3rd recording session!

So on Wednesday last week, me and Alie finally managed to record our EP! Now just before I get started on how we recorded the material and so on, I am going to do a microphone evaluation on the vocal microphone that was used and an overall evaluation on the equipment we used for the recording.

For this recording, we used a Sennheiser E818sii for the vocals. The Sennheiser E818sii microphone is a dynamic microphone which is an advantage all on its own because a dynamic microphone is less prone to pick up lots of background ambiance whereas, a condenser microphone will pick up a lot more background ambiance in comparison. This microphone is particularly good at picking up the higher and mid frequencies which suited Alie's voice perfectly as her vocal range is mid-high range. We also used a jack-to-jack lead for the keyboard that plugged straight from the keyboard to the 8-track. The massive advantage we had with this was that we didn't get any interference and next to no background ambiance in the recording because the signal was taken straight from the keyboard and sent to the 8-track; this made it easier for us when it came to mixing so we didn't have to eliminate any background ambiance. We used the vocal microphone to record the tambourine, hand clapping and the scissors.


We started by setting up the 8-track, keyboard and the vocal microphone. The vocal mic was connected to the 8-track in channel 2 via an X.L.R lead. The keyboard was connected via a Jack-to-Jack lead in channel 1 in the 8-track.

Set-up of the 8-track.

First off, we decided to record the easiest songs first to get them done and out of the way to make it easier for ourselves. We decided that for all of the songs we would record the keyboard tracks first to get a base down for the vocals to make it easier for Alie and myself. We started with a song we've been practicing for a long time now, Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings. So, starting with the keyboard track, Alie set-up the 8-track ready to go for the recording. She also sang along to the song whilst I played so I could get a better idea for the tempo of the song, this was very helpful and made it a lot easier for me to play. Alie sang down the microphone whilst it was unarmed so it wouldn't be recording but I could hear it through the headphones which ensured I could hear her singing clearly.
Following this, we went straight onto recording the vocals for this song. I set the levels on the 8-track and played back the recording of the keyboard track through her headphones so she could hear what she was singing to properly; the vocals were done all in one take.

Alie singing.

Next up was Here In Your Arms by Hellogoodbye, this song was another one we'd been practicing hard at during our morning sessions on a Tuesday at college. Again, we started with the keyboard track, Alie kept the levels the same on the 8-track and just armed the channel to record. Like the We The Kings song, Alie sung along with me so I got a feel for the tempo of the song, as the tempo of the original version of the song is too fast for the pace we wanted. The keyboard tracks were done in 7-8 takes as I had to re-tune the piano half way through and in general I found it hard to keep to a reasonable tempo but I managed it in the end.
For the vocals, I re-adjusted the sound levels to make sure 100% that there'd be no clipping half way through the recording and to make sure that the vocals were louder than they were for Check Yes Juliet. We then got on with the recording and the vocals were all done in one take.

Got all my music ready to record. 

Up next was another song we'd been practicing during college time on Tuesdays, Every Time by Simple Plan. Just like the two previous songs, Alie sung along whilst I was playing as a guide vocal for me, the keyboard track was done in about 4 takes. This time, I left the levels for the vocals the same as the previous song as they sounded just right. The vocals for this song was also done in one take.

8-track during recording.

With our next song, we had to make a decision on what song we were going to do next. The plan was to record one of the bonus tracks being 'Forever Young' by Rumours. However, I was unsure of the chords for the song at the time so we left it where it was and decided to record my solo track which was the other bonus track on the EP. I had a choice of three tracks I wanted to record and at that time the one I felt most comfortable recording was Daft Punks latest hit 'Get Lucky'. This song was a little different from the other songs on the EP and I enjoyed playing the song.
Like we'd done previously, Alie made sure the levels were okay and I went ahead and got the song recorded in three takes before I was completely satisfied.

After this, we decided to do one of the Kate Voegele songs we'd chosen for the EP. So, we gave Sandcastles by Kate Voegele a good go and it didn't work very well as I couldn't play in time to the beginning of the song very well however, myself and Alie both needed the song playing in the background. After a quick brainstorm of songs, we came up with the idea of doing Jesse McCartney - Beautiful Soul. Alie got the piano chords up on the mac and I played along to the actual song for a practice a few times to see if it worked and it went well. Whilst recording, I played along to the actual song in the background to help me with the tempo and this would also ensure that Alie's vocals fit in time with the keyboard track. This song was surprisingly done in fewer takes than the previous songs and sounded really funky along with the vocal track. The vocal track was done in a couple of takes but fit really nicely along with the keyboard track.

Tambourine, ready to record!

Following the Jesse McCartney song, we decided to get one of the more complicated songs out the way. Kate Voegele's 'Kindly Unspoken' was the longest and one of the more complicated songs on the track list and we decided it'd be a good idea to get this done and out of the way. I played along to the original song in the background, this took me quite a few goes in order to get used to the feel of the song. Overall, this song took me about 4 takes and sounded really delicate. The vocal track was done in a couple of takes and Alie also sung along to the song in background so she could keep in time with my keyboard track.

