Thursday, June 26, 2008

AA Major Project

CHOIR

I recorded a choir that is based in Murray Bridge, consisting of 9 singers and a pianist. I had a microphone and set of headphones for every person, which was a feat in itself.
'May It Be' MP3 3MB

I have decided I don't like the sound I achieved through mastering, and will remaster it when creating the choir's album. Overall too much compression, the piano sounds like arse and some singers are too loud (which was on purpose at the time, so as to hide the less talented ones). I think I should've stuck with a music genre I have done before, instead of trying something completely alien to me (Alien as an adjective? And alliteration!? Awesome!). It was still a great experience, and I look forward to doing a more formal choir recording sometime.

UPDATE: Here are the tracks I will be giving to the choir, including a remastered 'May It Be'. I think I've figured out the trick to these sorts of recordings- a light touch is always best. Light EQ, light limiter, light compressor. If you only download one, make it 'Yesterday'.

Sweet Georgia Brown MP3 1.4MB
Splish Splash MP3 2.2MB
Yesterday MP3 3.3MB
May It Be MP3 3MB




BAND

The band I recorded was called Save And Exit- yes, named after the computer task. Despite this they aren't nerds, and perform an interesting take on pop rock, with a slightly heavier edge. The recordings went pretty smoothly, in particular the singer only took a couple of takes to get each track.

The first song is probably the best mix I've done so far, however if I had more time I would turn the vocals down so the UltraMaximiser wouldn't squash the crap out of everything when the vox combined with the backing vox. Also I would like it slightly less compressed, however it was fun seeing how loud I could get it. Overall I didn't spent enough time mastering, but the results are still serviceable.
Song 1 MP3 4.5MB

The second song from the band is a little less well presented, but still 'does the job'. I'm finding that the more I mix, the more I am able to hear what needs to be mixed. Which is a good thing I guess. This track in particular ended up having the bass too loud, mostly due to the use of amplitube over the top to 'meat' it out a bit. I do however like the guitar tone I got for the bridge- it was exactly what I was trying to achieve.
Song 2 MP3 3MB



Just an update, the band took the ProTools sessions and gave them to the guy who produced their last couple tracks. Nice.