microphones together, making sure to keep the attack slow, which “preserves the transient detail” (MusicTech, 2019), and the release fast with only about -2db of gain reduction so that the performance feels natural. Along with this, we sent everything to a contextual reverb using the Lexicon to “create a sense of space, distance and emotion” as without it the mix can sound “dry, flat, and unnatural” (Davies, 2025). Afterwards, we used the mix bus compressor on the desk with a slow attack and fast release to allow all the transients to pass through which makes the mix punchy and doesn’t flatten the dynamics of the track. Finally, we manually automated the levels of the different instruments when printing the final mix to allow for each instrument to be more present during their solos and to bring down any instrument that may be overwhelming for certain sections.
Track 3 Remix track
To separate my remix from the original track, I aimed to include mostly live instruments. This included acoustic, electric and bass guitar, drums, vocals and a synth track. Despite this, the style and overall tone of my remix had not been entirely decided on and changed a few times throughout its creation. This prompted me to take a DI of the electric guitar and bass due to this allowing me to record my “performance without committing to a guitar tone” and therefore let me “explore different tonal options” (Chudyk, 2018) without the need to get back in the studio. This was a similar reasoning as to why the drums were programmed rather than recorded live which was incredibly useful as they were originally slower and less detailed than the final product.
After figuring out the key that the vocal was sung in, I decided that the harmony should be simple, only using Dm and F throughout the entire track which lets the change in instrumentation and tone create interest. One example of this is during the solo in which there is a high pass filter over the track which changes the feel of the song and keeps the interest of the listener, even though the chords have stayed the same. Keeping the chords simple also reduces the risk of creating a clashing harmony with the melody due to there being fewer notes, all of which are stable in the key. Throughout this, “the original song must be present enough to be recognisable, but not the same” (Loopcloud.com, 2020) and therefore should keep the melody as its main focus and having a complex chord progression would detract from this and take away from what made the song so popular in the first place, the vocal hook.
When incorporating the vocal, I found that it was not recorded to a click and needed a lot of editing in order to make it fit into the track in a coherent manner, however this was not a massive issue due to the melody being staccato which made it easy to cut individual words and move them into place. Along with this, I recorded many vocal doubles to the title line to emphasise it and make it stand out compared to the other lines, which further emphasises the previous point that the vocal should be easily recognisable, and emphasising the vocal hook should be the main priority as “hooks are what make songs instantly recognizable and unforgettable” (Johncy, 2025).
Sturgis, J. (2018). The Great Microphone Debate: Dynamic or Condenser? [online] Joey Sturgis Tones. Available at: https://joeysturgistones.com/blogs/learn/the-great-microphone-debate-dynamic-or-condenser [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026]
Izotope.com. (2025). Understanding overdubbing: techniques and applications. [online] Available at: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/overdubbing. [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026]
Fraryguitar.com. (2025). Welcome To Zscaler Directory Authentication. [online] Available at: https://www.fraryguitar.com/Neumann_km184.htm [Accessed 2 Jan. 2026]
MusicTech. (2019). Buss Compression Tutorial. [online] Available at: https://musictech.com/tutorials/buss-compression-tutorial/# [Accessed 2 Jan. 2026]
Davies, V. (2025). Why Reverb Can Make or Break Your Mix –. [online] pointblank Music School’s Blog. Available at: https://www.pointblankmusicschool.com/blog/why-reverb-can-make-or-break-your-mix/ [Accessed 2 Jan. 2026]
Chudyk, B. (2018). 3 Reasons to Reamp® – Radial Engineering. [online] Radial Engineering. Available at: https://www.radialeng.com/blog/3-reasons-to-reamp?utm_source=chatgpt.com [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026]
Loopcloud.com. (2020). The Science Behind a Great Remix. [online] Available at: https://www.loopcloud.com/cloud/blog/4513-The-Art-of-Remixing-What-Makes-a-Great-Mash-up-Bootleg-or-Remix- [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026]
Johncy, J. (2025). Creating Melodic Hooks That Stick –. [online] pointblank Music School’s Blog. Available at: https://www.pointblankmusicschool.com/blog/creating-melodic-hooks-that-stick/?utm_source=chatgpt.com [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026]
