Recording my Music (Week 8)

I put down a guitar track for one of my songs. We put the tube amp in the storage closet with a TS2 at the back of the amp and a beyer at the left of the amp really close. This sounded really nice. We also used an EV308 to the right of the amp but we trashed it. I played the guitar in the middle of 110 while the amp was in the closet and we recorded the actual guitar with a TS1. We did this because it was a hollow body electric guitar and we wanted to pick up the acoustic tone as well. Worked nicely! I plan to record vocals with a TS2 soon!

 

Recording with Ana Gordon (Week 5 Solo Artist)

Recording a track with acoustic guitar and vocals. Recorded them separately Used a spaced pair of a Fathead at the bridge and a 441 at the 12th fret. I also had the TS1 up for vocals which I turned on to record the guitar. This turned out to be a great idea. Panned the 441 hard right and the Fathead hard left for audience perspective. Got a beautiful, full and warm guitar sound which he artist was quite pleased with. Recorded the vocals with just a TS1 and it sounds great! Hope to record vocal harmony tracks soon!

Drop in Track Life on Mars (Week 6)

This was my favorite project so far in the class. We added a cymbal roll to the build up to the chorus peak. A total of 4 cymbal rolls recorded with the Fathead. We also added a tambourine which we played along with the snare which we put a slight delay on. It was a very crisp satisfying sound and I believe our additions influenced the song positively.

 

Mixing Killer Queen (Week 4)

This was my first attempt at mixing on the api board in the recital hall. I did basic panning, level changes and balances, as well as added EQ and reverb. I was amazed at how many tracks there were to manipulate. I don’t even understand what it takes to mix a song to the point where the producer got it to. This probably would have been easier if I knew how to use compressors!

Tidal Wave

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This is another favorite mix of mine. This is Husky’s “Tidal Wave” off their 2012 album “Forever So”. Listening to this mix, It’s amazing how big it sounds. The vocals feature the mids/high mids, and are sopping with reverb. Even so, they succeed in occupying a very forward space in the mix. Listening to this before, I never realized how low the drums were in the mix. The whole album has the drums well behind everything else. Listen though, for a very wide assortment of instruments, percussion-wise.

One of my favorite parts of Husky’s sound on this album is the really wide acoustic guitars. It’s like someone is pouring a bucket of martin 000′s on my head(can’t you just hear those rosewood sides and back?). It’s such a warm, yet discretely articulate sound, especially on this first track. This track has two guitar parts featured pretty prominently though the entire song, and they are both panned hard out. Funny though, they don’t have that super isolated hard-panned sound. The Two guitars blend so nicely, it makes me think they might have panned the reverb to the opposite side for each track.

Guitar overdub

These images are from a session we did for some Noodlebird Track. We wanted Caleb to just lay down a few takes of guitar on every track we have. We got it sounding good, and just let him go to town.

In order to really go for the gusto, we decided to set up some rear mics for the cab. Since we were only overdubbing, bleedthrough was not an issue, so we could've setup a mic anywhere in the room and played with the sound. We chose to set up an NC pair, six inches apart, and about ten feet away from the cab. We panned them hard, and got a really pretty stereo reverb from the room. It blends into the mix(of the guitar at least) quite nicely. Looking left, in black, is the AKG 460(all settings normalized), and looking right, in silver, is the Neumann KM84. They're spread just a tad wider than 90º.

In order to really go for the gusto, we decided to set up some rear mics for the cab. Since we were only overdubbing, bleedthrough was not an issue, so we could’ve setup a mic anywhere in the room and played with the sound. We chose to set up an NC pair, six inches apart, and about ten feet away from the cab. We panned them hard, and got a really pretty stereo reverb from the room(curtains open). It blends into the mix(of the guitar at least) quite nicely. Looking left, in black, is the AKG 460(all settings normalized), and looking right, in silver, is the Neumann KM84. They’re spread just a tad wider than 90º.

This image is just to give an idea of distance between the amp and the rear mics.

This image is just to give an idea of distance between the amp and the rear mics.

"Let's throw up a bunch of mics and see what happens!" That was generally the idea here. From left to right we have: TS-2(cardioid), Sennheiser 441(music, no pad), Beyer M160, and a Cascade Fathead. Personally, on this amp, I love the ribbons. The TS-2 sounds great here , pulled a little way off the cone, and given a little off axis coloration. I wasnt the biggest fan of the 441 here, but I think with some different placement, it would have given us the sound we were looking for all on its own. Funny thing, we ended up using all four of these in the front.

“Let’s throw up a bunch of mics and see what happens!”
That was generally the idea here. From left to right we have: TS-2(cardioid), Sennheiser 441(music, no pad), Beyer M160, and a Cascade Fathead. Personally, on this amp, I love the ribbons. The TS-2 sounds great here , pulled a little way off the cone, and given a little off axis coloration. I wasnt the biggest fan of the 441 here, but I think with some different placement, it would have given us the sound we were looking for all on its own. Funny thing, we ended up using all four of these in the front.

Caleb rockin on a 1970's Morley Power Fuzz Boost.

Caleb rockin on a 1970′s Morley Power Fuzz Boost.

Caleb is just unbelievable.

Caleb is just unbelievable.