Project Management and Planning
- The task of finding a song/idea for each track was spread between the group members.
- Both Max and I brought songs for the acoustic overdub track, though we eventually chose Max’s as it’s sonic inspirations were clearer.
- Me and Juliana knew a Pop/R&B artist on the songwriting course, Bella, who had an appropriate demo track.
- Juliana is also in LCU Big Band, which we chose for our location recording.
Commercial Pop Track
Pre-Production
Bella, the chosen artist, sent me 2 demos and accompanying gig videos of two potential tracks which we listened to as a group. The one we decided on was a piano-led 6/8 ballad that we thought had the best structural base and room for thick vocal arrangements in the style of Raye or Olivia Dean, two of the biggest acts in the UK charts. (officialcharts, 2026)
There were two clear directions to take the track:
- 2000’s Ballad, adding strings or horns, more live feel i.e. Adele, Amy Winehouse (the eventual choice)
- Contemporary Pop Soul, crunchy/sampled drums, more “production-based” i.e. Olivia Dean
Recording Sessions
Drums and Bass 11/03/26 – Successfully found a decent deep snare tone for the 6/8 R&B sound, the part itself is confined to an effective Kick, snare, hihat beat.
Piano Session 19/04/26 – Pair of KM184s. I directed the playing dynamics so each chorus had more energy, and added a non-tempo semi-improvised intro.
Guitar – I recorded a chorus and verse part using my Epiphone ES339 (chosen to reflect the blues influence of the song) playing in time with the snare in a 70s soft rock style.
Percussion – With all other instruments recorded, the chorus still needed a significant lift in energy from the verse, so we added tambourine and shaker using a secondary room mic to capture the natural space, further padding out the texture of the chorus.
Vocals – Warm Audio U87 into a Neve Preamp – twice as long was spent on backing vocals as the main vocal, as they were a consistent part of our reference tracks and helped bring the later choruses to life.
The two bounces below show the difference made by the percussion and BVs.
The vocals in the verse intro were inspired by “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees
Logic’s stock pitch correction was used to perfect the backing vocals, as the harmonic information is so rich and vital that they had to be incredibly well intonated.
Mixing
References:
Lead Vocal Chain
Master Bounce
Acoustic Track
Pre-Production
Max’s demo was thoroughly developed, with drums, electric bass, acoustic and 12 string guitars, and a vocal.
It heavily evokes Neil Young and George Harrison as a Folk inspired Acoustic Rock track.
We decided to record 1 intrument per week (minimum) in hour 2 hour slot as it ensured consistent progress and feedback from our seminar leader. We chose an instrument or two and made a tracksheet the day before each session, and recorded into the demo logic session replacing each part as we went along (keeping backup projects each time for safety).
The only session which I will exclude from this log is the 6 string and 12 string session on 02/02/2026, as it was later re-done due to significant timing issues.
Recording Sessions
Double Bass & Drums Session 16/02/26 – With Session Players (figures 2-4)
Max and I both wanted bowed Double Bass as the main low-end of the track, using an AKG C414 for its incredibly detailed high end (where string/bowing clarity sits) and its scooped low-mids where it could interfere with the vocal.
The drum mic setup was sparse, using the same setup Max had for his demo where authenticity took priority over seperation.
The mic setup for Neil Young’s “Harvest” was similarly minimal with only 4 mics in total (thrasher, 2021).
I directed and made structure sheets for both musicians.
| Position | Mic |
| Kick In | Audix D6 |
| Kick Out | Sontronics DM1-B |
| Snare Top | SM57 |
| Overhead Mono | WA-251 |
| Room Mono | Sontronics Delta-II |
PROS
- Fewer phase issues
- More accurately imitates the production methods of the style
- The kit itself was significantly downsized, so there was less to capture in the first place
- More time allocated to the arrangement and performance
CONS
- Hihat couldn’t be panned in the mixing stage
- The room image was poor
Reed organ and Resonator guitar Session 09/02/26
Organ: Sontronics Delta-II spaced pair to capture width of the 2 reed systems (fig. 6). The instrument is a derivation of an accordian, and we used it to fill out the texture in the chorus while maintaining a folk-inspired instrumentation.
Guitar: One close mic (see figure x.), the other facing open piano with sustain pedal depressed (fig. 5). Hans Zimmer used the same technique to create harmonically rich ambience with 9 brass players for the main motif in “Inception” (Vanity Fair, 2022). The slide/resonator combination is a staple of American Folk/Country that creates a back and forth between the vocal.
I arranged and performed both of these parts on the day, later editing the resonator to fill in whenever the vocal wasnt there.
Acoustic, 12-String and Vocals Session 10/03/26
I was not present for this session but instead recorded drums and bass for the ‘Commercial Pop’ track.
