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Commercial Pop Track – ‘The Man You Are’
Pre-Production
As soon as the pop track was agreed upon, I arranged an initial meeting with the songwriter, Bella, to discuss the song’s direction. The primary reference track we worked to was John Newman’s ‘Love Me Again’, an energetic, horn-driven pop record with upbeat piano.
I attended rehearsals and exchanged video recordings with Bella between sessions to refine the arrangement iteratively. One of my key arrangement observations at the outset was that Bella was singing almost continuously throughout the song with no breathing space. To address this, we added an interlude after the first chorus. Bella knew she wanted horns but was unsure of the specific parts, so we sat down together and scored the horn lines from scratch. We also rerecorded a demo to a click track (keys and scratch vocals) as the foundation to record on top of. For the vocal session, I came prepared with harmonies that I had written and arranged in advance. I also directed Bella to improvise some adlib riffs during the final chorus on the fly, which added energy to the chorus.
Sessions were scheduled at a rate of approximately two per week where possible, with dedicated slots for each instrument/section. Planning was handled jointly between Arthur and I. We coordinated patch lists, room bookings and availability across the semester. Notably, a last-minute equipment issue arose during the piano session when the sustain pedal on the upright in Room 111 wasn’t working so we pivoted quickly to a Nord keyboard, which ultimately fit with the pop genre well.
Recording & Microphone Choices
Arthur acted as studio engineer throughout the tracking phase of the pop track and attended all sessions except the vocals, which I oversaw. The drum session used a comprehensive multi-microphone setup, detailed in the patch list below. Small-diaphragm condensers (Neumann KM184s) were selected for the overheads, as their extended high-frequency response is well suited to pop drum production,
providing clarity and definition in the cymbals without the low-end buildup that large-diaphragm condensers can introduce. The AKG C414 XL II was chosen for lead vocals due to its characteristically bright, detailed response.
Mixing
I corrected any timing issues in the DAW, and transients were aligned carefully. The mix follows a conventional pop idea: vocals, kick and bass are all centred to anchor the low end and the melodic focal point. The remaining instruments are panned to create a wide stereo image, guitar parts were balanced against each other across the field, and horn lines were spread to support the arrangement without masking the vocal.
Tonally, the keys emulated a piano on the Nord, while the guitar used a clean arpeggiated tone for the verse and a driven, distorted character from the solo through to the end of the final chorus, reflecting the song’s escalating intensity. We reamped the main guitar part in our sessions. The vocal chain included pitch correction, a Silver Reverb for space, a de-esser to manage sibilance, and an LA-2A compressor, which was applied for its gain reduction, which provides transparent, musical compression that smooths vocal dynamics. Drum bleed was quite heavy and managed through noise gates and targeted EQ; the ride microphone required automation as there was a lot of cymbal wash.
On the master bus, an LA-2A was applied for final glue compression, with additional high-end. The short-term LUFS reading reached approximately -11 LUFS at the loudest sections.
Mixed verses unmixed vocals. The first one being the unmixed ones:
Project Management
This was the track on which I took the primary creative lead, working closely with the artist and driving the pre-production process. Arthur and I collaborated on technical logistics: patch lists, room bookings and scheduling. A key project management decision was setting an internal deadline several weeks before the final submission to allow time to deliberate on the horns section. This buffer time proved valuable.
The initial recording dates as we had planned (see photo on the right)
Acoustic Track – ‘She Lives In A Dream’
Pre-Production
The acoustic track was led creatively by Finn, he also sang on this track. The initial demo was not acoustic, so our first pre-production task was to reimagine how the arrangement could work in a purely acoustic context, no synths, samplers or drum replacement. Finn’s demo served as the structural guide and we worked outward from it, discussing instrumentation and overdub order as a group. When session musicians attended for the tracked session, we utilised both the drummer and the bassist for this track. Time with the drummer was limited to one hour including setup, which meant he had a single full run-through. Despite the time pressure, the performance was strong and usable. The bassist initially played double bass, but the result did not suit the arrangement tonally; we later rerecorded the bass line on an acoustic. The guitar was rerecorded multiple times across separate sessions before we were satisfied. The initial
takes were affected by the sound of the instrument itself and minor timing inconsistencies.
