Recording Session

Introduction

Within our recoridng session, our mission was to complete a full recorded original song. Over the course of the term me and my band have been creating four different originals that we could put on our own catalogue of original tracks.

For the recording journey we chose our first original 'Alive', because we are confident with the structure of the song and the overall sound. Recording the track has been a challenge, as weve completed it with limited help in order for us to use the skills we have been taught. Me and the band have worked really hard, to get this song the way we want it to sound, as well as adding different textures during the chorus's to add the the surf rock genre.

Session One

Overview

The overview of our first session included following our recoridng session plan that we completed beforehand. The main aims to complete for the first session would be to focus mainly on the drums, and setting up Logic Pro and the microphones needed. It was vital that we got the drums down before anything else and we did end up not finishing the drums in the 1 hour and 15 minute session. The session included packing down and setting up the microphones, as well for logic which we all needed to familairse ourselves again. This first session went really well as we were all keen to getting this song down and recorded. Our first song Alive, we have played many times as well as rehearsed.

For the setting up of the drums, we needed 7 mic inputs to be put into the stands correctly. We all had roughly about 10 minutes to do all the setting up, as we wanted to swiftly move onto the actual recording, but issues of course happened, which was all part of the learning process. The pcitures show us all seeting up the microphones around the drum set. The mics used for the drums include one large diaphragm condenser mic in the bass drum. This was put into the first input of the logic pro loom. The large diaphragm condenser was used for the kick drum because it could pick up the sound from three different directions of the kick. Then, we put the stands up ready to fit the microphones onto; this included a mic for the snare drum and then also the two overheads. The two stands for the overheads needed to be as tall as we could get them with it being safe as they want to be as high above the kit as possible to collect the best sound. Next we actually fitted the three microphones onto the three stands. We used a SM57 for the snare drum and directed towards the centre of the snare where most hits will be and this was plugged into input two. Then we fitted the two overhead mics, these were specifically AKG C1000's which are Cardioid Condenser Microphone so they pickup lots of different frequencies and capture good sound.

Setting up the toms was next and the mics used were Sennheiser E604's which could clip onto the high tom, mid tom and floor toms. These were angled to the centre of each drum head to gather the most sound. After these were plugged into all the inputs necessary were set up it was now time to rely on sorting out th logic project setup.

The following photos show the set up for the drums before recording.

The next process is to record the drums onto logic pro; we had to move quickly with getting the computer set up. While most of us were dealing with the drum mics, one of us was loading up the computer and the control boards, I am not largely confident with the setting up of mics especially placing them around the drums, so I was happy to help in the recoridng suite with logic. I have shown the process of recording these sessions through the many images taht the band have taken in order to show evidnece and a clear structure of what we have excatly done.

In one of the pictures, featuring all the inputs we have needed. We start to to plug in the different inputs and outputs and connecting the different control hubs together, this was important to get correct because in the other room where all the mics are plugged in, they are plugged into the loom in different inputs. This needed to be the exact same in the other room because if the inputs in the recording room are different to iin the suite, then no sound will be coming through logic, we need this specific and easily identifiable of what tracks are for what microphone.

Next was Logic project, and making sure we had 8 tracks ready for all the different sounds from all the different mics, this meant labelling them clearly for everything. We have input 1 was Kick drum, input 2- snare, input 3- High Tom, input 4- mid tom, 5- low tom and then 6 and 7 were for the two overheads . These were sorted itno the correct inputs so we could get the sounds. In the picture showing the logic project, it is on the overhead mic which is actually really useful to talk about because it shows a orange sign which is phantom power, these mics needed phantom power to collect any sound and soon later we needed to increase the gain. Overall the setting up of Logic and the control centre was very successful, we all enjoyed listening to the recording play out. We didn't come up to any issues and wanted to move onto the actual recording as soon as possible.

So next we needed to start the recording progress of the first session, quickly we needed to get done a sound test as to make this a professional sounding recording and that we could all hear each other from each room. Me and the others were in the logic room while Josh got on the drums, in order for us to get Josh to hear us, Josh plugged in the headphone jack into the loom and then me and the others also plugged it into the control centre so we could finally talk to Josh through the headphones. This was a first issue for us as this took longer then expcted, Josh could still not hear us so we asked for extra help to see what the problem was and it was in fact us not putting the inputs in properly. After getting some help, we could finally start going through the sound check. We asked Josh to play through all the different areas of the kit as instructed so that we could see the sound coming through the computer and we could change the gains and the frequencies which each mic was creating.

When it was time for the actual recording, we were all ready to go. There was a slight issue that occurred when Josh was playing which he made clear note of. As the drums was the first recording Josh did not have any other instrument helping him with the structure of the song, as most of us use Izzys vocals as cues. Josh eventaully found his own way of getting the structure down, by typing it out on his phone and following it. He guessed roughly when to move off each section, which wasnt perfect but close, me and the gutarists will adapt to whatver structure Josh has made. By the end of the session we had the drums down on record and then it was time to move onto the next layer of the song. We packed all the microphones up and saved our work on that day in order for us to come back to it the next day.

Overall the session went pretty well, even though we had some minor issues. We were all able to mic up the whole drum kit and plugging in the inputs so that the drums can be heard on the setup. As well as setting up logic pro, we were all confident with that side of the recording as we have doen it before.

Session Two

For our second session, this was on the same day as the first recording but we have had a break in between. The objectives mainly for this session was to get more instruments down, but there were some issues that came across but that will be explained in my rundown of the session. But ultimately we wanted to get the bass down after the drums so then we would have our key rhythm section done before moving onto guitars and vocals.

Within the session, I was not present so the band moved on to recording the rhythm guitars instead, so that time was used right and we wanted as much done quickly. If we had time, then they would record Fin's lead guitar as well. Kyran and Fin went into the recording space and began to set up the microphones for the guitars, and setting up the amps. Then we got one of the small stands that would bend down facing towards the amp this was an important part because we wanted as much good quality sound coming through. The closer the mic was to the amp the more accuracy would of been captured. A part of recording our music is as much about having fun and using great equipment but it is also important to focus on the safety around us. We must move anything out of the recording space that we do not need such as bags and leads that someone could trip over. It is shown In the picture that Fin is moving wires around to save space to set up the mic and stand. The leads from the recording of the drums were all over the place and we needed everything precise and tidy so we wouldn't get confused with wires.

The mic that we chose for the guitar recording was a shure SM57 because this was a condenser microphone and picks up the sound directly without taking other sounds of the room atmosphere as well. After we had the mic and the stand in position, we could plug the XLR cable into the loom and see if we get a signal through into the Logic project.

We plugged it into input two and took out the microphone input for the snare just for the recording of the guitar. Whilst Fin and Kyran were setting up in the recording space, Josh and Izzy set up whatever needed to be done in the other room. Not much had to be done with the computer because they were all carrying on from the last session. Before recording on the Logic Project, we had to make sure that a rhythm guitar channel was ready to record the next part.

This image demonstrates the microphone we used for recording the guitars and the position we put the stand in.

Furthermore, we needed to soundcheck the rhythm guitar. The goal was to make sure it had a good gain, so the wavelength was decent but not hitting any edges. Kyran was asked to do a sound check and make sure he was in tune before we went on to the actual recording. To reach the desired sound the setting of the guitar could be edited through the amp as we were mic'd up to this and not just a straight plugin of guitar into the logic project.

For the guitar settings, Kyran took charge of getting the sound he wanted and how he felt it would best to achieve a surf rocky genre. The the photo on the left shows Kyran in the recording place with his heaphones on ready to record. To record this track now we needed to have good communication so we plugged in the headphone port into the loom which Kyran could wear and then we made sure he could hear us through the headphones and at a volume level that wasn't too loud for him.

We also made sure the drum track was playing through the headphones so that he could play to Josh's drum beat at a reasonable volume level. A problem started to occur while Kyran was playing the rhythm guitar and Izzy was present in the session and was singing over the drum track as well as the guitar and found that the verses were cut too short and they didn't fit the lyrics in the track, so a big part of the song would be shortened. This was a dilemma. Originally we could have gone through the rest of the instruments and then cut out the lyrics that did not fit into the new structure song or we could have re-recorded drums. We chose to re-record the drums because it was about the quality of the song and Izzy had worked hard on the lyrics and the original structure. Recording the drums diverted our original plan, but ultimately we were doing everything in good time, so we were able to be done with the drums after this session. This was now the focus for this session to sort it out and then move on to starting the recording of rhythm guitar which is what we should have had a whole session doing, and hopefully fit Fin's guitar in as well or the bass.

The next process was undergoing recording the drums again and this time we were all much more confident with the set up and quicker. The process was that we deleted the original drum track that was a mistake and then Josh got back on the drums after we followed the same set up process for the drums as we did for the first session. We of course did a sound check to see if th drums were coming through the mics and then it was important that Josh knew the structure, as it was difficult becuase he bases his rhythm off the lyrics. Overall the end of the session we had the drums fully down and we checked which each other that the lyrics would fit and they did which was great and we could move onto the next process and onto another instrument. We had a little of time left to fit in the rhythm guitar which would be great to get two instruments down. The process of the rhythm guitar, we used the snare mic and placed it on a stand and positioned it facing the amp in order to recieve the most sound from the amp and reducing any other sounds.

Section Three

For this session, our goals were to carry on recording our instruments and getting our way through the song successfully. Previously we had an issue where we had to re-record the drums, but quickly resolved this problem and were able to have a whole lesson to do the bass guitar and if we have time to re-record Kyran's guitar.

The overall rundown of the session started with recording my bass, which would mean we would have the main rhythmic section down. So we deleted Kyran's guitar track so we would only have the drums so far recorded. I was not present in the second session so it would be ideal to do that in this session. For recording bass, we used a DI box which directly puts the bass through to the logic where we can select a pre-amp for the sound there instead. A D.I. box is best to use for recording bass, they are the best to consider because they protect your signal from noisy outside interference like that nasty hum you otherwise can’t seem to get rid of. I was preparing myself in the recording room and tuning my bass so it was in tune and ready to go. I also ran over the song quickly during a sound check so that my bass was coming through to logic. We then used an XLR cable for the output which sends the sound across to the loom and then into the room with the logic project. We turned on the DI box and we were ready to start the recording, by giving me headphones and plugging them in so that I could hear what everyone was saying and most importantly I could hear Josh's drum beat. The DI box for a bass needed phantom power because it is such a low-frequency instrument. An issue that occurred while I was playing, was in the intro of the song. Because Josh was the first to record and he didn't have a way to hear what the original beat was like, I found it difficult to do my opening riff as his tempo was different to mine. This took a couple of tries for me to adapt to my normal rhythm, but in the end we got there and I was able to do a couple of takes so that I was happy with my final results. Next was the recording of Kyrans guitar section, we didn't do anything different from the last time we set up for Kyran's part, therefore we knew what to do and was able to do it quickly and plugged the headphones into input 2.

We added the rhythm guitar to the logic project, while Kyran was getting himself ready and he went through the song beforehand to test that he was coming through and to remind himself. It was vital to put the right kyrans sound through the right input in order for their to be sound signal, this did happen a couple of times beforehand so we were keen to get it right. The overall summary of how the recording of the rhythm guitar went, would be successful as Kyran heard his part and was overall happy with it and now we had the whole rhythmic section of the song done which was great achievement and we did it in good time. While recording it was important that we noted that the guitar sound had the right amount of gain, or if it was too loud the sound would sound crackly and fuzzy.

Session 4

Within this session, our aim was to achieve Fin's lead guitar part and if we have time we could fit in Izzy's vocals which would be great. We have already achieved completing the rhythmic section of the song which was highly successful and we were all really happy with the overall sound.

Next was Fin's guitar parts, which would be recorded over the rhythmic section through the headphones. While we were adding his guitar onto Logic, Fin was next door practising and tuning his guitar so that he was ready to goand the amp settings were chnaged for a more clean and smooth sound, as Fin used a lot of high notes in his riffs. We played the track so far through Fin's headphones so that he could remind himself what to play and it didnt take him long to remember and be ready. Because Fin's sound is more high pitched then Kyran's playing it was important the sound didn't come across as scratchy and unappealing. We were able to adjust the gains and achieve the right sound by making them not hit the tops of the bar or else the sound would not be clean and what we would want. Fin's first attempt had a couple of mistakes that he was not happy with, as a change he made to his playing was to not play during Josh's drum beat because its Josh's part of the song where he creates the most noise and with Fin playing beside, the sound was not what we wanted as too many instruments were playing. He took a couple of takes until he was satisfied with what he has played and then we were finished with the instrumentation. Now it was time for Izzy's vocals, we didn't completely pack everything up next door just in case someone wanted to re-do their part.

