adamhodges-blog

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Studio Session - Last minute creative decision

26th April 2017

Today’s session consisted of Ben making a last minute creative decision to create an electro acoustic atmosphere. He decided that he wanted to have big drums that managed to lift the end of the song. Ben took inspiration from Beyonce’s last chorus in halo. Using the sampling technique which I showed to Ben using the Boom Drum Machine.

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Studio Session - Mastering Room

25th April 2017

We are now around 90% done with our tracks and our overall mix of each track is sounding good but not exactly how we want it to sound. The output is at a great level and the mix itself has a good amount of headroom for mastering. We found at this point, due to being in a different room, that some sounds were a lot more prominent than others when it came to using different speakers. After compromising each level through different speakers we decided to create bounces to listen too at home through car speakers and earphones to compare. This was to make sure we were happy with the Pre-mix. So far we have found that the claps were less prominent, to avoid this drop in level we decided to use EQ and us a shelf to boost around 10khz capturing the high end of the claps therefore making them cut through the mix.

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Studio Session - More BOOM

18th April 2017

I spent the day using the boom sequencer again and then used it in a way of multi-track recording the samples, recording each sample separately (kick, snare etc.). We now have so much more control over the sound of each sample and beat replacement is achievable. I then applied this to ‘Jewellery Lane’ and ‘Yellow Moon’. I then taught this process to ben where he then used the process to shape the samples for our recordings.

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Studio Session - More Bass Recording

13th April 2017

In this session our main priority was to record the last of the Bass parts for ‘Jewellery Lane’ and ‘Better Place’. The 4 mic set up we had established during ‘Yellow Moon’ was the same approach we took when recording the others as we like the tone and recording we had achieved.

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Studio Session - Guitar Recording

11th April 2017

Ben recorded some classical guitar with the U87 placed over the 12th fret catching the harmonics. The main melody complimented by Ben’s intricate plucking and Spanish feel of the nylon strings. Having another layer in the second verse gave the song a new feel. By adding instruments and layers me and Ben both found that the song began to develop new sound. Whether this is a good or a bad thing we do not know yet however our vision for this track has begun to alter slightly.

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Studio Session - BOOM experiment and Listening.

6th April 2017

Me and Ben began experiment with drums for ‘Beyond The Risk’ and ‘Better Place’. We started to find our way around using Avid’s virtual drum machine ‘Boom’. We used its drum sequencer feature to begin creating the main idea. We also used Logic’s drummer tool for an acoustic kit sound to hear how that would come across with the Hip Hop vibe. We also discovered how to record the boom sequence pattern.

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Studio Session - Guitar Recording and Vocal Recording

5th April 2017

 The way in which we recorded the acoustic guitar in the first two songs, ‘Better Place’ and ‘Beyond The Risk’, was much different to how we recorded the guitar today. I found that using three Microphones to record an acoustic guitar may have been a little excessive and I struggled to get an amazing sound as I was so worried about each microphone. Ed Nixon told me that I should get great at recording instruments with one mic and then begin to add extras. Me and Ben experimented with the positioning of one Neumann U87 Condenser microphone. The reason behind this mic choice was for its large dual diaphragm capsule and high sensitivity. (Engineer Hand book)

 We recorded a few demo vocals first for the other instruments to record to and then we recorded the vocals properly also using the U87. For ‘Jewellery Lane’ we used the SM7B, however we felt that the U87 captured a sharper and better response for the Hip Hop vocal we wanted to achieve.

 We finished off the session by mapping out the chords and chorus melodies of Jewellery Lane. Our Fender Rhodes sound went hand in hand with the intricate guitar parts. This sound stood out from the guitar and created separation between the instruments. 

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Studio Session - Keys and Bass

29th March 2017 

Nord Electro 4D;

After using this in the past me and Ben had already come across a few sounds which we began to experiment with and alter to how we wanted it to sound. Ben had an idea for the sound of a Satellite noise, a recurring constant sound which would repeat throughout certain parts of Yellow Moon, hence the relation back to the sounds of ‘space’. We began altering the decay time of the reverb and delay until we were happy.

 Bass Recording;

For the bass guitar, we used 3 microphones to record the Amp and a direct input. We could have used just one microphone however I wanted to make sure we captured all aspects and frequencies from the amp as we were not exactly sure on the sound we were looking for, leaving ‘Yellow Moon’ room to develop. Ben used the Talkback function on the desk to teach Marcus the bass parts as we recorded the song. The process worked well, however, in future I feel that we should be a little more prepared in having someone know the song before recording.

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Studio Session - Listen & Be Inspired

27th March 2017

Listen and be Inspired. 

-       Nate Smith, Bounce (Part One)

In this song me and Ben found we loved the small sections of syncopated and triple kick drum beats. These intricate beat patters happen to create small variation which keeps the listener intrigued. Me and Both talked about keeping a real drum sound but also using a drum sampler (Boom) to create a sequence.

-       Bruno Mars, Chunky

The Chorus drum sequence is 4 on the floor with a clap which is added on the second beat of each sequence. This Adds some space and variation within the chorus. We will take this on board and use it to our strength in either Jewellery Lane or Yellow Moon.

-       Kendrick Lamar, King Kunta

We found that the sub bass frequencies in this song added a lot of depth and helped to create a full sound with not so much instrumentation. If we kept our instrumentation minimal I feel we would need to use this technique to help create size.

-       Zak Abel, Running From Myself

Throughout this song you hear scatting and vocal harmonies which help to push along the rhythm of the song. We could use this technique throughout one of our more upbeat songs to create some interesting syncopation.

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Production Methods and Recording process of our demos

11th January 2017

Me and Ben booked out the University recording studio to record the foundations of our tracks. For the vocals, we experimented with three different microphones – AKG C414, U87 and SM7B. We recorded a a verse of ‘Beyond The Risk’ each with these different microphones to compare and discuss which microphone was right for my vocals. We decided that the SM7B was the best microphone for Ben’s my vocal range and complimented my tone of voice.

For the acoustic guitar, we used a micing technique that we learnt from Marco Migliari’s lecture. We miced up the 12th fret of the guitar using a Royer R-121 and used two C414′s to capture the frequencies form the body/bass and neck of the guitar. This captured the percussive elements of ‘Beyond the Risk’ and the the intimacy of the fingerpicking style in ‘Better Place’.

I then patched in the Nord Electro 4D for ‘Beyond The Risk’ and Ben came up with some simple, high register piano voicings to cement the chord changes in the chorus. I also experimented with the modulation effects on the Nord to create more of an electronic and moving aesthetic to the piece.

I also sampled some drum patterns from Logic and imported them into the Pro Tools project. This set the foundation of the groove to the piece and began to change our perception of an acoustic EP, to an electronically influenced EP.

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FINAL PLAN

So I've finally decided upon my plan;

Bedroom

Tv on in background panned to left or right to create a sense of space. White noise/ high pitched noise to create silence in the piece, so when that goes off it almost seems completely dead in sound. Guy suddenly snaps into a lift which takes him up into a propellor plane

Plane

The plane engines suddenly blow and a mayday call is sounded creating tension as to what is happening next. Guy gets back in lift which takes him to a church 

Church 

The church is large and spacious so the sounds I record in the hall will be perfect. Guy hears singing and footsteps around him making the listener feel cautious and uneased. Running towards him. Gets back into lift after hearing banging. This take him to an office.

Office

Radio on, typing away, walks down middle of office and all starts going a little strange, beginning to awaken from dream. He snaps back into the lift and the doors open and he falls out through the air screaming until bang! back in his bed. 

I feel this has variation and so much to expand on experimentally and creatively with the audio as dreams don't make sense therefore the audio doesn't exactly have to in that way. 

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Research

Going Deeper: How To Make Sense Of Your Life When Your Life Makes No Sense;This book has a quote which is;

“During the REM phase of each sleep cycle, the subconscious projects portion of this mix of material and emotional overlay as a rich flow of coded data. The mind, trying to make sense of it, determines a sequence of events, creatively adding semiplausible segues to link apparently unconnected vignettes. That’s why dreams are so fragmented, often jumping between unrelated scenes”

This fragmented effect Is what I want to achieve throughout my whole piece, making no sense but a series of locational events. 

