MPR6C001R~001 Coursework & Project Context

Project Proposal

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Production Project Files (80%)

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Progress and Management Records (20%)

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Intro

I chose Romy Taylor to work with due to the large variation of instrumentation and style within the project which displays my skill as a producer while maintaining cohesion between tracks through mix style and performance of the core members. I have a role as the bassist in the band, aiding in writing and arranging.

Organisation / Management / Pre Prod

The pieces recorded for this project were composed in a band room environment for live performance to a click track. This allowed us to focus studio time on creating sounds and refining parts that serve the song rather than writing in the studio, maximising studio time through rehearsal and preparation.

A high level of pre planning was undergone before entering the studio, especially where extra musicians are involved to ensure we get the take we need from them, this included:

• Finalised scores printed and provided to performers before the session
• Arrival time / schedule
• Input lists
• Tempos for click tracks
• Demo’s / scratch reference tracks in the session folder

This was necessary as getting multiple people in the same room proved difficult with each quality players having their own projects and priorities, so minimising time with people and getting the capture correct in the first instance was important to the progress of this project.

Demos –

These demo’s were proof of concept that these pieces work in a recorded context. They were performed to a click, enabling them to be used as points of reference in the studio for section changes and how the parts interact while tracking.

Human Nature demo – Live at BeckView

Sea Song demo – Live at Beckview

Memory demo – Live at Beckview

Desire demo – Live at Beckview

Close to Kin arrangement demo (Reuben)

Close to Kin – Live at Beckview

Lay Down the Water demo – Band room zoom H5

Arrangement

Close to Kin full score:

Research –

Guitar mic shootout –

I chose 4 microphones which I liked and shot them out to find which suited the songs most strongly, resulting in two microphones which complemented each other and were used across this project alongside the same amp and pedalboard.

Vocal mic shootout –

We shot out vocal mics to find which suited Romy’s vocal by recording a section with large dynamics and register shifts then seeing how it fits within the context of the mix.

Input list –

Planned an input list for sessions to keep organised within sessions and keep assistant engineers on the same page.

Recording

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While the research was a good starting point, mic choice and positioning was liable to change based on judgement in the room with that specific instrument and performer.

Towards the end of the project the band underwent a change of drummers which was a potential challenge in the style varying too differently between tracks. We opted to keep the initial recordings, with the new drummer Oz only featuring on the last track recorded, “Lay Down the Water”. This proved not to be an issue as the vocalist has a strong idea of the direction of the instrumentation so resulted in a very similar sound.

Committing to the sound was important to me to reduce time spent making creative decisions in the mix stage, this consisted of:

• No guitar Di taken
• Tracking with time based FX (Delay, Chorus, Tremolo)
• Tracking with M7 reverb
• Tracking with outboard compression / EQ
• Printing MIDI strings / brass

Various techniques were used to record instrumentation:

• Acoustic guitar being equipped with flat top strings to reduce unwanted squeak from position shifts
• All vocals being recorded at once for “Por El Viento” to add live event to the performance and tune to one another
• Use of double tracking on the electric guitar notably in “Human Nature” with a mono verse and doubled chorus. Adding width and allowing mono elements to have space in the centre.
• Layering of vocals / harmonies

Pre mix / editing

While editing, it was important to gauge when to leave slight errors within the performance, in more intimate songs such as “Por El Viento”, there is space for the time to be more pliable to reflect the emotion of the song, maintaining the humanity in the performance relying on emotion rather than technical perfection.

Creative effects were used to enhance the recordings and add a level of ear candy commonplace in modern productions:

Shimmer Throw – Human Nature

Gated Sample Verb – Human Nature

Mixing

High quality capture allowed the song to be mixed largely as performed, most of the tracks have a wide dynamic range which was managed through automation before compression, resulting in a natural sound; especially on the vocals, which had the widest dynamic range. (Garfield, 2024)

I used the mix to enhance the narrative of the pieces, in “Close to Kin”, the vocal enters timidly and becoming more forward as the song progresses to the emotional high point, reflecting the build in confidence the song portrays.

The acoustic guitar in “Lay Down the Water” was split to have a thin filtered version in busy sections, this allowed other instrumentation to occupy the low frequency range while cutting in the high end. In sections where the acoustic guitar is the focus of the section the low end is re introduced to sound natural and full.

Mastering

I have also created masters using the EBU R128 standard of loudness for separate radio masters which require a much quieter signal at integrated -23 LUFS (EBU, 2014).

Evaluation

Overall this project is the culmination of my university progression, developed to a high level with strong commercial viability. While the project is eclectic, consistency of core performers as well as my production style maintains cohesion between tracks. The performances were captured to a high level with midi instruments being used to reinforce signals, namely strings and brass on “Close To Kin” as well as a sampled gated reverb triggered from the loudest hits on “Human Nature”.

This project involved a lot of people; coordinating them was the primary challenge of this project. This was overcome through doing as much as I could with an individual in one session and maximising time with them.

This project is soon to be put on streaming services, radio and performed live to further this project commercially. We have consistently upscaled the scale of our live show performing in higher capacity venues and the release of more music will maintain attention through periods of time with less frequent gigs and potential attendees to get a feel for the music which can encourage attendance at events.

Supporting videos

Reflections

Credits list

Contingency

A number of contingency plans were put in place such as:

• Regularly backing up the project to external drives
• Generous timeline which allows extra time to record
• Alternative dates for recording
• Extra songs ready to record in case newer compositions are not finalised in time
• Different artists ready to record

Stageminus:

Stageminus reached out to me asking to record 3 tracks which I did independently of this assignment. Working with Romy allowed me to capture a wider breadth of instrumentation and have a higher degree of creative control over the project.

Grace Price:

This artist has a strong sound and artistic vision however didn’t have a lot of written material available to capture as well as minimal instrumentation that wouldn’t represent my skill as a producer.

Project Gantt chart –

References –

EBU (2014). LOUDNESS NORMALISATION AND PERMITTED MAXIMUM LEVEL OF AUDIO SIGNALS Status: EBU Recommendation. [online] Available at: https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128.pdf [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].

Garfield, L. (2024). Producer Thoughts: The Power of Automation for Dynamic Mixes. [online] Banana Llama Studios. Available at: https://www.bananallamastudios.com/producer-thoughts-the-power-of-automation-for-dynamic-mixes/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].

Robjohns, H. (2006). Recording A String Section. [online] www.soundonsound.com. Available at: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/recording-string-section [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].

Ross, B. (2022). Miking Brass And Winds. [online] Recording Magazine. Available at: https://www.recordingmag.com/resources/recording-info/mics-miking/miking-brass-and-winds/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].

Sengpielaudio (n.d.). Visualization of all stereo microphone systems arrays with two microphones ierung aller Stereo-Mikrofonsysteme with equivalence stereo – Stereo recording angle SRA Audio two microphones time difference level difference orchestra angle Visualisator Calculations – sengpielaudio Sengpiel Berlin. [online] sengpielaudio.com. Available at: https://sengpielaudio.com/HejiaE.htm [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].

Spotify (2024). Loudness Normalization. [online] Spotify. Available at: https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/loudness-normalization/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].

Tozer-Loft, R. (2023). Arranger – Reuben Tozer-Loft. [online] Reubenmusic.com. Available at: https://reubenmusic.com/arranger/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2026].