By Zayn Yousaf (24101655)
Task 1 – WAV MIXES
Task 2 – Production Log
Live Jazz Recording
Pre-Production
For the live studio recording aspect of this assignment we decided to record a 5 piece jazz band, sourced by Nate. The band consisted of vocals, drums, upright bass, piano and a soprano saxophone. Due to the nature of this assignment we decided to use studio 113 as this is the largest space and we felt it would best suit for this type of recording. The band had decided to record an original song which they had their own written out sheet music for in the form of chord charts.
We decided to use quite a comprehensive microphone setup for a detailed recording and to make our lives easier when it comes to mixing on only outboard gear. We tried our best to capture a clean sound with detail for every instrument while minimising bleed. The mic list, along with some photos of the setup is shown below.
| 1 – beta 91 kick |
| 2 – c414 kick |
| 3 – sm57 snare |
| 4 – calres snare under |
| 5 – c414 rack tom |
| 6 – c414 floor tom |
| 7 – beeb oh left |
| 8 – beeb oh right |
| 9 – piano omni left |
| 10 – piano omni right |
| 11 – piano c414 mono |
| 12 – bass pencil |
| 13 – bass K2 |
| 14 – Bass DI |
| 15 – vocals u87 |
| 16 – Sax u87 |
Recording
We used a 4 hour recording session, which included both setting up and packing away. We decided to put the saxophone in the vocal booth to minimise bleed from the sax on the vocal mics, and vice versa. The grand piano was mic’ed and then the piano cover was placed over the mics as we had an open lid and needed to minimise the spill from the drums. Bass had multiple mics and a DI so we were sure to at least be getting a clean sound. All of us helped to setup the drum mics and adjust them to get the correct placement. I setup the vocal mics and shielding around the vocalist, along with microphone in the vocal booth for the saxophonist. For this session, we completed about 8 takes of music and chose the take that had the best solos from each instrumentalist. The first couple of takes allowed us to adjust our setup to minimise bleed.
Mixing
We mixed this song in 2 mixing sessions, both of which were done in studio 113. Each of us took turns mixing stems or instruments using the outboard gear in the studio. We used sub groups to consolidate and balance multiple mics of the same instruments and compressed them before printing them back into logic. This method worked nicely for most of our stems. Using studio 113 we found that there is limited outboard is we found ourselves printing what we have done into logic so we could use some of the same outboard for other stems. We also had to ride the faders when printing the completed mix back into logic to keep everything levelled and balanced.
Guitar based production
Pre-Production
For this production, we decided to create a song in the style of shoe gaze as this genre of music has a lot of guitar centred songs with bass, drums and vocals, allowing us to meet the brief. Callum started off by playing some chords on guitar. These chords became the base of our song and allowed us to build onto it. Callum then overdubbed some different guitar parts for more variety and to help structure the song. We recorded drums and bass in a separate session but later decided to use a Moog synthesiser bass which was overdubbed at a later date. We also overdubbed some separate synth parts in that same session. Vocals were the final things that were recorded, and were overdubbed at a later date.
Recording
When we recorded guitar, we had a clean sound originally and used this to build upon. We then decided that some heavy guitars needed recording so we got some effects pedals and used those to influence the tone of the guitar. we then decided to remap some guitar parts for a separate sound to use. When recording our drum session we did a simple, yet effective setup which allowed us to capture a clean sound. We could have taken more precautions to minimise spill between the different drum mics as the hi-hat and snare are loud and can be heard on a lot of the stems. We tracked a bass guitar at the same time, but we had the bassist sat in the control booth, DI’d into the mixing desk as it was just a scratch take so we could have an idea to work on, which lead to us using a synth bass. Vocals were recorded, and then were re-amped for effects, such as reverb and distortion as it is very fitting for this genre of music. The overdubbing aspect allowed us to improve takes and have more control with how everything was recorded as more time was spent with each individual as opposed to constantly dealing with the whole band at once in a finite space. We decided to use a side snare mic as we felt that this sound capture was better for the genre of song that we chose.
Post-Production
When approaching the mix of this song, I started with the drums and built up from there. The drums are very prominent in this song and this genre of music, so I felt it would be right for me to have a large drum sound with a snare that cuts through the mix. Once, I was happy with the drum sound I mixed the bass, guitars synths and did vocals last, as we already had a comped vocal take from the vocal recording session. when mixing this song, I felt that the kick needed to punch through the mix more, so I side chained the bass to the kick to allow the kick to come through more.
How deep is your love Remix
Intro
The first thing I did was find out the originally tempo of the vocals that I had been given, along with the key. I then changed both the key and tempo of the song to suit the genre that I was wanting to remix into. I decided to remix into the vocals into a RnB song. I planned to record myself playing keys for the basis of the mix, and had one of my friends play bass on the song for me. I also worked out that the song needed to be roughly 3 minutes in the length to meet the time limit for the portfolio.
Arrangement and Parts
For this remix I played chords on keys against the vocal stem which I had shifted up a semitone. These chords became the backbone of the song. I then decided to chop up the vocals and place them where I wanted throughout the song, so I could have an idea on how to structure the song. I then added a guitar melody, layering the same chords as the keys but also adding some embellishments for the listener. I used a one shot samples and one percussion loop from splice to create my drum groove. Then bass guitar was the final recorded part. I feel as if bass ties the whole song together and helped a lot with arranging an intro and an outro to the song. I later decided to layer the keys that I recorded with a Rhodes sound called sweet case as another layer blended well and helped to fill out the mix.
Mixing
When mixing this song, I started with the drums and percussion parts, as I wanted them to be very preset in the mix and building on them is a nice way to achieve a good balance. I added a very short reverb to the drum group to just exaggerate the snare sound a little for the listener. I then mixed bass, using parallel compression to make sure it stands out in the mix. I mixed there vocals last, so I could try blend them to the song so they wouldn’t sound as if they have just been remixed. I used a large reverb and a short delay send as it sounded good and worked well with genre and instrumental.
