This has been my favourite project for the year for sure. I can’t believe how rewarding this was for me considering I had never used Pro Tools before. I knew that coming into this course that I wanted to record a band in my first year and mix it. That is exactly what I have done and I’m so proud of myself. Even considering all the struggles I went though and that tough learning environment that project based learning can become if you're not on top of your stuff. I have learn so much and I am very happy with the outcome.
Management:
Regarding the management of this project I feel it went really well. I was on top of everything as soon as it happened. For example, in the first week of the project I organised two studio sessions for the following week meaning that the timeline of when I planned to have things done could be adjusted if I needed to. If anything went wrong and I needed to reschedule there was a few weeks buffer period to do so. This came in handy after the second session when we knew we wouldn’t have everything completed I booked another session for the next week. I feel I was very organised as I had a plan for each session even if something went wrong as long as I got the baseline achievement for each session there was room to make time for more sessions.
Working on this project with Mike was awesome as he had recorded an EP before and knew a lot about Pro Tools and and working with the studios. In the recording sessions we split up the organization of the sessions between us. For example Mike set up the desk for the first recording and I sorted out the session as he was adjusting the desk and then we switched for the next two sessions. It was great to have someone else's opinion of what I was doing also and if Mike felt something should be changed or thought it would improve the practicality of the sessions he would let me know. For example using a DI for the firsts session for the guitar and vocals so that the drum and bass has a solid guide to vibe with was a great way to run this session.
Goods and Bads
A few of the struggles I have had were mostly studio recording related. I have mentioned a few of these in my previous reflections. The main one was getting the reverb into the headphone for the vocalist in the practice session for the vocals. This was due to a chanel error in the 8024. It was very frustrating and trouble shooting took a long time and in the end we just had to record it dry. Not that this bothered the vocalist Javier because he was just there so the band had the vocals as a guide but it was very frustrating for me. In the moment I was getting really stressed and I believe that this is something i need to work on in future studio situations. At the time it didn’t cross my mind that there could have been a technical issue with the desk. Even though myself and Mike knew that what we had done was correct. I should have got a member of tech team to come and check it out. In the end it worked out fine though because we weren’t actually recording the vocals.
I can work on my stress levels in these situations by:
Being more prepared for things to go wrong
Having the desk setup and everything tested before the band arrives
Having a backup plan (such as using patch bay reverb rather than an aux set up in the DAW session or vice versa)
Taking a few deep breaths and remembering that issues like these are minor and there are way around it, as well as people around me who want to help make it work.
There is a lot of other things going on at the same time in a recording studio and just to let the band know that we need a few minutes and that they can take a break or hold tight. Communication in situations like this is key.
Another thing I had been trouble with is finding the right microphones to use at times. This is where research has come into play to really help me make good decisions regarding gear. Although in saying this I thought at first that a dynamic microphone such as an SM7B would be perfect for his voice. However it made his vocal tones dulled and not as bright as I would have liked for his falsetto and pheriginal voices. In the end doing research on the microphones we have available was so beneficial as I did a little microphone shootout in the second vocal session to see what would work best. We did this at the end so when we went to re-record the following week we would know what mic we would use. This ended up being a SLATE VMS. This microphone was perfect and I’m so glad I chose it to try out because it made the recordings so clean and clear.
Things I can do next time I don’t know what gear to used:
Do microphone shoot outs even if I am not with the musician I’m recording just to get a feel for tone
Organise practice recording sessions with different microphones
Do as much research and what youtube videos that demonstrate how certain equipment is best used.
Seek peers experience using certain equipment
Another situation I had to troubleshoot was obviously learning how to use pro Tools pretty much from scratch in order to complete this project. This mostly came from just getting in the studio’s and getting the signal flow right. I also had to learn some shortcuts and how they work to make recording more efficient. I feel like this took up a lot of valuable studio time to be honest. For instance moving tracks into new playlists and creating new tracks from double tracking there is easier ways than how I was doing it. Another issue I found was when I opened a session on a different computer or in a different studio ther routing of the chanels was all over the place. I had to go and change each track individually rather than in groups. I learnt how to rout groups by the third studio session which was good
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As far as good things go for the out come of this project I feel like there was a covered. I got to record and mix a band which is something I have wanted to do for such a long time. Due to the research I had done and the practice I had done to implement what I had learnt from the internet in the studios I learnt a lot of practicle skills. The combination of reading about how things work and actually doing them is so satisfying to me and I feel this is one of my main motivations for this project. I like writing blogs because it helps me keep track of how far I’ve come both intulacially and practically.
The issues that happening in the studios were fine as we worked through it as a team and with the band to sort it out and make sure we didn’t wast too much time. As far the the issues I encountered while mixing it was good to just talk to other people who were mixing their projects and see if they had similar issues. For example I was having troubling making solid decisions on some creative choices in the mixes. Such as how to EQ a snare drum, what effect sounds best on a vocal and how to mix a DI bass line. I found a lot of people in my class were constantly tweaking their mixes. The most helpful thing to come to a conclusion regarding the mixes was when they band said they were happy. I am glad that they were very good at giving me feedback.
Plan
I feel like my Pre-Production plan was a helpful tool. I put a lot of detail into what needed to be done by when and if there was any mistakes or things that needed fixing I made sure that in the later weeks there was room for re-recording/ editing. I think that this project could have easily been a little too much to achieve for me considering that I had never really used Pro Tools before this project. However I knew I was motivated and I had the resources to learn quickly. If I didn’t have another set of hands and Mike's knowledge in the recording process I feel this project would have been too big for me to achieve by myself at this stage in my learning. I feel like the plan I made and the research I did for the recording regarding microphone techniques went hand in hand. I made my plan but in order to execute it I put in a lot of other work. It’s easy to say ‘I’m going to record a band’ but it’s not just getting some microphones and doing it. There was a lot more to consider such as what type of microphones, techniques, instrumentation and availability issues with studios. This was what I covered in a lot of my blogs and in the reflective phase of each recording. It helped me decide what I needed to do and achieve in the next session of recording.
Moreover, The Jang are stoked with the recordings and mixes. The plan was to distribute them by the end of the year however they want to come back and record three more to release the best 5 for an EP. This is a great feeling and I know that the next recording would go even smoother and end up better due to the experience I have now had.
Creative Processes
Recording techniques
-double tracking guitars
-vocal layering
-DI bass guitar
-SM57 in the kick drum
-AB mic technique on the front or guitar amp in addition to using a ribbon microphone
- microphone shoot outs
- making sure musicians know how to use the right microphone technique for the type of microphone
Microphone choice
-doing research
-knowing what different microphones do
Mixing techniques
-how to mix drums
-how to blend double tracking guitars
-balancing harmonies
-using a frequency analyzer to decide on EQ’s for certain tracks
Production techniques
-vocal effects
-using different EQ’s
-Aux sends
-using direct insert effects
-trying things such as strange effects on the vocals and seeing what the band thinks
For Next Time
Things I need to work on in these areas come from only research and practice. I believe that juts by applying myself and recording more bands and practicing production techniques I will improve. I think that by working in a group for a project like this would also be effective for time management and creative process as there would be more people to bounce ideas off. This is something I think is important and would definitely making planning and executing a plan more effective.
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Anyway’s here they are!
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FarywZtKbMxsvSYMgX-COiYL4sNRJ-92?usp=sharing
I am happy with the outcome. I can’t wait to get the opportunity to record with this super dope band again and release this EP! WHOO!
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