Task 3A: Multi – track
Recording
Producer: Ryan Hobin
Primary Sound Engineer:
Name and artist of song chosen: Yellow
by Coldplay
Instruments you will use, and how you
will mic these (microphone placement).
12 string Yamaha acoustic guitar:
I will record this instrument by using
the condenser microphone AKGC100S as this is designed for use with instruments
that have a higher frequency of sound and a lower sound pressure level, making
it ideal for recording acoustic guitar tracks. I will use 3 of these mics, one
positioned directly at the sound hole in order to pick up the majority sound
waves where the sound will be clearest and loudest. I will position another one
at the fret board in order to pick up reverb or spilled sound from further
up the guitar in order to create a fuller sound. The mics will be placed 20-30
cm away from the guitar in order make sure that the mic picks up as little
unwanted noise as possible and the track is as clear as possible. The last mic
will be placed pointing at the wall that the guitar is facing about 1-2 feet
away as an ambient mic in order to create a large room sound picking up the
sound waves which bounce off the walls to create the effect of reverb and
delay.
Ashbury concert ukulele:
I will record this instrument by using
2 AKGC1000S mic, as I believe it will create a better quality recording of the
higher pitched acoustic instrument, as it has a much lower SPL to most
instruments. The ukulele is quite small and therefore I will only use one mic
on the body of it pointed directly at the sound hole about 20-30cm away.
However I will use the other mic by pointing it at the ukulele about a 3-4 feet
away in order to create a fuller sound, but still keep the close feel of the
second guitar on the original track, as I believe using an ambient mic as I
intend to with the 12 string acoustic guitar would eliminate that effect and be
redundant.
Vocals:
I will record this using a Rode NT1A
condenser microphone and a pop shield. I will use these two in tandem in order
to create a high quality vocal recording. I believe that a condenser microphone
is the best choice as the vocal and backing vocal lines of the original track
are quite gentle which means they will have a low SPL. I will use the pop
shield in order to prevent any unwanted background or unintentional noises that
the performer may experience or create. I will record multiple vocal tracks for
certain parts of the track as it will create a much more rich/full vocal sound
that is more authentic to the original track. I will also use two AKGC1000s
microphones positioned behind the vocalist to pick up any sound waves that
bounce back at the singer to create reverb and delay on the vocal line.
Tambourine:
I will record the tambourine with 2
SHURESM58 mics. This is due to the high SPL levels of the loud percussive
tambourine, a dynamic mic is needed to pick up the sound effectively and create
a clear sound. I will use one mic reasonably close to the tambourine to pick up
the majority of the sound waves, and use another further away to pick up any
echo or reverb to create a larger room feel which I feel will fit the sound of
the instrument.
Direct Input (DI)
Direct input is when instead of using
the movement of the microphone to record sound, the instrument is instead
plugged directly via jack lead into a recording desk or DI box; however due the
desk we will be using (Mackie 1640i) having DI capabilities we will not require
a box. This can only be done with electric instruments. Some of the benefits of
using DI are there will be no unwanted background noise or unclear sounds.
However DI will also result in the loss of some frequencies which could make
the recording less sonically interesting/pleasing to the audience.
Epiphone bass guitar:
We will use DI to record our bass guitar
tracks. We will do this as we believe the sound of the track is very gentle but
also sonically large will lots of frequencies. By recording an electric bass
with microphones we believe that the sound will cut through the recording
drastically and not fit in very well. By using DI we think that we can adjust
the way the track sounds to make it less abrasive; as amps can often create a
crunchy sound when recorded with mics.
M-Audio Keystudio 49i:
We will use DI to record our keyboard
tracks. We will do this as we believe it will give the clearest possible sound,
and give the simple clean effect we are looking for in our track. This is due
to the effect that when using DI, unclear sound or background noise is
impossible. It will also allow us to add some minor effects to the recording
should we desire to change the sound slightly in order to perfect the track.
Track
list:
|
Instrument/part
of instrument/mic or DI/name of possible performer:
|
Track
1
|
Acoustic
Guitar/ Sound Hole/Mic/ Lewis Jones
|
Track
2
|
Acoustic
Guitar/Neck/Mic/Lewis Jones
|
Track
3
|
Keyboard/DI/Lewis
Jones
|
Track
4
|
Bass/DI/Lewis Jones
|
Track
5
|
Vocals
Lauren/Mic/Lauren Thomas
|
Track
6
|
Backing
Vocals/Mic/Lauren Thomas
|
Track
7
|
Tambourine/
Mic/Brandon Moss
|
Track
9
|
Ukulele/Mic/Lauren
Thomas
|
Track
11
|
|
Track
12
|
https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/sets/yellow-cover-ryan
Above is the link for all of my tracks. The bass was difficult for the musician so we split the recording into two parts and positioned it in a seamless way in the final track.
Multi-track Recording log
Above is the link for all of my tracks. The bass was difficult for the musician so we split the recording into two parts and positioned it in a seamless way in the final track.
Multi-track Recording log
Section A (to be completed
before the recording session)
Name: Ryan Hobin
Number and length of
session: (1) – 2h
Date of session:
1st
December 2015
Names of engineers:
Brandon Moss
Ryan Hobin
Names of musicians and
instruments being recorded:
Lewis Jones
(Acoustic Guitar)
Goals of the session
(at least 2):
Record a clear
acoustic guitar track, and a reverb track
Implement a backing
track of the original song for musicians to follow
Section B (to be
completed after the recording session)
Were all goals
achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Yes, to a high
quality.
What are your plans
for the next session in the studio?
Record a DI bass track
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Ryan Hobin
Number and length of session: (2) – 2h
Date of session:
10th December 2015
Names of engineers:
Brandon Moss
Ryan Hobin
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded:
Lewis Jones (Bass Guitar)
Goals of the session (at least 2):
Record a clear, good quality bass guitar track
Experiment and learn how to make the levels on a DI track sound good.