INSIDIOUS 2!! THE FURTHER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhav2aWJfS4

Please give this a watch if you want to understand what this is in the film. I don't want to intentionally create horror but I would like to make the listener feel uneasy and a little bit scared towards climax sections 

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CHURCH

Recording sounds for a church scene was interesting. I wanted to capture the reverb without artificially creating it so a real old church would be ideal. Before emailing or calling places I was walking out of the park campus studio at around 10.30pm with Will and I thought the front reception had the perfect sound for what I wanted! It was very big, very reverberant, flat reflective walls, no carpet and Tall so the sound travelled for a good 4-5 seconds before it disappeared

Footsteps. I placed the Zoom recorder on the floor and recorded a few times me running towards it so the ‘listener’ would feel as though they are being chased. Also I recorded a few footsteps. 

‘Monk-like singing’. I got will to stand in different parts of the room/hall/reception singing in a low register vocal. It sounded mad!! He also has a very bassy vocal which worked incredibly well for what I wanted.

There was also an electronic door which creaked at the end of opening. Like a wooden door sound. I also recorded this but you could hear voices in the background a little so that was annoying!

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Production/Mixing Techniques

9th January 2017

When mixing Ben’s acoustic guitar, I want to create a wide stereo field. To do this I used the two c414s spaced apart over the body and neck of the guitar and then panned these hard left and right. The centre mic has a low volume in the mix to create space for the vocal to sit in the middle. 

I used two reverbs on the vocal mic, both from the lexicon. The vocal slap gave a nice snap to Bens voice without it creating distance from the listeners perception. Then I added a long tail reverb to create a flowing constant sound. 

The Nord was simply patched in and at the same time as recording ben playing the keys, I was changing the filters and sounds on the nord in realtime. This gave movement to what was a static electronic synth. 

Mastering will be applied when it comes to our final piece as it should with any song. Don't release music if your not 100% Happy with it. 

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PLANES

Today I heard a propellor plane go over head whilst sat in my room and did not have anything handy to record it with. However, It did influence me to have a section in my work where the lift takes this guy up into a plane (like a dream making no sense) which he then navigates around and then it starts to crash so he gets back in the lift. This would hopefully be a pretty hectic scene!! 

I do need to source a propellor plane sound as though your onboard.. which Is going to be incredibly difficult and I may have to just use a sample.

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Production Aesthetics 

8th January 2017

Our main production aesthetic is to create a multi-track recording of ideas acoustically first and then transform those ideas into an electronic style for our final product.

In order to achieve this transition from acoustic to electronic, we had to make sure that we were recording to a click track for quantizing purposes. This will help easily manipulate and sample electronic instruments for the remainder of the year.

The purpose of recording an acoustic demo was to make sure that we were happy with the structure of the songs, in order to research and develop the timbres of the song.

Ben Cipolla ( @bcipolla95 ) learnt a lot about the ‘producer role’ through helpful master classes with Clint Murphy and Marco Migliari. My intended role in this project is to help develop the songs created by Ben and produce them to an industry standard level. Ben’s role in this project is the Singer-songwriter/producer. Having a clear agreement of our roles has helped us experiment with musical ideas, record the best take we can of each instrument and challenge our nature of studio practice by becoming more experienced in the hip-hop, electronic genre of music.   

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LIFT

Interesting one here. 

I took out a Zoom h4 recorder for a few days so I can gather sounds for my work. I first needed a lift sound, the one at campus is used frequently and its very reverberated in that area which would leave me with no choice for the lift to stop on a open/big room for its location in the dream as thats what it would sound like. I was walking home and passed a holiday inn. Immediately I got out the Zoom and was in the lift for around 5 minutes stopping at different floors collecting sounds of the lift voice, buttons and beeps. This was pretty scary as I didn't know if someone was going to get in and ask me what the hell I was doing?!