Planning for a Recording Session
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Planning for a Recording Session
Introduction
The success of the recording session is as vital as its detailed plan. It involves finding an appropriate studio to record with multi-track digital studios and necessary facilities to ensure success. Producers are responsible for the final sound of the music. A good work schedule is also a significant factor when planning a recording session (Pluskota 2019). However, with the current new technologies, the roles of producers and sound engineers are confused. Traditionally, the two had different expertise and experiences, but it is currently not clear to distinguish between them. Due to financial hardships and the availability of digital tools, producers tend to perform the two roles concurrently.
On the other hand, sound engineers may prefer to handle only the technical tasks, and as a result, need multiple skills (Romão 2021). The is exceptionally significant. A studio sound engineer’s actions affect all of the members of a recording session’s innovativeness, irrespective of the creativity of those practices.
As soon as the recording piece is known, the pre-production process starts. This is the most critical first phase of the recording process. It involves creative production and a song’s soundscape. Planning the way tunes, synchronizations, tempos, and sound changes all of the instruments and voices support each other is essential to a fruitful recording session.
Since we are set to record a music session involving A drum set, Hi-Hat, crash and ride cymbal, bass guitar, Ampeg BA 112 Combo Amp, an Electric Guitar with Vox AC30 Combo Amp, A Korg MS20 analog synthesizer, and A Taylor 214ce Acoustic Guitar to record this session, I will use multi-track recorders which will be tapped into audiocassette. I will use the condenser and dynamic microphones. Dynamic microphones are essential for loudness, low-frequency devices such as guitar amplifiers and bass drums, and do not require power connected to the microphones.
The microphones will record the amplifiers of both the bass guitar and the electric guitar. I will place them approximately 30cm from the cone of the amplifiers, as shown below.
Additionally, I will use multi-track recorder to capture the session and 2 condenser microphones, with much need for phantom power. Condenser microphones are used for instruments with high-frequency such as flutes and vocals because they are more sensitive than dynamic microphones. And because of this reason, we will use the microphones to capture all the tools together. We will position the microphones approximately 3 meters away from each other, as shown below.
An input List/track Sheet
| Channel | Device | Monitor | Stands | Notes |
| 1 | Kick | 2 | ||
| 2 | Snare | |||
| 3 | Hi-Hat | |||
| 4 | Rack Tom 1 | |||
| 5 | Rack Tom 2 | |||
| 6 | Floor Tom | |||
| 7 | LEFT mic | |||
| 8 | RIGHT mic |
The Role of the producer
It has a duty to manage the whole recording process and the innovative direction to be taken and the business aspects. Throughout all the sessions, there is a person responsible for the production and music. The producer act as an objective partner, and for this, he /she significantly enhances the quality of the music production process. The producer’s primary task is to lead the musicians as a creative director of the music production. The producer is responsible for assessing the recorded performances to create the best and quality final product. The producer always has the product’s vision and takes the project from the beginning to the end product.
The Role of the Sound engineer
The sound engineer’s primary role is to produce sound choices based on the artists’ requests and the artistic nature of the project. He/she finds a suitable sound for the project. Just like the producer, the sound engineer is answerable for the conducive performance environment. Specifically, the sound engineer frees musicians from any technical worries while in the studio for the music to be free from technical issues. The sound engineers troubleshoot the technical problems of the music production process.
The Role of the Assistant
The assistant is the recording engineer’s assistant. The assistant usually handles the standard setup and works throughout the recording sessions. The recording engineer is training the recording assistance to take over the recording engineer’s full roles in the future. However, assistant’s responsibilities vary based on the studio that is recording. For most of the studios, the assistant starts as a lower cadre worker, running routine jobs in the studio and over time, with the enhanced experience, becomes apprentice to the sound engineer.
