Pre production recording

Pre-Recording

-Run through: We did a few run throughs before actually recording the musicians to make sure it all sounded good and worked well.

-Rehearsal: We arranged appropriate rehearsal times and made sure we had all the people and equipment for these times and booked everything into a schedule.

-Levels and sound checks: We made sure to check the sound levels and then when everything was fine we then plugged in the microphones and had another sound test.

-Performance: We did 3 proper performances so we had 3 performances to choose the best one.

-Gain: We made sure the gain was turned down a lot to avoid any clipping and distortion

-Stereo recording: There were 2 microphones we used to record everything both were the Rode C1000s and this have the proper stereo sound (R and L)

-Multitrack recording: We only recorded one single track at a time.

-Connections: We used XLR cables to connect the main recording box to the C1000s microphones.

-Proximity effect: We didnt record any low frequency parts like a bass or anything, so we did not need to puts the mics closer for the proximity effect.

-Live recording: We were live recording in the studio, and sequenced one bass track in on the computer on cubase.

-Screens/guards/pop shields: We did not need to use these as we recorded each instrument individually.

Electronic instruments

-Direct Injection: This is where you plug instrument straight into the recording desk with a jack lead but we did not need to use this as we didn't use any electric instruments.

-Synthesiser: We added a synthesiser after we had recorded all the tracks and we added this just to add more lower frequencies and bass to the track.

-Electric guitar: We used an acoustic guitar.

-Bass: We decided to use a synthesiser to get our bass.

-Keyboard: We used a keyboard but changed the setting to 'Woodblock' which changed how it sounded when we played it.

-Electric Drum Kit: We did not use any drum kit in the end as we though it would be a good idea to have an acoustic/instrument version without drums.

Recording

-Monitors/Levels: We monitored the levels of microphones all the time and also the levels of the headphones the performers wore to hear the track and play along with it.

-Headphones: The headphones the musician wore were audio technica headphones.

-Fold Back Systems: We plugged in the headphones into the wall box and sent signals from the recording desk.

-Talkback: We used talkback to contact with the person in the studio.

-Track sheets: We did not use track sheets.

-Identifying Tracks: We can identify different tracks by colour coding them.

-Overdubbing: This is where you record over another track, we did not use this though.

-Listening for distortion: We listened to see if the sound we were recording was distorted or clipping

-Checking playback: We listened to each track back to make sure each track is perfect and theres no background noise.

Link to track: https://soundcloud.com/soundboydyl/shape-of-you-remake-dylan-arthur

MY Pre Production

My idea: My idea is to recreate the song 'Shape of you' by Ed Sheeran but all with instruments, and no synthesizers or major editing.

Recording techniques: When I recorded my piece I used purely the C1000s microphone as I felt that this microphone picked the sound up best, and also this microphone is purely used for instruments as it has a cardiod polar pattern.

Track details:
Artist: Ed Sheeran
Track name: Shape of you
Track Length: 3:53
Instruments required: Guitar, Drums, Piano, Vocals
Lyrics (main hook): Oh—I—oh—I—oh—I—oh—I
I'm in love with your body

Costs Amount(£)

Cubase £121

Studio £30

Mic (instrument c1000s) £88

Mic (Vocals SM58) £95

Engineer £240

Target audience:

This remix will appeal to a very wide audience as especially younger people like and know this song well, and the demand for popular song remixes is rising a lot.

My song will be played at musical festivals, on the local radio stations and eventually be sold on CD's .
Potentially to sell more.

What I am going to change:
I am going to Use different instruments than in the original as Ed Sheeran used lots of synthesisers and i'm using instruments in mine.

Instruments I will use:
Guitar (acoustic)
Keyboard
Bongo
Any synthesiser bass settings if we have to improve the bass (lower frequency)

Mixing/Mastering Part 2.

Task 1

Setting up a project

This is how you set up a new project in Cubase, by clicking create at the bottom right, which will give you a blank new project where you can then add tracks and go from there.

Grouping

This is where you group your tracks so that you have all your different parts such as strings, drum tracks etc. I also grouped my tracks by colour coding them as well.

Limiting

I have limited mostly the bass line synth on my track as it was way overpowering the other tracks so I have limited them by reducing the volume of that track.

Equalisation

Equalisation is used in nearly every song around nowadays, often referred too as ‘EQ’. This is where you can raise the bass of a track or dampen it and raise treble, to whatever you prefer. I have used equalisation on my kick drum track and make the lower frequency higher which gives it more ‘bass’. I have used this also as the genre of this song is pop and one feature of pop songs is a heavy bass drum.

Compression

I have added compression so that the kick drum stands out more.

Pan/Balance track out

I have balanced my track out so that no tracks are overpowering others, and some parts for example the drum track stood out a lot more than others so I balanced that track so that there is a strong kick drum there but it wont distort or clip. I have also panned mostly all my tracks evenly except my drum track so that it gives more of a stereo feel from R and L. Panning is basically changing whether you want a track to be louder on the left or the right, and doing this to all my tracks evenly has given the entire song more of a stereo feel.

FX- Reverb, Distortion

I have added slight reverb to my piano track so that it does not sound un-natural and sounds more like it is being played. I have not used any distortion on my tracks as there is no need and it will sound horrible especially in a pop genre song.

Expansion

Expansion is basically the opposite of compression. This is the act of making notes louder in a track, and we are expanding the dynamic range of the track. I did not use this in my track.

Mastering a track

After I had finished mixing everything on the track, I then bounced down the track and made all the parts form together into one mastered track.

I then added a compressor and did some final editing to equalisation to the mastered track to ensure overall that the sound was its best, basically sweetening the sound. I also made sure the track was as close to 0dB as possible to avoid the whole track being distorted and clipping.

Mixing/Mastering a track

Task 1

Setting up a project

 This is how you set up a new project in Cubase, by clicking create at the bottom right, which will give you a blank new project where you can then add tracks and go from there. 

 Grouping

 

This is where you group your tracks so that you have all your different parts such as vocal tracks, drum tracks etc. I also Grouped my tracks by colour coding them as well as organising a suitable order.

Limiting

I have limited mostly the brass part on my track as they played into the microphone very loud and it was too overpowering so I have limited them by reducing the volume of their track. We also removed parts out of tracks where it was still recorded but there was no singing/playing at that time. This could be said to be a manual way of limiting. I removed parts of the track where there was no singing in the vocals, but I kept the breaths before they started singing just so that it did not sound unnatural.

Equalisation

Equalisation is used in nearly every song around nowadays, often referred too as ‘EQ’. This is where you can raise the bass of a track or dampen it and raise treble, to whatever you prefer. I have used equalisation on my kick drum track and make the lower frequency higher which gives it more ‘bass’.

Compression

I have added compression so that the kick drum stands out more, and I used it on the vocals so the voice doesn’t sound distorted.

Pan/Balance track out

I have balanced my track out so that no tracks are overpowering others, and some parts for example the trombone stood out a lot more than others so I balanced that track so that it fitted in well as like filling in texture/accompaniment. On the guitar solo I made this track louder than others that played at the same time as this should stand out more. I have also panned mostly all my tracks evenly so that it gives more of a stereo feel from R and L. Panning is basically changing whether you want a track to be louder on the left or the right, and doing this to all my tracks evenly has given the entire song more of a stereo feel.

FX- Reverb, Distortion

I also added reverb to the guitar solo for more effect, but also this makes the track sound like it was recorded in a large room or live, and also makes the solo sound more impressive. I have also used distortion on my cymbal track as this bring out the cymbal more, but also gives it a more dry feel to the sound just like I think a cymbal should.

Expansion

Expansion is basically the opposite of compression. This is the act of making notes louder in a track, and we are expanding the dynamic range of the track. I did not use this in my track.

Mastering a track

After I had finished mixing everything on the track, I then bounced down the track and made all the parts form together into one mastered track.

I then added a compressor and did some final editing to equalisation to the mastered track to ensure overall that the sound was its best, basically sweetening the sound. I also made sure the track was as close to 0dB as possible to avoid the whole track being distorted and clipping.

Evidence for composition assignment

Structure: In my composition I have used an ABA structure. I have started with a single repeating chord pattern

Form:

Genre:

Statement:

Repetition: In my composition I have used repetition in my chord patterns. I have also used repetition in the drum parts within the kick drum and hi hat throughout.

Inversion:

Difference:

Individuality:

Originality:

Composer Rights: A music composer/producer has the rights to their own song and lyrics. Copyright begins at the moment of fixation when the music and lyrics have been set down on paper, recorded, or stored on a computer. Copyright protects the musician even if the song is never registered with the copyright office. Mailing a copy o fthe work to yourself provides no additional legal protection as its unlikely to prove useful evidence for establishing the date a song was written.