Almanac
Answer to Yourself
The Kites “Just Say When” - Studio Production
Being a developmental continuation from the PDS project The Basement Tapes, Jacaranda Records (2024) - I have carried on working with the merseybeat band “The Kites” who I’d brought onto that. In aiming to develop their repertoire with a debut single release, we arranged to work together again in a studio production, for which I planned and produced their debut record as detailed here. Spanning the full scope of production, I was the sole recording / mixing / mastering engineer - and supported them in the afterwork effort of the release stage. This has been a milestone for myself, as it is the production which I would most qualify as a professional undertaking - being that I was hired to work for this client, fully engineering & producing their track.
Production Project Scopes & Planning - Research Inquiry
Embarking on this research inquiry - into the professional standards required of the role of engineer & producer for working in tandem with artist service record labels - it is reflectively apparent that my interpersonal view on this endeavour has altered since it’s initial proposal.
Vocal Artist Production Project
Following a short brief of working with a client to record vocals over backing tracks for a performance showreel - a studio recording session was arranged through liaison with the studio owner and client. In preparation for this recording session, the recording setup was familiarised along with the choice of backing tracks for contextual consideration when recording.
Magic Satin Recording Sessions
For our project we have undertaken a number of recording sessions to track the various aspects of each arrangement for the final full productions. Going into the project we had scratch outlines of the compositions to each track, and a general concept for the sounds tonality and aesthetic as well as it’s genre influences. During the recording sessions we then worked to instil these ideas of what we’re aiming for into the instrumentation with regard to the style of the albums content and concept.
Magic Satin Production Project Plan & Presentation
For the advanced specialised project module, I will be working with partner Das as our production group and collective name Sociodelic. For the project we will be undertaking the production of two EP releases, along with the business and marketing materials provided for following through with the release process and promotion. As we’re producing two together, I will take on producing Magic Satin, and Das will produce Silhouettes. For clarification all references to EP in these pages will refer to Magic Satin.
The Stamp - Studio Production Reflective - How we Livin’
In our modules covering recording / mixing / mastering, we have been undertaking a production project with local band, The Stamp, with whom we have produced a track for called How we Livin’. This production has been a great success for ourselves in our production team as it has brought around exciting prospects of a full album production with the band after the success of this first production.
Sociodelic Live Lounge Sessions Plan & Reflection
After undertaking a session with local artist Euan for a live lounge filmed / recorded set I’ve had the idea to go forward with a number of these sessions featuring local artists, as promotional material for themselves and our production team and creative collective Sociodelic. These sessions will follow the format of a live recording session performance from the artist, utilising the Neve studio and live room equipped with film gear.
The Stamp Recording Plan
Before our recording session takes place, there are important aspects of the production to first consider to ensure that the workflow and process within the session is smooth and maintains a high level of professionalism for ourselves as the production team and for our client, The Stamp.
Sound Capture & Design For Animation
Within the projects I have produced there have been techniques undertaken to record and process the audio present. Sound design has been a focus for me with this module, so much of the audio processing done falls into this category, however it goes alongside the audio capturing sessions which is required to get the audio samples in the first place.
Gimme Shelter Recording Project - Vocal Recording
With the instrumentation done at this point there was only the vocals to record in. For this I decided to again use the Tascam desk as there would only be one input channel for the recording and the Tascams functionality would be better suited personally for the session.
Gimme Shelter Recording Project - Rhythm & Guitar Recording
I organised the first recording session, aiming to track the guitars through. For this session I booked an afternoon slot of the Tascam mixing console / studio. For the rhythm guitar Luke brought his Telecaster, fitting with the equipment used on the original record, and with this being the driving riff track in the piece we sent the signal through to the live-room via the tieline in at the patch bay, out to a Vox amp which was set to add some distortion and drive to the guitar.
Stereo Microphone Techniques
When recording a stereo signal of a sound source there are a number of techniques and setup’s concerning the microphones positioning relative to the source which affect the result in playback. The dynamics here being manipulated in the mix imaging are the stereo width, this is an effect of the angle of the microphones determining the recordings SRA (stereo recording angle), these will place the sound source in the stereo field and this is received by the listener who then determines psychoacoustically where the source is placed from the subtle differences in time and / or level difference depending on the setup.
Tascam DM3200 - Mixing Consoles / Studio Signal Flow
The Tascam desk is a 32-track digital mixing console which we have the option of using within this module for recording and mixing during our recording assignment. Operating this desk requires the following workflow to get signal in, out, recorded and monitoring.
Audient ASP4816 - Mixing Consoles / Studio Signal Flow
During our lectures this first week we have looked at the signal flow of the Audient and Tascam studios on campus, creating signal flow diagrams and carrying out practicals to utilise this. The two studios we have been introduced to are prime examples of professional modern studio environments, each fitted with a mixing console - (Tascam DM3200 digital desk / Audient ASP4816 analogue desk)
One Mic Recording Session
During a recent studio session I captured a take of Your Dead by Norma Tanega, performed by myself and friends utilising what instruments we had together : acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and vocals. As we had recently in class took part in a podcast recording workshop, I decided to take the limitation of only one mic for multiple sound sources, which we faced with the podcast, and apply the same limitation to where I would usually utilise multiple input recording, in an ensemble recording context.
Mixing Consoles - Signal Flow
Signal flow is the work of routing the audio signal from it’s source to destination, whether this be from a mic to an amp (macro), guitar to a mixer (macro), or daw output to headphones (micro). Any aspect of audio production where sound travels requires the signal to flow to it’s required destination comes under the topic, and this is differentiated by referring to either macro or micro signal flows depending on its scale, and they are typically charted with a signal flow diagram.
Guitar & Vocal Recording Studio Session
During the week a few of us arranged a recording session in one of the university studio rooms, Das played the electric guitar, Bethany on vocals and myself covering the audio engineering. The recording setup we used consisted of an sm57 for the vocals, with a pop-filter to prevent unwanted noise, positioned with a mic stand and connected to the input 1 on the focusrite audio interface via an XLR carrying a balanced signal, this being a dynamic mic it did not need phantom power however it did require some pre-gain to bring the level up to an adequate loudness.
Daw Operation, Editing Task
During our recent session we were tasked with restoring a collection of audio recordings of a poem to an undistorted and noise free, continuous reading. Using the editing modes and tools in Pro Tools I had to split sections of the original jumbled audio file into the proper lines, then along with all the separate clip samples organised on the arrangement window all the samples into their proper sequence.
Daw & Live Sound Setup Operation In A Recording Setting
In a session outside of time in class a few of us got together to jam, during the afternoon I got some recordings of Das on the electric guitar as he was showing us some of the phenomenal sounds of his inspirations ranging from blues to raga, joined by Luke on an acoustic guitar layering in some rhythm and Bethany adding in vocals. Using a stratocaster, Das was lined into a mixer which took the sound and sent it both directly into the audio interface for recording through the main outs, and out the control room jacks to a stereo monitoring amp stack.
Summary of DAW operation and the importance of session management.
Digital audio workstation (DAW) software digitally emulates the basic hardware of a recording studio setup. Within a DAW, recording and editing audio is possible through the array of available digital processing operations. While using HDD space as it’s tape, a standard DAW is usually consisting of at minimum an arrangement / mixer window, where audio signal is able to be recorded in and displayed as an arrangement where the user can use a variety of functions individually to edit audio files individually or to create a composition with other clips and samples.