INTRODUCTION

My production group consisted of me, Lorna, Oli, Hannah, and Mars and our production portfolio consisted of three tracks; two of which being an emulation and live stereo recording of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, and an individual remix using the lead vocals we recorded as a production group. Although it was particularly challenging to replicate due to the track’s metric modulation, we wanted to accommodate to our vocalist’s skillset as best as we could, and so we let her decide the track she would perform provided it fell into one of the genres in our brief (1970s soul).

My role within the group was very flexible. Essentially, I helped with several stages of the production process, filling in whenever more hands were necessary in different parts of the assignment. This includes but is not limited to mic setup, booking studios on Space, mixing and mastering, contacting potential instrumentalists and patching. As my role was quite flexible, I felt I adapted a ‘jack-of-all-trades, master of none’ mindset within this project.

TRACK 1 – GENRE EMULATION

As touched on in the introduction, the main reason we all decided on emulating “Killing Me Softly With His Song” was that it was what our vocalist wanted to sing. While true that we all enjoyed the vibe and raw feel of 1970s soul tracks, this one in particular was especially difficult due to the track’s lack of a set tempo. This mixed with it’s moderate amount of instrumentation (in comparison to other songs that we could have picked) meant that we were in for a challenge, however we were prepared to face it since it meant we would get an overall better result from our vocalist.

However, we ended up having to switch our vocalist anyway halfway through our assignment. This was due to us finding a vocalist that better reflected the song’s stylistic demands, which made for a frustrating adjustment (albiet one that we managed to overcome as a group).

To recreate the song as close to the original as possible, we used a mix of overdubbing and recorded live performances. We felt that in doing this, we could have the best of both worlds when it came to the quality of our emulation (that can be achieved in short, overdubbed comps) and the feel and vibe that a band bring (when playing alongside one another in a live performance.)

We decided to use Logic Pro X as our primary DAW, as although it is not everybody’s main DAW of choice, it is one we all have experience in using. This allowed for maximum efficiency between us when it came to sending each other mixes of tracks in the later stages of this project, as nothing had to be converted from one DAW to another.

MIC LIST/SUMMARY

Drums:

We decided on using a less complicated drum mic setup to emulate the sound of recordings in the 70’s.

Percussion:

Bass:

We chose a combination of these two mics because we loved the combination of the depth that the Solomon LoFREQ sub mic brung in cohesion with the vintage tone associated with the Sontronics Delta 2.

Acoustic Guitar:

Neumann KM184

Vocals:

Warm Audio WA-251

To emulate Roberta Flack’s intimate vocals, we used a WA-251.

A large part of my role consisted of positioning these microphones correctly so that no phasing issues would happen. We did this by having one person adjust the microphones whilst the instruments are being played (during the set-up phase), whilst another person sits in the control room and listens back for any sound cancellation.

MUSICIANS

Our instrumentalists and vocalists consisted of both students from the conservatoire and friends of Lorna, one of the people within our group (and the pianist we recorded). Our first take of the song was an overdub, which consisted of these members:

• Drummer (Oscar)
• Bassist (Sam)
• Pianist (Lorna)
• Guitarist (Oliver)
• Vocalist (Beth)
• Percussionist (Oliver)

However our final take, which was a live recording, consisted of these members instead:

• Drummer (Noah)
• Bassist (Sam)
• Pianist (Lorna)
• Guitarist (Oliver)
• Vocalist (Katie)
• Percussionist (Oliver)

CHALLENGES

The most significant challenge for me was the change in vocalists. Though I am grateful that we had people that wanted to take time out of their day to help with the project, it was quite frustrating for us to learn that we effectively had chosen quite a hard song to replicate withoujt reason, as Beth was the reason we had chosen it.

However, I believe we also had a part to play in this mishap, as in retrospect, I believe the correct thing for us to have done at the stage we were when we decided a vocalist change was necessary was to also change the song we were working on.

Below are pieces of visual evidence I have compiled for TRACK 1, including screenshots of the session, as well as pictures taken during the recording sessions in the studio:

TRACK 2 – LIVE STEREO RECORDING

For the second track in our portfolio, we captured a full live performance, using different mic-ing techniques to create a nice-sounding stereo recording. We paid close attention to the placement of the microphones, for example having our guitar mic (KM184) a moderate distance away from the guitar to avoid any additional “twang-y” noises that we felt would take away from the recording. We also made sure to use tools like baffles, which helped us with blocking unnecessary sound in directions that we didn’t want. This helped a lot with spillage, making sure mics didn’t pick up any sound from any other instruments.

Similar to track 1, I assisted in correctly positioning mics during this stage to avoid any phase cancellation.

Below are pieces of visual evidence I have compiled for TRACK 2, including screenshots of the session, as well as pictures taken during the recording sessions in the studio:

TRACK 3 – REMIX

For the final track in the portfolio, I did an individual remix of the track using the lead vocal and found sounds for the drum kit. I found this to be an engaging challenge, as I have never used found sounds before prior to this project. I got one of my friends who I was recording with to tap random objects around the room we were in (108b) and record them, seeing what I could turn them into as I went.

In the end, I used the knocking of a window for a perc, the clicking of my mouse for hats, and the slamming of a desk for a kick.

I decided I wanted to take the track in a completely different direction and turn it ambient-sounding, and I was very happy with the track itself.

I do think the drums are a bit weak, however. Though I believe I mixed them well by using plugins like shaperbox to give them a lot more effects and even a vocal-like sounding effect towards the end of an 8-bar phrase (that still fit within the compounds of only using my lead vocal) I felt like the sounds I recorded in general simply weren’t high-quality enough, which lead me to struggle quite a lot when ‘working with what I had got’.

Below are pieces of visual evidence I have compiled for TRACK 3, including screenshots of the session, as well as ways I mixed the drums, bass and vocals to make them fit in with the rest of the track.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I would definitely say that this portfolio strengthened my collaborative skills and ability to work in a team. When it comes to solo projects, I am also now more interested in using found sounds, as although I am not too pleased with how they turned out this time, I do see a lot of potential in their usage if done right/when mixed with actual drum sounds for variation.