Recording
I was not present for the bass or piano sessions, but contributed to the planning discussions around microphone choice and signal routing beforehand. For the drum session, we used the mics provided for the sessions. The nylon-string guitar was captured in a way that allowed its tone to sit underneath the acoustic steel-string, creating timbral contrast across the arrangement. And the piano was done on a grand as it added to the acoustic vibe that gelled with the rest of the instrumentation.
Mixing
The acoustic track presented significant dynamic range challenges, which shaped every aspect of the mix. The drums were gated and compressed to achieve a tight, focused sound. There was a pleasing blend between the snare top and bottom, and the interaction of kick in and kick out added depth. EQ was used carefully on the nylon guitar to ensure it complemented rather than competed with the
acoustic steel-string, particularly in the mid-range. The vocal needed both a high-end boost for clarity and considerable compression, given the wide dynamic range of the performance. Both the backing and main vocals had reverb on a bus send as they sounded quite dry. This helped to blend the backing vocals into the texture rather than present them as foregrounded elements. The master bus carried a compressor for cohesion, and all fade-ins and fade-outs across multitracked sections were edited to be seamless, as the overdubbed recording method required careful entry and exit points for each element.
Project Management
This was the first track we began recording, with the session musicians scheduled early in the semester. The relatively low number of layers meant the recording phase moved quickly, though guitar rerecording sessions added time. Planning for this track involved fewer scheduling constraints than the pop project as we did not have to arrange a time for the songwriter too as Finn is in our group.
Location Recording – ‘Chest Full of Gold’
Pre-Production
Arthur organised the venue, Howard Assembly Rooms, which had a stage area where we could record directly to a portable recording setup. To maximise our chances of capturing a usable take, we organised three bands to perform: FROGG, Lauren Emily, and Cab Driver. This gave us optionality based on recording quality rather than committing to a single act. A practice session was held on 20th April, three days before the recording date, in a band room.
Prior to the HAR day, we produced detailed room diagrams and mic placement plans so that setup on the day could be completed quickly and efficiently without having to make decisions under pressure. The patch list for the location recording is shown below.
Recording and Microphone Choices
Calrec CMC-5U cardioid capsules were deployed in an XY stereo configuration for the drum overheads, providing accurate stereo imaging with minimal phase issues, appropriate for a live environment where channel separation cannot be controlled the same as it would in a studio. The Schoeps Omni microphones facing the audience captured the room ambience. The Sennheiser MD-441 was selected for the lead vocal due to its high off-axis rejection, which is critical in a live setting to minimise bleed from adjacent sound sources. Bands were allocated individual soundcheck slots, with Brooke and I managing live sound for the evening while simultaneously monitoring the recording.
Mixing
For the final recording selection, we chose one of FROGG’s performances. Our original plan had been to use Cab Driver, but the lead vocalist moved away from the microphone frequently during the set, resulting in an inconsistent capture. FROGG’s take was the cleanest and most suitable for post-production. The mix approach was centred on managing the natural dynamics of a live performance. A master bus compressor was applied to glue the elements together and smooth the dynamic range. Noise gates and targeted EQ were applied across the drum channels to reduce bleed between mics without compromising the cohesive sound of the kit in the room. The lead vocal (Finn) required a de-esser, as sibilance occasionally overloaded the microphone; a bus reverb and an LA-2A compressor were also
applied for warmth and consistency. The kick was compressed and EQ’d to achieve a punchy transient; the snare received complementary treatment for snap and presence.
Project Management
The HAR day Arthur transported equipment while Brooke and I set up microphones. The schedule shown below was created in advance and remained our operational document for the evening, adapted dynamically as circumstances required. The recording day was a success and yielded usable material from all three acts.
Reflection
Across the portfolio, the most effective project management decisions were made early: beginning the pop track pre-production promptly allowed us time to accommodate the horns; scheduling session musicians early in the semester gave the acoustic track room for iteration; and preparing detailed documentation (patch lists, room plans, performance schedules) for the HAR day got rid off any potential complications on the night. Areas for development include earlier initiation of mix sessions relative to recording completion, and more rigorous use of a studio diary, a written record of decisions made in each session would have provided clearer evidence of iterative development.
Gantt Chart:
