Practice 9 (week 29)


Main aims:

4 hours

After playing Who Are You Now through several times to confirm each part, a backing track was created on Protools with Bass and drums. The bass was recorded through D.I and Protools Mbox pre-amp. The drums were created using a programme not used before called ‘Fruity Loops’. This was available through re-wire so could be synchronised with Protools. This use of a new programme helped set the new track apart from the rest of the set.

After completing the backing track and playing through the new set once - with Who Are You Now being played twice as it was a new track – a similar collection of people were invited to listen to it being played and asked to comment. Who Are You Now received very positive feedback which was pleasing but Dreary Pale Shadow was picked out as being a weaker track by two people, which was unexpected. This would have to be kept in mind and some feedback from audience members at the gig about this track may be useful.

As the gig is next week flyer have been posted online as with gig one and messages and comments have been left.

The reasons for selecting these tracks for this recording session were as follows: Unfinished was felt to be a good first track as, although it isn’t massively urgent until the end, it still has a driving feel which helps get the performer into the mood and mindset which best suits the faster more urgent ‘Moving Inside’, ‘Dreary Pale Shadow’ and Common Sense. The last track is also heavy but is much slower. This makes it suitable for being recorded near the end of the day when the performers are more tired.

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted Lead Guitars

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex drums

This track was recorded much like others before it. The vocals were recorded twice so that they could be double tracked and the distorted lead guitars were recorded with the SE2200A microphone about 2ft from the amplifier to give it a little space that it was felt this song would benefit from.

Instruments:

Vocals

Lead Distorted Guitar with delay

Rhythm Distorted Guitar

Overdriven Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex/ Audio Sample Drums

As this was the most energetic track on the album it was thought best for all part to be recorded at the same time. Although the track was done with pre-recorded Dr-Rex drum loops, playing together still helped capture more energy in the recording. This session took place in studio 1 at Markeaton Street where all components of the recording were set up in separate rooms to avoid excessive spill. One of the amps was in studio 2, one in the studio 2 control room, the bass was D.I in control room one and the vocal microphone was in studio one. The rhythm guitar was recorded using an SM57 to give a hard rocky edge and the lead guitar was recorded using an AKG 414B to give a more full sound. The lead guitar uses a DigiTech RP100R to create the delay effect. The two feedback tracks were overdubbed after the main recording using the AKG414B microphone once again to achieve a full sound. The vocals used a Neuman u87 placed around 1ft away from the performer to give some room sound without making the vocal sound too warm; a warm sounding vocal wouldn’t have suited the track well.

Instruments:

Vocals

Backing Vocals

Voices

Distorted Guitar

Acoustic guitar

Bass

Cubase Drums

This recording was done in a very similar way to By Yourself in week 28 but with the distorted guitar having the SE2200A close to the amplifier to pick up as much of the direct sound as possible. The two major differences were that 15 backing vocal takes made up the sound at the start which goes through the entire song, 5 takes of conversations were done and the drums were step written using Cubase. This was done so that the Glitchy sounds with drum hits played at a speed impossible for a human player were possible. These fast drum hits were done on some instruments that would not usually be associated with this effect such as Maracas and Cabasas to create a distinctive drum sound.

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted Lead Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

Bass

Dr-Rex Drums

Common Sense was recorded in exactly the same way as By Yourself but used an SM57 to record the rough edged sound of the distorted guitar.

       

Instruments:

Vocals

Distorted guitar

Clean guitar

Bass

Real drums

The major difference on this track is that the drums are recorded live at Markeaton Street in Studio 1 using the control 24. They have been recorded as follows:

Kick – using a D112 because of its high quality bass response. It has been placed quite close on axis to the drums skin to capture the slap o the beater while still capturing a good low frequency content aided by proximity effect.

Snare – An SM57 was selected for the snare largely because of its good mid range frequency response. It was placed off axis to the snare drum as not to induce any unwanted low frequencies through proximity effect.

Hi-Hat – Recorded using an SM57 selected for its good handling of high sound pressure levels (S.P.L’s) and distinctive sound. This was placed quite near the edge of the Hi-Hat as the Bell was not being used.

Toms – AKG clip on microphones were used for each of the toms. Placed facing across the toms skin to pick up the sound of the sticks slap. 3 SM57’s were also placed below the each of the toms to pick up some additional low frequencies which would be required for the build up section. These microphones phase was reversed as to not cause phase cancellation with the clip on microphone tracks

Overheads – Two C1000’s were placed as a wide stereo pair around 3ft above the drum kit facing the symbols. They were placed high so to give a natural but controllable reverb to the kit.

The distorted guitar was recorded using the SE2200A close to the amplifier to pick up as much of the direct sound as possible. The clean guitar used the AKG414B microphone set on a hyper-cardioid polar response placed around 1ft away to give space, presence and a slightly different sound to that found on other tracks. The vocals were recorded using the high-end Neuman u87 microphone with a pop shield. The performance was done close to the microphone to give a personal feel to the vocal.

One of the lead guitar channels was re-recorded in this session as after listening back Martin was not totally happy with the take. This was recorded using the same technique as on the original guitar recording.

The vocal performance on the chorus was a little weak on this track so was re-recorded. Again, the same microphone technique was used as in the original recording.

The choice of tracks worked particularly well for this session and although the session was long the energy of the songs helped keep interest. Regular breaks also helped make the session more manageable. Overall the recording session went well but some small parts may need re-recording.

After viewing the art, both the band and artist were happy with the work that had been done. The sketches were now ready to be scanned and made into an album cover. Before this materials were ordered so that the CD’s could be manufactured. 5 different colours of Lightscribe CD’s were ordered so that the CD’s could have professional looking images printed onto them. The 5 colours act as a selling point in that buyers of the album have a choice of colour allowing them to have an album which feels more personal to them. The use of 5 colours also fits in with A.Miller’s rule of 5 choices being the easiest small quantity that the human brain can deal with. 

As well as these CD’s clear CD cases were ordered that allowed art to be viewable through all parts of the CD. Finally, high quality paper was order to print the cover onto. A slightly heavier paper weight was chosen than on standard professional CD’s to give the CD a feel of extra quality.

   
   

Overall reflection:

Although there were a lot of hours done this week it was manageable and was a crucial stage of the production process.