Rationale:
My creative process behind this project was pretty streamlined as i had to work to my clients brief. Fortunately i had creative control of the studio setup and recording style. I managed to record every member of the group at the same time in the same studio room. This was done so that they could have a more natural and performative aspect to their recording as opposed to just static individual performances. This group recording also helped to prevent any timing issues as they were all playing together. We had setup sound barriers in-between the artists so that they could still see each other whilst preforming. The choices of microphone setups was pretty simple for the entire kit however we also chose to include a stereo pair of overhead microphones to help capture the whole sound of the drumkit.
Planning:
The planning process of this collaboration was quite a simple one due to the fact that the client we worked with was a student, who was also partaking in the same module. We had a couple of in person chats about recording a song for him. The chats were mostly to discuss when and where we would do the recording and how we wanted to perform the recording. We had decided upon a single day when all of the performers and the techs were available and we booked out the studio for the entire do so that we could do the recording. On the day of recording, myself and the other tech, Morgan, went in early so that we could set up and organise microphones. It was at this point that we had decided to do the recording as a whole and to split up the room to have everyone performing together.
During the actual recording session, myself and Morgan were acting as tech for Rory who was the artist who wrote the song. However we did also like to include Rory in the creative decision making of the recording, as it was his project that we helped him to record.
Execution:
The recording session went without a hitch, we had several takes and an excess of time to work with so we had no timing issues or feeling rushed. we recorded the whole song from start to finish in just a few takes. This meant that we could start to some simple mixing and balancing with Rory in the studio without having to worry about capturing more of the song. We did do some additional recording on the same day as overdubs to increase the harmonies or to add extra solos whilst maintaining a balance in the mix. There was one additional brief recording session that we had rather impromptu, It was just a 5 minute re record of the vocals so that there was a clearer line without bleed of the other instruments on the vocals.
Reflection:
Overall, the session was very streamline and efficient. I had a great sense of achievement of being able to fulfil the brief within a single day of recording. The decisions of adding additional stereo mics over the top of the drum kit did pay off as it allowed us to get a well rounded sound that complimented the overall mix. Though there was a large lack of official and professional contact between myself and Rory, i believe that the informal chats was sufficient enough for this whole project to be successful. However, formal chats and contact would have been better practice for business and client experience.
Jordan Woods 