Both guitars used the same stereo & centre mic setup: KM184 pair, AKG C414 (fig. 1)
Sontronics Orpheus was chosen to compliment the dynamic vocal performance, and the mostly flat frequency response created an honest depiction of Max’s voice.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Mix
| Instrument | Balance/Dynamics | Pan | Tone | Effects |
| Drums | Kick in, out, snare all gated for seperation and punch. Kick out and snare have transient shaper with 50% attack boost to cut through guitars and bass | HF stereo spread used to widen mono overhead | Snare has -4.5dB at 500 to take away woofiness | Small plate reverb |
| Double Bass | 1176 emulation, high input level for smooth and even compression over the whole note envelope | Central | +4dB shelf 40Hz, occupying all sub space to glue every part together | Room bus send |
| Vocal | LA-2A for dynamic smoothing, then 1176 for saturation and drive as delivery gets louder in the bridge | Central | Retains low-mid for power and slight 1.2k boost to cut through in more dense sections | RE-201 emulation set to slapback and medium spring reverb |
| Acoustic | Slightly lower than vocal, so that stereo image isn’t too uneven in verse 1 | Medium-right pan for seperation from vocal | -3.5dB 400-700Hz to make room for vocal Upper mid boost (2k) | Played with reverb send level, eventually left quite low (-18dB) |
| 12 String | Very low in the mix, the leslie effect gives it a more textural role than rhythmic. | Central pan, second track comes in hard left in the bridge to replace the organ | No EQ | Leslie emulation (an essential part of the demo) |
| Resonator | Mixed to match the vocal presence/level | Central | +1.5dB 1kHz to match vocal | RE201 Insert with low feedback but high repeat level for stylisitc tone. |
| Reed Organ | Needs no compression (no dynamic range) | Panned medium-left to balance lead acoustic at entry in verse 2, highighting the structural progression | +4.5dB 300Hz, wide Q to add body and fill out the image in the left side. | -10dB send to 1.0s room emulation bus |
Reference Tracks/Mixes:
The above comparison should highlight the roles that each instrument ended up serving in the mix, and the amount of parts that we decided to faithfully recreate from the demo because they were so effective.
Master Bounce
Location Recording
Organisation
We chose the Conservatoire SU Big band for our recording, making bookings for amps, drum kit, the room, and the entire equipment list a week in advance. It was recorded to 2 8-track Focusrite interfaces synced to total 16 tracks. We tested the Allen and Heath digital desk in a seminar but decided against it because there was greater likelihood of technical issues, and in theory the pre-amps in the focusrites would be better quality.
The conductor mic was our main mix reference, as the conductor is making a live mix for themselves by directing dynamics, so we captured this with the highest-quality vintage-style mic we had. The spot mics allowed us more control over automation for solos.
Having recorded a large orchestra in the venue before, I thought to change the room mics (placed high up in the flys) to Sontronics Delta II’s to combat the harsh high end of the cymbals that reach the far ends of the room. Due to an XLR shortage, we ended up placing the room mics much closer, which unfortunately led to these signals being much darker than intended. This would have to be corrected using high shelves in the mix process.
We recorded 2 takes with a clear best to begin mixing.
Mix
Processing was kept to a minimum, HPFs on horn mics to cut out bass guitar bleed (this was an issue due to the amp position).
I employed topdown mixing (adding saturation, compression and broadstroke EQ to MIXBUS) to reflect the 50s-60s era of analogue desk/tape mixing where the genre comes from.
Mastering Chain
Gallery
Master Bounce
Timeline
Bibliography
www.officialcharts.com. (n.d.). Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company. [online] Available at: https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/. [Accessed 29 Apr. 2026]
Spotify.com. (2026). Spotify. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/2JoZzpdeP2G6Csfdq5aLXP?si=381a8d37574b4b3c [Accessed 30 Apr. 2026].
Spotify.com. (2026). Spotify. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/7795WJLVKJoAyVoOtCWqXN?si=22ef16fafb7e4336 [Accessed 30 Apr. 2026].
Spotify.com. (2026). Spotify. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/4OSBTYWVwsQhGLF9NHvIbR?si=528e447809314041 [Accessed 30 Apr. 2026].
thrasher (2021). Neil Young News: Inspiration: The Session Sound of Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’ Album. [online] Thrasherswheat.org. Available at: https://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2013/10/inspiration-neil-youngs-harvest-album.html [Accessed 9 Apr. 2026].
Vanity Fair (2022). How ‘Dune’ Composer Hans Zimmer Created the Oscar-Winning Score | Vanity Fair. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93A1ryc-WW0.
Spotify.com. (2026). Spotify. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/39qhEfWsxkbhuRqs1cEfoX?si=db86b2bb844747a0 [Accessed 30 Apr. 2026].
Spotify.com. (2026). Spotify. [online] Available at: https://open.spotify.com/track/0o1TOuRqbAP2RspbKZmq7P?si=1778db33d2734c4a [Accessed 30 Apr. 2026].
