Month: November 2015

we recorded bass in the live room for this session because we wanted to give the bass a room type feel as it needed to punchy and clearly heard in the track,

We duel tracked the bass by recording with a AKG D112 microphone  and with a DI box so we had something to fall back on if we didn’t like/want to use the sound from the actual amp.The main reason for a DI box is to convert a unbalanced instrument signal into a low balanced mic signal which allowed us to simultaneously record a ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ version of the same track.

After we set up the bass we then built a basic drum kit playback mix for both the control room and live room for our bassist  to listen to so he could play bass to the song competently and we could record a good first take, For this session communication between the musician and the crew was crucial as there was a fair bit of tampering with the EQ on the desk as we needed shaun to play continuelsy so we could achieve the correct sound through the AKG D112.

While recoring bass I feel as if I’ve made progress since our last session as I had more of a hands on approach this week as I used the desk a lot more than I did last week, I feel as if I’m starting to become more familiar with the desk although I dont think I am am ready to be let loose and try and record a whole band but I am definetly becoming more comfortable in the contol room.

next week we will be recording guitar(s).

We recorded drums in the Iso-booth as this would enable a clean and crisp sound to the drums, The mics we used were AKG D112 for the kick drum as its a mid range mic and can handle up to 160dB SPL without any distortion ,Audix D2 for the top of the snare as it is a hypercardioid mic and it is has anti-feedback design. Shure SM57 on th bottom snare as it has a range of 40Hz to 15kHz and has an extremely effective cardioid pickup pattern , Audix D2 and for the floor tom we used an Audix D4 which is very similar to the Audix D2 in many ways the only real difference is that the Audix D4 response is a bit ‘deeper’, on the high hat and the overheads we used  Audix adx51’s, because they are  known for there clear, accurate response and flexibility to handle close or distance miking.

For this session we decided to not record the drums with a metronome/click track but instead we used a guide track for the drummer to listen and play with. I was in the control room and our group took it in turns to control the mixing desk and pro tools, we had to set up fold back ‘A’ in order for Jack to be able to hear what was going on in order for him to play competently so we could record a good take. The only problems experienced during this session was that Jack wanted to have a couple of takes to ensure that he played the track properly but other than that the whole recording process ran smoothly.

This session really allowed me to get hands on with the mixing desk as I have never really had the plesure of working with one before and gave me the ablility to extend my knowledge and become familiar with the equipment, it also gave me a good sence of working in a live studio.

Next week we will be recording Bass.