___________________________
Evaluation so far:
So far our recordings have been very successful, not only are they in time, they also have a very similar tone. This allows them to fit together in a way which is very pleasing. The levels are also good as the bass is not drowned out by the guitar, and despite being DI, is very well integrated into the song. I believe that as long as we keep the tone as gentle as it has been so far with the remaining instruments the results should be a successful representation of Coldplay's yellow, but with an original spin on it. This has secured my belief that replacing the male vocal with a female one, and electric guitar with acoustic ukulele, is a good one. Having two tracks also adds to the intended tone as it creates a larger room feel which fits with coldplay's original symphonic tone, I believe that this will be fully achieved with the addition of vocal and backing.
____________________________
Evaluation so far:
So far our recordings have been very successful, not only are they in time, they also have a very similar tone. This allows them to fit together in a way which is very pleasing. The levels are also good as the bass is not drowned out by the guitar, and despite being DI, is very well integrated into the song. I believe that as long as we keep the tone as gentle as it has been so far with the remaining instruments the results should be a successful representation of Coldplay's yellow, but with an original spin on it. This has secured my belief that replacing the male vocal with a female one, and electric guitar with acoustic ukulele, is a good one. Having two tracks also adds to the intended tone as it creates a larger room feel which fits with coldplay's original symphonic tone, I believe that this will be fully achieved with the addition of vocal and backing.
____________________________
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Yes, to a high quality.
What are your plans for the next session in the studio?
Record a DI Keyboard track.
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Ryan Hobin
Number and length of session: (3) – 2h
Date of session:
16th December 2015
Names of engineers:
Brandon Moss
Ryan Hobin
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded:
Lewis Jones (Keyboard)
Goals of the session (at least 2):
Record a clear keyboard track, make it sound natural in the track.
Record a clear tambourine track, avoid distortion
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Yes, to a high quality.
What are your plans for the next session in the studio?
Record vocals
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Ryan Hobin
Number and length of session: (4) – 2h
Date of session:
16th December 2015
Names of engineers:
Brandon Moss
Ryan Hobin
Lewis Jones
Lewis Jones
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded:
Lauren Thomas (Vocals) (Backing Vocals)
Goals of the session (at least 2):
Record clear vocals with a gentle tone.
Record Backing vocals, with sonically sound harmonies
_______________________________________
Evaluation so far:
The DI keyboard track has now been added. I believe that recording it DI was a good idea as it created a bright happy sound that i believe will be a key factor in the final cover. We raised the high end levels to give a shorter snappier sound on the more upbeat flourishes in the song. This created a very interesting feel which merged well with the existing tracks. Vocals have also been added, as planned we used a female vocal. The result had the desired effect and the track is very soft, we did not have access to the NTA mic we had planned to use as it had broken. So instead we used an AKGC1000s with a pop shield. The effect was still potent even without using the planned equipment. We also decided to record another track however this time we positioned the mic at an angle and further away in order to created a thick reverberated feel to the vocal line, this worked very well as demonstrated in the final vocal.
Evaluation so far:
The DI keyboard track has now been added. I believe that recording it DI was a good idea as it created a bright happy sound that i believe will be a key factor in the final cover. We raised the high end levels to give a shorter snappier sound on the more upbeat flourishes in the song. This created a very interesting feel which merged well with the existing tracks. Vocals have also been added, as planned we used a female vocal. The result had the desired effect and the track is very soft, we did not have access to the NTA mic we had planned to use as it had broken. So instead we used an AKGC1000s with a pop shield. The effect was still potent even without using the planned equipment. We also decided to record another track however this time we positioned the mic at an angle and further away in order to created a thick reverberated feel to the vocal line, this worked very well as demonstrated in the final vocal.
__________________________________
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Yes, to a high quality.
What are your plans for the next session in the studio?
Record Ukulele and tambourine
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Ryan Hobin
Number and length of session: (5) – 2h
Date of session:
17th December 2015
Names of engineers:
Ryan Hobin
Lewis Jones
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded:
Lauren Thomas (ukulele) Brandon Moss (tambourine)
Goals of the session (at least 2):
Record a gentle ukulele track, make sure the volume is stil loud enough to be heard on the track via mixing/mic placement
Record a tambourine track, kept a a steady rhythm throughout.
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Yes, to a high quality.
____________________________________
Final evaluation
I believe that the style of cover that I set out to record has been achieved to a very high standard. The large symphonic, yet gentle sound that I envisioned from the start have been achieved to a high quality, this gives the cover originality but keeps the 'soul' of the song which made it so popular to start with. Due to time constraints and equipment failure I was unable to records the ambience tracks for tambourine and ukulele, however I feel that the final recording is very good even without them. Upon reflection I also believe that there was a risk of the song becoming too cluttered and losing some of the frequencies of the existing tracks, taking away from the unique feel. I also decided to reduce the backing vocal effect towards the end of the song for the exact same reason, and I wanted the song to come to a gradual halt. I felt that having a double vocal track at the point in the song prevented this from happening. We have also added the ukulele track. The ukulele was used in place of the electric guitar in order to create a sonically smoother feel the the track, as I believed the electric guitar would be too coarse a sound for the track. I believe this effect was achieved to a high quality. I was especially happy to see that the ukulele was not drowned out by the other instruments due to the higher gain and volume settings i put in place to ensure it remained in the foreground of the song as a main component. The final track was the tambourine track. Often overlooked as an instrument, I believe that this track was invaluable to the cover. This allowed for a stronger sense of beat within the track. Due to the tambourine being one of the less abrasive percussion instruments being available I think that it did not take away anything from the calm tone of the track.
