For the last few weeks and especially in the last week I have been working on a collaboration project. This has been in the works for maybe 4 weeks now. I have some friends who are all rather established musicians in Brisbane and who play in a bunch of bands together that have started their own new project. They approached me after I had worked with their bassist last year to record his band's EP. This EP recording I did for his band called The Jang went okay as I had never recorded a full band before. I posted some photos of a side project that I worked on at the beginning of the year in the NEVE and Aubergine saw how cool it looked and asked if I could do something similar for them. I was like ‘HELL YEAH’. I really wanted to work on something that would look amazing in my portfolio this trimester and I think that this as a finished product will demonstrate some great qualities about my work ethic. I also think it will demonstrate my ability to collaborate and that I have not only technical audio engineering and production skills but am able to direct a production. I have also not worked with a band like this before. I have worked with rock bands and solo artists where the vocal production is one of the most important elements. This band is based around jazz and progressive styles. I think that the recording process will be a fun challenge as I have never recorded a trumpet or flute before and this band has both! I am going to talk through some of the things myself and my project partners have been working out in the last few weeks as we have been organising this project.
Firstly, I knew that the band really wanted to work with me to get a cool film for their set. I knew I had a few friends that were in the film cohort who I had worked with previously. I knew that as far as the audio side of things went we would be able to work around the dates of the film people and that getting the audio gear we needed wasn’t a huge issue like getting cameras and lights. I approached Max who I worked with on the live NEVE session I did at the beginning of the year and asked if he would be interested in working on the project. He said he was keen and had a friend who was studying at SAE still who would help out too. We had a meeting and talked through the bands vibe and how we would set up the NEVE in order to get the right amount of footage for the take. I was worried that they would end up with too much footage and not be able to work through it all in time. We talked about the scope that Mike and I had created and how to achieve this would be for them in the next 6 weeks after the recording takes place.
We initially wanted to have a filmed interview, the live set and a filmed mixing session of Mike and I using the outboard gear and print tracks. This was going to be like a mixing masterclass style video and would demonstrate our ability to use the outboard gear effectively as well as mix to a reference track. As we need to cover almost an hour worth of audio we thought this would be a good way to get the minutes up however the film guys said that this along with the interview and the 30 minute filmed set would be too much. We said that this was fair enough and would prefer to have the other two elements edited better. For the mixing master class we could potentially find another film student to work on it as a side project. We could also change the idea to be more like a podcast where we talk about the gear and run audio examples throughout to demonstrate the process. As far as the scope for the filming of the set the film team are super stoked.
In our last meeting we discussed the lighting and the idea of the set being all live tracked and filmed there for they would potentially have to use the film that matched the set we decided to use for the audio. This is good and bad for them as it means they can only use the one take worth of footage but means they have less footage to work with. This plan means they will need more cameras than usual. We have 4 cameras in plan. Three set as an array view around the band and one next to the drummer to catch the set from a completely different angle. We have a pre vis session tomorrow with the band to work out the set layout and exactly where the camera will be placed.
Here is some references that we had in mind for the filming. We really like the lighting in this video for aesthetics.
KEXP is a classic example of live tracking and filming. This is similar to the last live tracking project we did in the NEVE at the beginning of the year.
We really like the live vibe of this one and how the lights work with the music.
So, for the audio side of the planning. Mike and I both have favourite mic techniques we use a lot when recording. We have compiled a list using all our favourite mics as well as some experimental ones and some for the potential for 5.1 mixing. We have allowed some time on the day to work out what mic is best for the trumpet and flute. As we can test this alone and compare the tone of mics without the band. However, when the band are all there we will have to hear the tone and the frequencies being picked up with the whole band. We tried to organise a time to test this prior to the recording however the trumpet player has been on tour for the last month! We have allowed some time on the day to allow for some mic swaps that may need to happen. I am confident due to some research we have done regarding this that the combination of a ribbon mic and a large condenser that we should be able to adjust the position of these mics around the trumpet to get a nice clear sound. I read this article about some one that did a microphone shoot out with a trumpet. He uses really good audio examples of the out comes. I have used these as reference as well for the choice of a ribbon and condenser mic. He also mentions in tis article that the placement does make a bug difference to the tone "As you can hear the U87 and SER1 are the fullest sounding, whilst the dynamic mics are slightly brighter and more nasal. This difference is also due in part to the placement of the mics as the dynamics are working slightly further inside the high-frequency dispersion angle of the trumpet".
Another thing that I really like to do is use a lot of mics while recording. I have had a little bit of experimentation with this in the past and have only had amazing results. As we are living tracking I think that using more mics the better to give us as much as possible to work with when mixing. However, I think that placement plays a huge part too. On the day I think we shall begin by close micing things best we can then getting the band to do a few songs while I go in and move the misc to the best sounding positions. I will take some headphones and talk into a spare mic chanel so that Mike can listen from the control room to tell me where to adjust the mics to. This will ensure that we get the best result out of the mics we are using.
Here is some reference tracks that the band have sent us. Their main one is this band recorded by KEXP that I also really like the visuals for!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqu5NdFMf8&fbclid=IwAR0euSB-JXdn1M2AtKWxzJxqD_Qnp0zd7otQBVdfo0y9U__9qL-eWfJxOOw&app=desktop
Based on this mix we picked over heads for the drums to be a little more dull. We originally were keen to try the U87’s however this would give a much brighter top end to the drum tone and the band want to be damper more like this. The frequency response of the DPA 4011’s we have picked instead drops off at around 9k and the U87’s have a little peak at around 10k.
Some other mics that we are using that are some of our favourites include AKGC414's. I love these mics I used them to record everything from vocals to guitar to snare drums (that was a weird experiment). For this recording we are going to use them for a double mid and side recording as that we can use this technique to mix in 5.1! This is a popular technique used when wanting to create a wider stereo image and has excellent results when folding down to mono also! This technique cons tis of 4 microphones 2 cardioid and 2 with polar pattern options.
"The Sides mic must have a figure-8 polar pattern, and the pickup lobe on the left-hand side (as viewed from behind the array looking towards the sound stage) must have the same polarity as the Mid mic, the Mid mic itself can have any polar pattern — but the Mid mic’s polar pattern, in combination with the relative sensitivity of the Sides mic, determines the nature of the stereo image"
I am keen to try this in a band setting after using it last week to record a solo artist. I think that in a larger room and with a wider range of frequencies this will have a really nice texture in both our stereo and 5.1 mixes.
This is juts a few things I have been thinking about regarding the recording process for our major project reocriding for next Monday. We will have a better idea even tomorrow after we meet up with the band and film crew to discuss audio and aesthetics further! I am keen to try some new things for this project and think that we are well on the way to achieving this dude to the planning we have done.
References:
RobJhons, H. (2017). The Double Mid-Sides Array. Retrieved from https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/double-mid-sides-array
More Fun With 5.1… The Double Mid-Side Technique. (2011). Retrieved from https://bgilbertsound.com/2011/02/21/more-fun-with-5-1-the-double-mid-side-technique/
Winks, J. (2018). How To Record A Trumpet. Retrieved from http://www.joffwinks.com/blog/how-to-record-trumpet
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