These photos show me and Kyran setting up the diaphragm condenser, by screwing it into the shock mount for Izzy's vocals. This was a really quick setup as well knew what mic we were getting and what we needed for it to stand and be connected to Logic. We plugged in the XLR cable into input 2. On the side of this microphone there is some switches which tell you where the sound waves come from and what sound you ideally wanted. We wanted a sound that would capture the best of Izzy's vocals, we wanted Izzy vocals to be picked up from both sides of the microphone. We plugged in Izzy's headphones in order for her to hear the complete track as she would normally and we gave her time to do a practise run and hear through the track. While that was happening we labelled the new recording under vocals. Izzy got herself prepared with her lyrics ready and was in the recording space while the rest of were with the Logic project, we started recording the vocals when Izzy was ready to be. A problem that did occur while recording Izzy's vocals was that she was really quiet or we couldn't hear her at all. This problem has come up before and its normally because we didn't turn the mic to the right setting or incorrect set gain. We turned up the gain and this resolved our problem and Izzy was good to begin singing again. Izzy's recording was really successful and we were happy with all the instrumentations so we did not need to re-record anything.

After listening to the track we all thought it would be a good idea to put in different dynamics and textures to the song. This included Izzy going some harmonies on vocals. As well as, because the track is inspired by 1960s surf rock, the sound is positive and upbeat. We thought to add a tambourine and clapping sounds to the rhythm of the song. This idea at first was a bit hesitant by some but as we got experimenting. Me, Josh, Fin and Kyran went into the recording room to record the hand clapping while Izzy was on Logic and labelling the new recording hand claps. We used the same microphone as we did for Izzy's vocals which was the large diaphram condenser and connected it to the loom with an XLR cable, it was then time for us to start clapping. One of us four had to wear the headphones in order to hear the completed track, so that we knew the tempo and rhythm that we were meant to be clapping in. An issue did occur, which was our claps were not loud enough or we all were not clapping at the same time. This was quickly resolved and we limited to just Kyran doing the hand claps as he was able to make a much bigger sound then the rest of us. This did not take long and we were able to record this in one take. The next process was adding the tambourine, we did not need to take anything down and used the same microphone as previous. I took on playing the tambourine and put on the headphones so I could hear the whole track plus

Mixing the Track

Introduction

We were now on our final stages with completing our first recorded original and we were ready to do the mixing for each instrument and vocals. The photo below shows the complete recorded elements the process was done very quickly as individually we all did our own instruments in order to get the sound that we individually wanted. All the different instruments are labelled in order for us to know what is what. I will do a run through of the different levels, frequencies, gains etc that we used for each instrument.

Bass

I was in charge with mixing my bassline and making sure it sounded the way I wanted it to sound. I listened over to the track beforehand as we did the mixing a few days after our recording, so it was helpful to remind myself what I want to do. I found after listening that my bass should sound deeper , therefore I went onto the equalizer and added a lot more low frequency to the bass. I found that this would achieve my ideal sound. In order for a tighter and bolder sound I wanted to make sure that the beginning bass part was louder then the rest of the song, I achieve this through compression and smoothing out the dynamics. This is because I mainly open the song wit Josh's high hat and Kyran's guitar chugs. Onto the Tube EQ which gives you more control over the gain as well as the control for the high frequencies and the low frequencies, I wanted to make sure there was not too much gain or else to sound would be completely off and create more of a fuzz. To finish off my mixing I made sure I compressed anything that I have changed by using Tube EQ. Therefore, my mixing process didn't need to be changed that much from the original sound, as my main aim was to add the low frequencies and I believe I have achieved this goal and is happy with the following outcome altogether.

Drums

Josh was in charge with the drums as he knew exactly what to do and was pretty confident with the mixing setup of logic. There were different drum components that Josh had to mix, so it did take a bit longer than everyone else.