- The Duty of Setting Up
The assistant sound engineers set up earlier recorded soundtracks based on the lead engineer’s favorites. For instance, the lead engineer may need the previous tracks to be put in order, labeled as by the instrument and made readily available for playback immediately. Getting prepared for a recording needs a comprehensive knowledge of the sound mixing unit. Other studios depend on the kind of mixers used DAWs. Assistant sound engineers should be well acquainted with the particular audio mixing console’s basic running techniques and unique preferences recording engineer.
- Set-Up of Microphones
An assistant sound engineer is responsible for setting up microphones. Set up begins with the choice of the appropriate microphone for each instrument. He/she then places the mic in a spot that picks the quality sound. An example is setting up microphones near the band isolates the sounds on different tracks (Herold and Sarradj 2015). After setting up the microphones, the assistant sound engineer connects the sound mixing consoles with cables of the microphone and then checks the microphone levels to ensure no alteration of hiss.
- The Recording Session Responsibilities
During the recording session, the assistant sound engineer assists in setting up and troubleshooting the sound devices. For instance, when the recording engineer is not pleased with how a mic is picking a vocal performance, the assistant sound engineer can change the setup by putting in another microphone or getting a good mic spot. Some tasks may include setting the defective gear, finding corrupt cables, and assisting the band to prepare their instruments for recording
Stereo Mic Techniques
- The Spaced Pairs
The spaced pairs is the primary technique. The spaced pairs take two similar mics and position the two mics at around 3 to 10 feet away from each other. It is ideal for the size of the band we are recording. The spaced pair offers an open and spacious sound as the player’s sound on the left side reaches the left it faster than the right one. The delay in time forms the extra room preferred by many (Strum et al. 207). The arrangement would appear as follows:
Foldback and monitoring
Foldback involves rear-facing speakers, referred to as monitor speakers on stage during a live performance. The sound is amplified with loudspeakers and is directed to the performers on stage instead of the audience.
The provision of monitor speakers is significant to performers as, without a foldback system, the sound they hear from the anterior of the house would be the repeated replications from the rear of the setting. The repeated sound is late and distorted (Askerøi and Viervoll 2017). A different mixed signal is channeled to the foldback speakers, as the performers might want to hear a mix with no electronic interferences like an echo to harmonize with each other. If there is a poor or absent foldback mix, vocalists might stay out of course with the band.
Address the issue of a spill
A spill in mics implies a possible for phase-interaction in the mic signals which creates effects of comb-filtering. Thus becoming a problem to the Sonics. To avoid this is to continually check for the best signaling polarity setting in every mic’s setup (Riaz et al. 2017). This particular session implies polarity changes on various occasions; when interacting with the kick, the snare, and the guitar mic pairs together; and the mics of electric guitar and the drum setup. Notably, one should not only listen to the sound because the interface between it and other microphones might also affect the sound of other devices.
References
Askerøi, E. and Viervoll, A., 2017. Musical listening. The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music Education, p.231.
Herold, G. and Sarradj, E., 2015. Microphone array method for the characterization of rotating sound sources in axial fans. Noise Control Engineering Journal, 63(6), pp.546-551.
Pluskota, J., 2019. Redefining the Role of the Sound Engineer: Applying the Theories of Cage, Schafer, and Lomax Towards Establishing a Critical Cultural Approach to Sound Engineering.
Romão, J., 2021. Volker Müller & Co.: Electronic Music and Sound Engineering at the WDR. Contemporary Music Review, pp.1-15.
Riaz, H., Stiles, M., Armstrong, C., Chadwick, A., Lee, H. and Kearney, G., 2017, October. Multichannel microphone array recording for popular music production in virtual reality. In Audio Engineering Society Convention 143. Audio Engineering Society.
Strum, J., King, R., Protsidym, O. and Catanescu, I., 2017, October. Simultaneous Audio Capture at Multiple Sample Rates and Formats for Direct Comparison and Evaluation. In Audio Engineering Society Convention 143. Audio Engineering Society.