In my production group, it consisted of me (Daniel) , JJ, Henry, Ben and Thiago. To begin with, we discussed as a group some ideas about the styles we wanted to record and what would be best suited for each of the different types of recordings required for submission. We threw around different ideas depending on our different connections within the Conservatoire and externally. 

We were recommended by our Lecturer to possibly look into the idea of recording a contemporary jazz band. This was a good suggestion that we considered and adopted into our work for many reasons. Typically, a jazz band always have a wide range of ideas and improvisations that they are practising and fine-tuning, so having the opportunity to record it and practice is always taken willingly for them. Because of the time limit we had to reach, we didn’t want to be constrained by a typical pop song and band that might be constrained by time to a specific structure and lyrical length that, once reached, forces a song’s end. Jazz can be improvised for practically as long as necessary in a live recording setting.

When it came to our initial meeting and sitting down to discuss different bands to record JJ recommended a conservatoire jazz band called G10 that he was familiar with and knew had songs they were easily wanting to record. We ended up choosing them because they were a Trio, so they are going to be easy to record, and after listening to rough recordings they had previously made, they sounded promising. The instruments they had were some of your classic jazz pieces, Piano, Bass and Drums. The following week we had our first meeting with the Band to discuss the recording and what our expectations were from them were. Topics covered included if they would provide their own microphones that they prefer to record with? Were they going to improvise completely until we had a satisfactory amount of music to choose from or did, they have a song in mind? JoJo, the Leader, played us a demo of a track they had been practising, and we immediately drew a liking to it and decided that would be the song.

We then started making plans for the following weeks on when we were going to start recording. I took on the role of making the studio bookings, making sure they were satisfactory for our intended purpose. Some of the preferred studios, such as the Large and Open Room 113 would not have suited our needs, as its very open and does have an echo to it, so you don’t feel as much of an intimate feeling from a recording in that environment as you get from our chosen Room 422 which is smaller but has everything needed such as an open Piano, Drum Kit and enough space for a bass player or vocalist if necessary. 

Around the 17^th of November, was our first Day of Recording. We grouped and started setting up everything that was needed for the session. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, the Vocalist and double bassist were unavailable for this recording session. However, the piano player knew a replacement that was able to be brought in to cover the bass section.  We collected microphones and brought them up to the Studio. Our Selection of microphones and connections used for the live session was as follows (Pictures of the setup are provided below) – 

On the Drums we used 

• DM1B for the Kick. (Initially, these were Audix D6; however, at some point in the recording, we changed them out as they weren’t capturing any of the lower bass of the drum)
• Shure SM7B for the snare top and Snare Bottom, as it’s easy to set up and works well at capturing the sound of the snare without making it sound too tin-like (if placed and gained correctly)
• MD421 for Toms. These are common microphones used for recording Toms
• XLS 414 for the two overhead microphones as they are brighter and can handle the sometimes sharpness of the cymbals, whilst still capturing the overall sound of the kit.

On the Piano we used – 

• 2x Neumann KM184 condenser microphones, as their sensitivity and frequency response make them effective at capturing the instrument’s beautiful sound. They were placed in a right angle so that we could pick up a range of sounds from both the low and high ends of the piano without too much overlap or fade between the recordings.

On the Bass we used – 

• Direct Input Box (DI Box). We tried recording the bass with microphones (414 and 57); however, the bass wasn’t creating the sound that either of us, the producers or the band, liked, so we changed to a DI Box, which I set up. The sound created was cleaner, richer and fuller in sound: A feeling that is heavily desired in the Jazz Music we were recording.

When we got to the room, we all split up and started setting up everything to get the session started. Henry and Ben went and started placing all the microphones on their respective stand and putting them into position. My role was more gravitated to setting up the Pro-Tools session and preparing to gain stage as the microphone and wiring side was being completed. This meant I could simultaneously start creating tracks that coincided with whichever port they were connecting to, and I could start checking connections and actively levelling channels, following the PFL Process. So, as each cable went in, we would subsequently test the mic connected and wouldn’t move on till it was at the minimum actively feeding back a signal. Each channel was labelled and coloured accordingly. This is one aspect that went really well in the recordings that persists to the completion of the project. Because each of us knew our respective roles in the group and hardly deviated from that, much of the hard labour tasks, such as routing connections, setting up microphones and gain staging, could be done relatively quickly, leaving more time and energy for actively recording. 

During the session, because of our previous quickness at setting up, we had enough time to record two songs live. One song had a vocalist attached to it called Milo, who was also studying Jazz at the conservatoire. We wanted to cover all our bases, so we managed to get him in and record a backup track in case anything happened.

Ultimately, the instrumental track was selected, as during a mixing session with our lecturer, we heard noticeable errors in the vocal track that had not been noticed or brought up and couldn’t be rectified. 

Compared to our Live Session, the Overdub was much more spontaneous and wasn’t planned as well, with as much detail as the former.

For Our Overdub recording, G10, our original group was not informed of the next session properly and thus weren’t able to be recorded. This had worried us as we weren’t sure if there would be enough time to find and brief another band before the end of term.

Despite this, Ben got together a group of musicians for the recording that he had built connections with during his time at the conservatoire, consisting of vocalist and songwriter Maisie, drummer Adam, and guitarist Mike. None of them had the chance to previously practised any of the music that they were planning on recording in this session. Over the course of the next 3 sessions, they had to actively learn the parts that they were asked to play.

The session focused on recording an original pop/electronic track that Maisie had written. She had created her own demos for this track in her own personal time, thus removing the initial worries that there would be no guide track available to follow and would have to start from scratch. The original track spanned approximately six minutes in length.

Firstly, we recorded Maisie’s vocals and Mike’s guitar as they followed the guide track provided.  The guitar had 2 mics on it, a SM57 and an Xaudia GRX. The SM57 was selected for its reliability and ease of use, while the GRX ribbon microphone was used for its warm low-end response (suggested by Henry). Maisie was hooked up to a Brauner Phantom C, known for its wide soundscape that could capture her wide vocal range from screams to whispers. My input within this recording faced for towards what id describe as “artist development”. Maisie had so many ideas of what she wanted the vocals to sound like, but some of the ideas weren’t meshing together as well as they could, and sometimes, she couldn’t see it, so I helped steer her. If she were recording a harmony and it wasn’t the same length as the original, I’d make her sing again until it was correct.

The second and third sessions went fast, and mostly had the following happen: Adam’s drums were our focus for recording. The drums were miked up like the live ones due to the results we achieved. In the third session were reruns of the guitar as the Vox amplifier was too loose-sounding for the roughness of the track.  A Fender Twin amp was used instead, as its fuller tone better suited the pop style of the song. The same microphone setup was retained for consistency. Ben recorded the bass parts using a DI, as another musician was unavailable.

In the final session, a guitar chord that had been causing contention from the first session was finally decided as being “non-harmonious” and did fit within the track. Ben overdubbed the part using the same amplifier and microphone setup to ensure tonal consistency. 

After this point, the mixes were left in a midway state of being incomplete, and Thiago had Mixed then to his standards in his own time.