Recording Session Plans...

So continuing on from our previous group me and Alie have planned out two recording sessions so far which should give us enough time to record the best part of six songs. We still have a lot of planning to do for another possible two recording sessions but this is what we've come up with so far.

Recording Session One:

Recording: Three original songs.
Instruments: Piano and Vocals.
Equipment:

• 2 x C1000s Microphones
• 1 x C414 Microphone
• 3 x Stands
• 3 x Mic Clips
• 2 x X.L.R Cables
• 1 x Music Stand
• 1 x Headphones

Recording Session Two:

Recording:

• Kate Voegele - All I See
• Evanescence - My Immortal
• Third song is yet to be confirmed

Instruments: Piano and Vocals.
Equipment:

• 2 x C1000s Microphones
• 1 x C414 Microphone
• 3 x Stands
• 3 x Mic Clips
• 3 x X.L.R Cables
• 1 x Music Stand
• 1 x Headphones

Floor plan for the above recording sessions. 

Recording Session Notes: For this recording session we may be having drums and guitar being recorded for these songs as well however, in this recording session we'll just be recording the piano and vocals for these three songs.

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy!

So we've taken the hint...

So we've got the idea that the others have left our group even though they still haven't told us. They made it pretty clear they had left our group by joining in with other groups recording sessions and planning their own thing so we've taken the hint and planned on ahead with our project. Although it puts a spanner in the works by having only me and Alie as a group we're working as hard as we can to make this work and to get the best grade possible. It's annoying that they've decided to just leave us half way through the project as this means that me and Alie have to record a whole new set of songs in half the time we've originally had so i'm pretty annoyed about that.

Despite all of the above me and Alie have planned out recording sessions (read following post) and have agreed on some designs for an album cover. So we're getting things done it's just a matter of being able to get it all done well and how we want in the time we have left. I have hope we'll get there though!

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy.

So there's talk...

Earlier this week me and Alie heard that there's talk of the other three members of our group wanting to form their own group which would leave me and Alie on our own. As we haven't actually been told this by the other members of our group we've sat down and worked out our back up plan if this does happen.

Our plan consists of similar ideas that we had in mind in the first place, an acoustic EP consisting of six tracks. We've chosen six new songs and are going to use the other tracks that have been recorded for personal use instead. 

Tracklisting (not in order):

• Kate Voegele - Kindly Unspoken
• Kate Voegele - All I See 
• Hot Chelle Rae - Tonight, Tonight
• Elliot Minor - The Liar Is You
• Evanescence - My Immortal
• The Mitch Hansen Band - Lullaby

We also chose a back up song (The All American Rejects - It Ends Tonight) in case we couldn't do the last one (The Mitch Hansen Band - Lullaby) and we may include an original song as a bonus track that we're both going to write but we're still deciding whether to do this. As well as this we have a pretty good idea for a possible album artwork which Alie is in the process of designing. So we have a pretty full proof plan and are quite happy with it. 

Although it's been pretty full on with re-deciding and changing everything we've done so far, it's been a big step forward from all the mess we were in. Lets hope things go to plan, we'll see.

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy. 

Recording session no. 4 cancelled...

So, recording was supposed to be going ahead today however due to the circumstances with the weather it hasn't been able to take place. As much as I'm absolutely gutted that we couldn't record I'm also glad as we were barely even prepared for it. There was next to no planning done, I decided on an equipment list I'd made up myself ready to discuss with the rest of the group but because of the weather circumstances I've not been able to do so.

This is the second or third time we've had to delay the band recording which has me concerned with the deadline coming up soon and still a lot to be done. This recording session as far as I know, will take place when we next have the studio. We may have to book extra time in the studio on another day to get this completed, but I am determined and eager to get both the EP's recorded and finished soon! Lets just hope.

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy!

Recording session number 4...

Okay, so it's been pretty hectic trying to work out which direction our group will be heading in... It's been difficult coming to agreements with a lot of things and there's next to no help from anyone else other than Alie. Me and Alie seem to be doing all the deciding, planning and just in general organizing what's going to be happening next. It's become frustrating as we have our fourth recording session next week and we only just found out on Tuesday that it was actually going ahead. However, they didn't willingly come and let us know this, we actually had to go over and ask them about it. Not only did we have to ask they also didn't have any time of the day to spare for us to discuss the microphones we are going to be using and how they're going to be placed in the studio. So because of this I am currently in the process of writing out a microphone specification sheet with all the different microphone choices for each instrument.

After deciding that we were going to be recording two separate EP's instead of one whole album we thought it'd be a good idea to get some of the full band recordings done instead of just doing all of the acoustic recordings in one go. So with the full band recording going ahead next week lets just hope the whole group can pull together and get the work done well.

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy.

Another recording session been and gone...

So after a big mess up with who's being recorded and what equipment to use etc, our recording session went very well.

Me and Alie got to Xtreme Studios early in the morning like we usually do anyway and decided we'd get a head start on setting up the live room for the recording. After getting all the equipment from the technicians which consisted of 2 C1000s condenser microphones, 2 XLR leads and 2 microphone clips. 

First off we had to try and move the piano forward so we were able to place the microphones behind it, but after my shoulder decided to die on me whilst doing this I wasn't able to move the piano properly so Alie done it instead. After this we got straight on with setting up and plugging the XLR leads into the patch bay in the live room. We had the left microphone for channel 1 and the right microphone plugged into channel 3 as channel 2 doesn't work. 

Setting up the live room didn't take long at all and we got straight on with powering up the desk, as we done so and loaded pro tools we had a problem with picking up any signal from the microphones on the desk. Anyway after restarting the whole studio Adam turned up and got straight on helping Alie out getting the studio set up ready for me to perform. 

Whilst they were working out the solution I decided to go and get a start on warming up for my recording session. I played 'Charlie Brown' by Coldplay through a few times before I was fully ready to get started and record as soon as possible to make sure there's plenty of time for any retakes. 

It didn't take Alie and Adam long to work out what the problem was and straight away got everything prepared and made sure I was ready to record. After the first recording of 'Charlie Brown', Alie realized that the left microphone didn't pick anything up as something was wrong with the input, this didn't take long to resolve and straight away went ahead to record 'Charlie Brown' for the final time. After hearing it played back to me in the studio I was satisfied with the outcome and decided it would be the final recording for the acoustic EP. 

Next up was 'To Sheila' by The Smashing Pumpkins. I went into the live room to practice the song through a few times as I wasn't as confident with this song, this showed when it came to the recording of the song as I had to do lots of retakes as I kept on cutting bits short because I was coming up on the pedal too much, then I was playing parts too quietly and too slowly and some completely out of time. Alie, kindly came into the live room to give me some advice when recording which I found helpful and I thought was rather nice of her too. So after a few more times I finally got it right and was satisfied with the outcome. I orginally decided I would record different layers of piano to get a different texture but after not knowing what to add and how complex it would've been to do this Alie told me to think about it and see if I would like to do this another time. 

Overall, I thought that we all worked well together and that Alie and Adam were helpful during the recording process with lending me advice and understanding the feelings of the performer and not just telling me what to do and instead left it down to me to let them know when I was ready to start. 

Thanks for reading, 

Chazzy.  

Slight change of plans...

So after deciding last week that we would be recording Adams band this decision has now been changed to something different at the last minute.

This obviously is a bit of a pain but luckily me and Alie sorted a back up plan if the initial plan to record Adams band was floored. And good thing we did this because yes, we are now no longer recording Adams band but now instead are re-recording my songs for the acoustic EP. Overall I am happy that I have been given the chance to re-record my songs so I can get it all done and out of the way but it's just that it's been all at last minute notice, instead of being able to make sure that all the floorplan and equipment list is done a week in advance of the recording session we've had to do all this and prepare myself all a day before the session.

I have decided to re-record my songs because I made a few mistakes in the previous recording and was not satified with one of my song choices. Instead of recording With or Without You by U2 I am going to be replacing this song with To Sheila by The Smashing Pumpkins and then I will re-do Charlie Brown by Coldplay as I made a few mistakes when I was last recorded.

For this recording me and Alie have decided that we would use two C1000s condenser microphones as we found out the last time that we recorded the piano that the C1000s microphones worked best and gave us the soft piano sound we were looking for.

The last time we recorded songs on the piano we used the B5 condenser microphone as well as one C1000s condenser microphone. We used the B5 for the high end and the C1000s for the low end of the piano. Although it gave us a reasonably good sound when it came to mixing the tracks afterwards the B5 picked up far too much of the high end and made the notes sound like a horrible ringing sound. This influenced mine and Alie's decision to use two C1000s microphones each situated at opposing ends of the piano, this will give the piano a more softer and even sound without the extra ringing on the high notes that the B5 condenser microphone gave us.

A floor plan will be added soon as I've not had enough time to create one yet as I've been busy trying to organize other parts of the recording session with Alie.

Thanks for reading,

Chazzy.