Finally, we had come to recording the final song, 'Forever Young' by Rumours. As I still had to figure out the rest of the chords for the song, I got right on with it and in total it took me about half an hour to put the final touches into place. We wasted no time and got straight on with recording the final song and once again we started with recording the keyboard track. Alie checked the levels for the keyboard, I tuned the keyboard before hand and recorded the song with the original song playing in the background for a guide. This took me 3 goes in total and I feel it went really well. We got straight onto recording the vocals for this song, I checked the levels again and set the song to play in the background for Alie just like she'd done for me. She got this down in two takes and it went along really nicely with the keyboard track.

After and extremely busy and eventful day, we finished recording and were completely satisfied with how the day went. In the next blog I'll be talking about our mixing session.

Thanks for reading!

Chazzy!

Plan B...

So, after the way everything's worked out using the studio at college, me and Alie came up with an idea that will give us the results we're hoping for.

At home, Alie has a small studio set-up with an iMac, 8 track, keyboard/piano, microphones and Logic Pro. With this, we can record everything we want to in our own time without having to keep to a three hour time limit like we would in the studio at college. We've decided a date for next week that we will record over a period of two days, doing this will give us a better chance at getting more recorded and done for the EP.

We've decided on five tracks for the EP and if we get that all done in time, we we're going to have an extra two bonus tracks. The five tracks we've chosen for the EP are:

1. We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet
2. Simple Plan - Every time
3. Kate Voegele - Sandcastles
4. Hellogoodbye - Here In Your Arms
5. Kate Voegele - Kindly Unspoken 
6. Rumours - Forever Young (Acapella version)
7. Athlete - Ordinary Angel (Piano solo) 

The track listing hasn't change much at all as these are songs that we can both do well. The two bonus tracks are songs that myself and Alie have chosen as a solo track to do something a little different on the EP. We're keeping 'Check Yes Juliet' as we came to the conclusion that it sounded terrible last time due to the piano at college being slightly out of tune. 

Anyway, that's all I have to update you all with so far. More news will be on its way shortly.

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy! 

3rd recording session planning...

So, after last weeks horrific recording session, here's a plan to ensure that the same things will not happen again, well hopefully not anyway.

Basically, after last week, we decided a few changes to how we would be recording so that we could lower the chances of things going wrong again. Anyway, when recording Hellogoodbye's - Here In Your Arms, the timing was awful and I was either playing too fast or too slow for the song, so when I was recording Alie's vocal the timing was out very slightly. This made an impact on the quality of the recording and once we'd run out of time we discussed how we could change what had gone wrong. We came to the conclusion that setting up the vocal microphone in the control room would be a brilliant idea. This would then allow for the piano and the vocals to be recorded at the same time without any spill from either the piano or the vocals in any of the mics; this would then eliminate the possibility of the timing going out again.

The unfortunate events of last week also helped us come to the conclusion that Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings was off the track listing to be replaced with another Kate Voegele song. We decided on this idea because I had difficulty finding the correct chords to go along with Alie's vocals leaving us with no choice but to change the song choice all together. This is a shame as we both loved playing this song but it just wasn't working out when being recorded as it sounded so out of key.

Anyway, with a floor plan and a full microphone specification to follow, this is it for now!

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy!

2nd recording session...

Well, me and Alie had out two and a half hour session in the studio this morning, it didn't go to plan as a lot of things haven't with this project.

Anyway, we got in and set-up all the usual equipment in the live room and the control room and got on with it. We started with Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings and recorded the vocal track first. Following this, we recorded the piano track straight afterwards being successful on the first recording. On the other hand, the vocals and the piano tracks were out of time and sounded pretty awful so we re-done the piano tracks again. This time instead of the vocals and the piano being out of time, it sounded as if the vocals were off key compared to the piano and the two tracks just didn't work together at all.

Set-up of the mixing desk.

Recording the vocals for Check Yes Juliet

After scrapping the idea of recording that song in the session, we moved onto record Here In Your Arms by Hellogoodbye. This wasn't as bad, Alie sung the song down the talk back microphone whilst I played the piano so I had a rough idea on the tempo of the track. We done this a few times as I went a little too fast the first few times. Following this, Alie went into the live room to do the vocals, I got the desk ready and hit record and half way through it the track was out of time. We re-done it one more time and it still didn't work leaving us with practically nothing by the end of the session.

Overall, this session was pretty much a disastrous waste of time and I feel so disappointed about it. Shortly there will be a video added of the set-up for the session...

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy.

2nd Recording session planning...

So, it's very nearing the end of our time at college and we still have a lot to do, but here's the plan...

Me and Alie have a studio session booked for 2 and a half hours on Tuesday next week to get some serious work done! We're going to try and get 3 songs done and more if we can fit it in. The plan is to record the following three songs;

• Simple Plan - Every time
• We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet
• Kate Voegele - Sandcastles
• Kate Voegele - Kindly Unspoken (maybe)

We're going to be recording the piano and vocal tracks for these three songs, I believe we can do this because of our practice session last week. It went really well and I feel we can get this done all in good time! We will be using the same microphones as last time as we know they capture the sound we're after and feel this would be the best choice. The C414 for the vocal microphone and the 2 C1000s microphones for the piano. After next weeks blog I will be writing up a detailed post on why we chose the microphones for our recording sessions, this will be done with a floor plan as well!

