Band Recording Assignment

Band Recording Assignment

Planning:

Equipment List: 

2x BeyerDynamic DT100 headphones, to communicate with our musicians.

1x Jamhub headphone mixer/amp

2x Amplifiers, for Bass & Electric Guitar

1x D.I Box, for Bass Amp

Jack Cables x2?

Several XLR cables, to connect Microphones/D.I box/Jamhub to floor box.

2x Rode NT5, Drums Overhead

1x Audix D6, Kick Drum

1x Shure SM57, Snare Drum 

2x Shure SM58, Male Vocal, Female Vocal

1x SeElectronics Titan, Female Vocal

1x Sennheiser MD421, Electric Guitar Amp

Signal Flow Diagram:

I  drew this signal flow diagram freehand so it is messy. It depicts my ideas on the equipment that is to be used and how it will all be connected to the floor box:

  Recording:

First we set up the drums. We placed an Audix D6 in front of the kick drum in order to pick up the low end, bass and body of the kick. We placed it directly in front of the kick in order to pick up the kick to best effect. Next we rigged up a Shure SM57 onto the snare drum, we placed it on top and just off the rim to give the drummer room to play. We used the SM57 to pick up the mid-higher frequencies in order to achieve the crash from the snare. Then was the Shure SM7b for the toms, placed in the middle of both to achieve an even balance within the 2. The SM7b was used in order to pick up the lower end/ bass frequencies and the body of the tom. After this we plugged up the 2 Rode NT5s to place over the whole drum kit in order to achieve clear audio for the stereo mix. We used 2 NT5s for the stereo mix in order to achieve a fair balance (frequency-wise).

We then went on to set up the mics for the vocals. After rigging the vocal shields (seen in pictures), in order to protect the vocal mics from too much interference (sound bleed) from other instruments, we set up the mics.  We used 2 Shure SM58s for 2 seperate vocalists to achieve an even balance between them 2. We also used them because the SM58s are recommended (by Shure) for vocalists  in a professional environment be it live or studio. Knowing that the Sennheiser MD421 had a large diaphragm and the capability to pick up a wide range of frequencies we though it would be suitable for our third vocalist. We set this up behind its own vocal shield so as to not crowd our singers into one small space.

Next was to set up our bass, electric guitar and piano/keyboard. To set up our electric guitar we placed the amp facing away from other instruments so as to not interfer with any other mics, it being such a loud/dominant instrument. We placed a Shure SM57 in the centre of the amp, to obtain the most even/balanced results (the centre of the amp is where to pick up the widest range of frequencies for the electric guitar). We used an SM57 because of its ability to pick up the frequencies suitable to the guitar (Shure even states that the SM57 is best for electric guitar etc...), it was also a good idea to use the SM57 because of its cardoid polar pattern, the microphone will isolate the sound from the amo whilst reducing background noise. We used the same microphone for our bass amp as well for the same reasons in that it was a good idea to isolate the bass so it was not clouded with sound from the drums/vocalists/piano. Lastly we set up the piano with a D.I box.  We thought to use a D.I box so there was no chance of having the any other sounds from instruments interfering with the piano/keyboard. Every instrument was plugged into the floor box using XLR cables.

Input list (floorbox)
Audix D6 (Kick): 1
Shure SM57 (Snare): 2
Shure SM7b (Tom): 3
Rode NT5 Left (Overhead Drum): 4
Rode NT5 Right (Overhead Drum): 5
Shure SM58 Vocal Right: 6
Shure SM58 Vocal Left : 7
Sennheiser MD421 Vocal: 8
Shure SM57 Bass : 9
Shure SM57 Electic Guitar : 10
D.I Piano: 11

We quickly set up the jamhub as we felt it would be good if we could communicate with our musicians and even better if they could hear themselves as they played. especially the vocalists. However with only 2 sets of headphones and 3 vocalists we had a problem. Fortunately one of us had a spare set and we found a small to large pin jack adaptor so we could plug the headphones into the jamhub. Now our vocalists would be able to hear themselves we were able to set up in the studio.

After loading Logic in the studio we set each input to its corresponding output (input 1 - output 1 etc...) and supplied phantom power to the condeser microphones and line ooutput for the D.I box. Then we started finding and balancing the levels (Gain/Volume) from the instruments. We found the drums (from all mics) to be overpowering other instruments so we turned them down until an even balance was found. Once the band had set up and finished preparing we were ready to record. During recording we noticed that we were unable to hear one of our vocalists so, after recording stopped, we adjusted the levels to that specific mic and was ready for take 2. Take 2 went swimmingly and we managed to hear all instruments and when that had finished we decided to do a 3rd take (for luck? for reassurance?) to obtain the best results and, if needed, the best components from each take could be merged in the mix to produce the best results. We had now finished recording and after saving the file we went to pack up.

Mixing: 03/04/2014

After loading the project on Logic and setting all tracks to stereo output (I couldn't hear them otherwise) and listening to the full song for the first time outside of the studio I could tell that many of the indidual tracks were not working well together. The kick felt flat and the vocals did not blend well (volume-wise) with the other instruments. I started listening to individual tracks and then listening to 2-3 tracks that I thought were in someway related such as the kick, the snare and the tom & the 3 seperate vocal tracks to see how they worked with eachother just to give myself some form of guidance when mixing the whole track. I then understood what had to be done to each individual track to help it blend.

Kick (Audix D6)- I used Channel EQ to increase the lower and higher end frequencies to boost the bass and give the kick a bit more punch so it stood out slightly over the rest of the track, especially the rest of the drum recordings.

Snare EQ

Snare (Shure SM57)- More EQing with this (using channel EQ). I increased the lower end frequencies to highlight body/bass on the snare so it didn't sound so so empty. I also increased the mid-ish frequencies to bring up the crash of the snare so it made more of an impact over the whole track.
Tom (Shure SM7b)- The only thing I had to do to the tom was increase the volume almost to full whack as it was almost completely lost behind the rest of the track and was impossible to hear. They blended fine after this.
Drum Overhead Left (Rode NT5)- I panned this overhead recording all the way to the left to achieve the stereo mix I wanted.
Drum Overhead Right (Rode NT5)-  I panned this overhead recording all the way to the right to contrast with the overhead microphone opposite. I felt not only did this fulfill the stereo mix but added ambience/atmosphere to the track and made it more interesting.
Vocal Right (Shure SM58)- The vocal tracks were the ones that took the most editing. With this track I added reverb (using A verb, it's basic and the vocals did not need anything complex) to give the recording an atmosphere and to make it more interesting. I also compressed the vocals (-27dB Threshold) as they were a little bit messy (volume-wise) and seemed to be shadowed in some parts of the song and were overshadowing components in other parts.
Vocal Left (Shure SM58)-  The same action was taken for this vocal, of course not exactly the same, they were 2 different singers they need to be mixed differently. I put slightly more reverb on this vocal because it sounded better when comparing to the other 2 vocals and added ambience. I also compressed this one, just less (-18dB Threshold) as I felt the vocals were not so un-even but still needed to be balanced.

Vocal Compression

Vocal Middle (Sennheiser MD421)-  The same can be said for this recording. However not much reverb was added to this vocal as I thought it would ruin it by making it sound to flat, I just wanted it to sound bigger/fuller. I compressed this one much more than the other 2 (-34.5 Threshold and the knee was up high too) because I wanted these vocals to be more consistent as they seemed to stand out more (they appear frequently).
I also automated the volume of all the vocals around the times when the harmonies appear just to get the right balance between the 3 for it to sound good.
Bass (Shure SM57)- The only thing I did to mix the bass was pan it slightly to the right as I felt it could free up some room and help seperate the bass from the other dominant sounds (vocals, electric guitar, drums).
Electric Guitar (Shure SM57)- Using Channel EQ, I decreased the lower frequencies of the electric guitar as I noticed a slight clicking/scratching noise interfering with the actual sound of the guitar. I also slightly (only a little on the threshold) compressed the electric guitar as I felt it was a little un-balanced.
Piano/Keyboard (D.I Box)- Lastly, I compressed the piano slightly as I noticed that right at the beginning of the song the piano is very loud as opposed to its quiet presence throughout the rest of the song, so I felt to balance it out. I also panned the piano slightly to the left, the same amount as the bass as I felt it balance the 2 instruments and add to the stereo mix. I also felt it would free up room for more dominant instruments.
After all this, I bounced the song in MP3 and WAVE form ready for uploading to soundcloud.

Here It Is: