AA2 - Week 1 - Session Planning and Management

For our first week in Audio Arts we created a basic checklist of the steps required for a recording. Through mostly extracurricular means, I have done about 5 recordings, plus 8 or so of a pianist who has just finished her doctorate in music. My first couple recordings were very disorganised, one of which took 2 hours to set up, but eventually I figured out that there is no such thing as too much preparation. Our exercise for this week is to create a mock session plan for a recording of an artist of notoriety(1). Despite this, I have decided to 'record' the fictional Scottish hard-rock band Love Fist, from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City fame. For those who haven't been *cough* Love Fisted, here is the official advert taken from the game.

MP3 767KB


Pre-Production

Band Name: Love Fist
Style: Hard Rock
Members/Instrumentation: Jezz Torrent (Vocals, Guitar), Willy (Bass), Dick (Guitar), Percy (Percussion)
Equipment: Vocalist, electric guitar (1&2), electric bass, 8-piece drumkit.
Influences: Any dodgy 80s hard rock.
Song(s) to be recorded: Fist Fury
Duration: 3 minutes
Recording Studio: Studio 1, EMU Space and Dead Room; EMU, Adelaide University

Microphonage
Vocals: U87 Neumann
Guitar 1: Shure 57 (x2)
Guitar 2: Shure Beta 58 (x2)
Bass: AKG-BULS
Drums: Drumkit Mic Set


ProTools
Quality: 96kHz, 24bit
Tracks
1:Kick drum
2:Snare
3:HiHat
4:HiTom
5:Mid Tom
6:Floor Tom
7:Overhead Left
8:Overhead Right
9:Bass
10:Guitar 1a
11:Guitar 1b
12:Guitar 2a
13:Guitar 2b
14:Vocals

Microphone Placement:
The lead guitar will have two Shure Beta 58s, one facing square into the centre of the cone and the other at a 45 degree angle, but still aiming to the middle. Each mic will be roughly 20cms away from the speaker face. Back up guitar will use both Shure 57s, one aimed directly into the centre of the cone and the other aimed at the outer edge of the cone. Bass will have the AKG placed in the middle of the 4 speakers in the quad amplifier, around 30cms away. The drums will have each designated drum mic for its respective drum. The overheads will be place in an xy position, to collect a close stereo field. While this sounds good in theory, all mic positions may need to be changed if the desired sound is not achieved.

Tracking

I will first record the drums by themselves, as the overheads are susceptible to bleed from other instruments in the room, and the kit itself can bleed onto the guitar mics. I will have the bassist playing quietly in the room at the same time so that the drummer does not lose his position in the song. Baffles will only be used in certain parts of the space, such at bass traps and sheer surfaces like glass. This will (hopefully) minimise early reflections and booming, but maintain the 'live' sound of the space. I will then record the guitars one at a time, with only lead guitar having any baffling, as 'fake' verb sounds more in the style of 80's dodge rock. Once the best takes have been selected, the vocalist will be recorded in the dead room.

Post Production

The band will be heavily involved in the post production phase, as their tastes on the sound may be different to mine. I have found post-production to be very much trial and error, as no techniques are universally applicable. Any dynamic effects such as compression will be added in post prod rather than during the recording process, so I have a 'blank canvas' of sound on which to weave my magic.

Result

MP3 2.15MB


1. David Grice. "Audio Arts: Semester 1, Week 1. Session Planning & Management." Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 27th February 2007.