Starting with him listening to the track one again so that he could familiarise himself with what he is going to be mixing. Using the EQ allows you get rid of any unwanted frequencies, which is what I used for mixing the bass and Josh has done. Having lower frequencies for the bass drum meant it would have a deeper and fuller sound. Next he compressed his work and it gave the option to edit attack and release, this process meant he could compress down the frequencies as well as making them more clear. Josh's layout is very straightforward as he has laid out all the different components to the drums, so its easier to mix. He used the plug in chain that can be used to activate, deactivate, and organize an instrument. In this case with the drums he was able to choose the certain amount of high and low frequencies to activate and be used in the track. The Tube EQ allowed him to alter he amount of gain and take out any unwanted low and high frequencies that would not fit in the track. When Josh has his drum solo in the middle of the song it was important that the gain was not too high, as he was primarily using his high tom for the consistent rhythm and the rest of the instruments held back a bit while Josh was taking his solo moment. It was important that the drums were correctly mixed by Josh, as they are the foundation to the rhythm section as well as bass. After Josh was finished with the mixing he had another listen to the completed drum track with the rest of the instruments to hear his mxing sounding nicely with everything else. If the sound was too quiet or loud, he would adjust through the volumes and gains to make sure that there was a good enough sound coming from each element of the kit.

Guitar

For the guitars this is the mixing process for the lead and rhythm guitars. For Kyran we had two recorded two tracks and we panned pe to the right and one to the left. To create a fuller sound and betteer sound, because he is rhythm and holds the melody. This techique is called " double tracking" and this is a better used technique because it craetes a bigger sound and can be heard loudly through someones heaphones. The guitars plug in chain, Kyran had used the same effects for each track so that the sound is identical and does not differ. He uses channel EQ and he was able to edit the frequencies, just like what me and Josh have done so far, and kyran can edit the frequencies he wanted and dd not want in his recorded track. With compression he adds this to both of the tracks and made sure that he has attack in the song and a long release which creates a more professional sound. Therefore, with the gain he increased the volume

For Fin's guitar, there was not a too different process from Kyran's guitar. Fin's guitar is lead, this means that his part is going to need to stand out more from Kyran's guitar. Fin did his own mixing for his guitar part, he uses reverb for his guitar called chromaverb, this process means adding his sound onto the guitar so there is a slight delay. Fin's guitar playing needs stand out over any other instrument, because his riff follows the clear genre of 60s surf rock genre inspired. In the photo you can see how the frequency is high fo the lead guitar which makes it stand out, espcially in the chorus'. Fin added gain in the next part in this plug and chain, which adjusts the volumes and makes the guitar sound stand out. Finally he used the compressor which strengthens the dynamics. While we were recording Fin's solo, Fin didnt like playing over Josh's drums, so we were able to cut this out instead of re-recording the whole of Fin's section again. As Josh's slo begins to end, Fin's riff creeps in, which is a really cool sound.

Vocals

The final process of mixing was to mix Izzy's vocals as well as the add-on instruments, such as the clapping and the tambourine. Izzy likes reverb so we knew this was a key request. She did not have a plug-in chain, but instead on the EQ we increased the amount of reverb, and then she had a listen-over to hear and she was happy with the amount, as we did not want it to sound too echoey. Additionally, Izzy did some harmonies, these were added to the chorus' it includes the very slightest bit of reverb so it doesn't sound so empty and also compliments the main vocal features of the song. We used a high frequency for the harmonies due to them being much higher than the original vocals, we did this by using a channel EQ. it finishes with the compression effect, then that is everything with mixing the vocals.

Hand Claps and Tambourine

The handclaps did not need as much mixing, as we just added some gain to the claps and the tambourine to make them louder and easier to hear. These were both used for the chorus' only, which makes them upbeat and more to the surf rock aesthetic.

Therefore that is the whole recording session complete and we are all really happy with the following outcome and proud of ourselves that we completed the whole process pretty quickly. We spoke to each other about what we could improve on next time and one of the choices was to do the mixing together as a group and make it a band discussion. This was an accomplishment that we were able to record our first original in a studio, we aim for in the future to record more originals and get them out to a further audience. Below is a link to our first recorded original 'ALIVE'.

Alive - By Out of Bounds

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