Multi-track Blog.

This week we recorded Bass. We decided that it would be best to DI the bass straight into the desk, As well as using a microphone signal through the bass amp, We used a D112 microphone, which is a dynamic microphone that is designed to pick up lower frequencies at a higher quality, and also try an AKG414, these mics are usually better for vocals but we hoped that the extra clarity would help to give the bass a more clearly defined sound. We used the DI input to pick up the pure output of the guitar and the picking noises, this is great for blending in while mixing the bass in the finished track.

 

Once we had everything set up, correct levels, and headphone mix, we found out the guitars intonation was out far enough that it was noticeable, to counteract this we detuned the bass slightly to make sure when the frets were pushed down they were in tune. After this was amended we went for a take, everything went well excepted the ending was cut short. To rectify this we went for a preroll record, this is basically where the track gives you a 4 bar count in with the rest of the music playing, so you can just jump straight in when the recording starts and it blends in nicely. After a few attempts we got a take that worked well and stayed in time, so we were able to crossfade the track and to make it sound more polished.

 

Multi-track Recording and Music Production

Week 5

This week was the week we recorded the drum take for Don’t Stop – Fleetwood Mac. we started off by setting up the drum kit, and the microphones around it. for microphone selection we used an Audix D112 for the kick drum, a Shure sm57 for the snare top, an Audix i5 for the snare bottom, 2 Audix D2’s for the rack, and floor toms, mounted onto clips that attached to the rim of the drum, 2 AKG 414’s for the overhead microphones, we placed these so that the snare would be an equal distance from each mic, and would be in the center of the stereo mix at all times, and finally an Audix ADX 51 for the room microphone, which captures the overall sound of the drumkit, and the room it is in.

We used Dynamic microphones for the snares and drums because they are more rugged, so can resist being hit by drumsticks better than condenser microphones, but also because they can withstand a higher amount of SPL than condenser microphones.

My main duty in the recording process was to work the desk, this basically involved setting the gain levels for the microphones, sending the phantom power to the right microphones, and getting the signals into protools, and out through the monitors AFTER pro tools. to set the gain levels we asked the drummer to play specific drums, and set the gain so that the two yellow lights were growing brightly, before lifting the short faders and pressing down the mix button to listen back to the signal without it going through protools, we repeated this for each microphone, making sure nothing was too loud or quiet so we didn’t have any distortion or hiss. We then loaded them into pro tools at the right levels, so they were peaking just into the yellow zone of the mixer views. we set up a basic headphone mix for the drummer, guide vocalist, and guide guitarist, we did this by sending them all the same mix via the desk. then we were ready to record, we decided not to use a click track with our recording so it would be easier for all of the performers to keep in time with eachother and not the click, this isn’t as precise as a click track but it’s faster to get a usable track than it would be with a solid click. before we started, we flipped the phase on one of the 2 snare drum microphones, this added more overall power to the sound, where as if they were both running in the same phase the low end would be cut. after this we recorded two takes.