Floor plan for 2nd Recording Session.

Our time doing this project hasn't exactly been very straight forward and has been full of ups and downs, we will get this done to the best we possibly can! 

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy! 

More planning and our practice session...

After our first recording session it was back to the planning side of things, we've come up with a pretty solid plan that we're definitely going to be doing a six song EP and anything else we can get recorded will be a bonus at the side.

Time is getting on now and the deadline is nearly upon us so we're pushing ourselves to the limit. For our next recording session we will be recording at least three songs for the EP which leaves us with only three more songs to record afterwards.

For our next session there has been a few song changes to make sure that we get the EP finished on time. Three songs we've decided on for the next recording session is:

• Hellogoodbye - Here in your arms (New song)
• We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet (Piano tracks)
• Simple Plan - Every time (Re-do vocal and piano tracks)

During our FMP planning session on Monday afternoon, me and Alie put a plan together which was to print out all of our sheet music and vocals so during Tuesdays session we could practice the songs in the live room to perfect them. This worked out as a brilliant idea as we practiced all the songs for the EP and after a few goes at each song we were left feeling confident. As this session went so well we filmed one of the songs that we done which you can find here... http://youtu.be/ruJ2SPd0d_k this was our cover of the Hellogoodbye song which we shall be recording during our next recording session. 

Our next recording session is yet to be booked however, I'm confident that we will get all this done in time!

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy! 

1st recording session...

So finally me and Alie managed to get into the studio to record some songs for our album. For our first recording session as just me and Alie it went pretty well.

We began the session by grabbing all the equipment we'd reserved for the session and headed back to the live room to begin setting up. Overall, the setting up part went well with it taking us only 15 minutes to get ready. Although the set-up was basic it was just the way we wanted it. The two C1000s microphones were placed in the 'X,Y' position over the top of the piano faced inside of the body of the piano to capture as much sound as we could. The C414 was used for the vocals and was set-up at the front of the live room. We plugged the C414 microphone was plugged into channel 4 and the two C1000s microphones were plugged into channels 5 and 6.

Piano set-up with the two C1000s Microphones!

Vocals all miced up with C414 mic!

Following the set-up of the live room, me and Alie went into the control room to set-up the mixing desk and the mac ready for recording. This didn't take us an overly long time however, we did come across a few small issues with getting the sound through the speakers which was fixed with the press of a button. Before the recording session we both decided that we would record the vocals and then the piano afterwards, so I set up two channels in Pro-Tools, one for the vocals and two for the piano.

All the tracks set-up on Pro-Tools ready to go!

Mixing desk all set-up and ready to go!

After the set-up of the control room I went into the live room to practice my pieces before the actual recording to warm myself up ready to go. Whilst I was practicing Alie used this opportunity to adjust the levels on the desk for the piano. After the piano was ready, Alie went into the Live room to have a little practice whilst I adjusted the levels for the vocals, before this we plugged headphones in so we could communicate with each other with having to keep coming in and out of one room. However, we had a little trouble with sorting out the headphones so they'd work properly but that problem was quickly solved when we switched the pair of headphones for another pair. As well as the problem with the headphones we also had problems getting Alie's phone to play the music through the desk into the headphones so we could play along to the songs to ensure we were in time, this was solved by pressing down the Aux buttons on channels 1 and 2 on the desk.

Channels 1 & 2 Aux inputs for Alie's phone!

Aux input for Alie's phone!

After everything was completely ready to go me and Alie got started right away with recording the vocals. As we did one practice of each song before 'officially' recording, we came up with the idea of recording the practice as well as the 'official' in case it comes out better.

Alie's vocals being recorded!

Vocals & Aux channels!

Once we'd recorded the vocals for the first song which was 'White Flag' by Dido, we got straight on with it to record the piano part for the song. I went in and had one practice run through and then went on to record the official track. I messed up many times and it took me a while to get a decent recording of the song. As well as this we also found that we didn't like the sound of the piano, the sound was muffled and was pretty poor all together due to the fact there was felt covering the strings. We found out after the session that this can be changed and the felt can be removed, this is one thing that we would change for our next recording session.

By the time the end of the session came we had managed to record vocal tracks for Dido - White Flag, Simple Plan - Every time and We the Kings - Check Yes Juliet. We only managed to get piano tracks recorded for Dido - White Flag and a half decent recording of the piano for Simple Plan - Every time that I'm not particularly happy with.

Overall, I learnt a lot during this process as it was a chance for me to really get to know the equipment and the way it works. I was pleased with how well the recordings of the vocals went as they sounded clear and just the way we expected. On the other hand, I wasn't as impressed with the piano tracks and am going to be re-doing them at a later date.

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte.