Fools Land - First Recording

Last Friday (25th, October) I had the pleasure of being apart of the initial recording stage for a band who go by the name Fools Land. Compiled of a drummer, bassist, lead guitarist and vocalist/melodic guitarist; Tom, Blake, Dan and Zach make up Fools Land; a tight band that proved they have great potential in the music industry.

Appendix A - Fools Land band

Before the session started, a Pro Tools template was created to save time on the day and to aid with the bump in. Robbie was kind enough to create this template for us. The session was relatively basic in regards to miking the instruments, there were 14 microphones used, with 15 channels in total, they were as follows (from left to right on Appendix B) :

Input List:

1. Kick in - BETA 52

2. Snare Top - Sennheiser MD441U

3. Snare Top 2 - Rode M3

4. Snare Bottom - Rode NT5

5. Hi Hat - AKG 451B

6. Tom 1 - Sennheiser MD421

7. Tom 2 - Sennheiser MD421

8. The T-Chad - AKG C414

9. Overhead L - Royer 121

10. Overhead R - Royer 121

11. Bass Guitar - Direct Input

12. Lead Guitar (GAT R) - Shure SM57

13. Rhythm Guitar (GAT L) - Shure SM57

14. Vocals - Shure SM7B

15. Room Mic - Rode NT2A

Appendix B - Screen shot of Pro Tools: Mix Window, Fools Land band (post mix)

Run Down of Session

Starting at 10am (sharp), we met at the Neve studio to then split into our delegated positions for the day. Robbie and Robin went straight into the studio to set the desk up and get the Pro Tools session running. Myself, along side a few other people went downstairs to collect all the gear needed for recording, which we then brought back to commence setting up the live room. The band wasn't due to arrive until 12pm, so we knew there was more than enough time to set up, line test and fault check every input before the sessions starts.

Being a live recording, we had to try and eliminate as much bleed as possible. this was done using four Studio Gobos, by having a physical wall between the instruments, it acted as a perfect filter for the excess noise. Below is a graphic of the instrument and microphone placement in the live room on the day (Appendix C).

Note: placement of the Gobos (dark grey).

*Refer to the input list detailed above.*

Appendix C - Detailed list of instrument & microphone placement

By 12:30pm the band had finished setting up their gear and we were ready to begin recording.

So... What went well?

Artist Eagerness

- The band seemed to have put a lot of practise in before coming to the studio, their cohesion was exceptional and the quality of their performance didn't drop throughout the day. In fact I would even go ahead and say the recordings became more full and punchy as the session went on; they were always keen for another take.

Contingency planning

- Before the band had arrived, we were unsure if the input for the drummer's headphone mix would reach where he was located. It was decided that we should have an extra drop box to extend the length of the headphone jack. Although by the time I had returned from tech department with the extra headphone DI box, the class had managed to make headphone mix B reach the drum-kit. Knowing that we didn't need the drop box anymore, I simply left the cable rolled up in the corner of the live room. It wasn't until the band was ready to record their single(s) when headphone mix A started to play up. I went into the live room and changed around headphones, changed the sockets of which they were plugged in to, even double checked all levels and signal flow of the desk to ensure the artists should be getting signal. It wasn't until Joe stated that we should simply use a different DI box. This worked perfectly; the issue was resolved.

Moral of the story is that contingency plans are a MUST; even though we did not bring the extra DI box for the reason we needed it, if that cable wasn't already in the studio, we would have had to make the band wait minutes for someone to walk (run) downstairs to collect it. Potentially losing the creative flow the band was in; having recorded all of their demo tracks and ready to record the singles.

"The Tchad"

- Tchad Blake is an award winning producer, audio engineer, musician and mix engineer. He's won a number of Grammy's, including Best Engineered Album (2007) and Best Engineered Recording (1998) (AllMusic, 2019). Tchad was known for his unique, even avante garde at the time), recording and mixing techniques. One of which is now famously (and suitably) titled "The Tchad". Through research I found out that Tchad used (and recommended) a dynamic microphone, we used a condenser (which is fine). The technique is simple yet effective:

It is done by placing a microphone pointing at the snare, but instead of placing it in the traditional spot (under the hi-hat) you use a short stand to place it under the ride cymbal; sitting just above or in line with the kick pedal, near the drummers knee. It's important to have the Cardioid pattern facing roughly towards the snare shell rather than the skin itself; if it's facing more towards the snare skin than the shell, the snare will be too prominent in the recording and if it is facing more towards the kick drum, the kick will be too prominent. (Technology, A., 2014) (Appendix D). This may take a couple of attempts to get The Tchad in perfect placement, but don't stress because it is definitely worth it (the clarity is incredible).

A great mixing tip I received from Guy Gray was to use the chad recording, apply heavy parallel compression to it and slowly re-introduce it into the mix until it is well balanced. I took this tip onboard and applied it to a rough mix I did with the stems from the session (which I will post a blog/vlog about).

Appendix D - The Tchad, with a dynamic microphone

Feedback

- I cannot speak for the other members in our class, but this was a huge positive for me on the day. Each time the band came in to listen over their recordings, they would stand against the right side wall facing the dest, I was sitting on the chair closest to them. Mostly after (sometimes during) the playback of one of their songs, I would give my 2c to the band (Particularly the vocalist, Zach) about things I liked, asking if they considered incorporating different/new ideas and what I was envisioning in my head in regards to a finished product; specific layering of vocals in sections, potential for added drum fills, overall dynamics of the track(s).

It seemed as though everything I said was bouncing straight off them and it even allowed them to come up with a few interesting ideas themselves. I thought it was all apart of a days work (too be honest), but as the band was leaving I gave them a hand taking their gear back to the car. I was in the elevator with Zach and Blake, and they both mentioned to me that they wanted me to mix their tracks because of everything I was saying to them being what they had envisioned the sonic characteristics of their final master to resemble. This was very humbling, but I have no doubt that the track(s) will get mixed as a class or even by Guy himself (if he has the time). Still, very uplifting and motivating (I think I really needed that).

What could be improved?

Studio etiquette

- It seems like a fairly straight forward thing for me that when there is an artist(s) in the studio and you are the engineer in charge of recording them, they have your full undivided attention for the entirety of their time. Artists pay for studio time and a studio will be paying you to record the newest hit band; time is money. It was a shock to me that throughout the session, people would be talking while the talk-back mic is on or scrolling through social media during recording or play-back sessions. It wasn't constant, but certainly consistent. I also understand that studio mixing and recording may not be the pathway for everybody, but it certainly is for me (that must be why small things such as this are so alienated to me).

On the same note: When talking to the artists on the talk back mic, positivity and reassurance must always be there for them. Constantly telling them how great the recording was (luckily every recording with Fools Land was of top quality and every word spoken was truthful) and asking them how they're going, if they want to take a break or if they're ready to keep going; most of the time they're eager and ready to continue recording.

Amplifier Earth Loop

- After the band had set up all of their gear, we did one last quick line check in the live room but a number of people pointed out that they could hear white noise. Turns out that noise was a 60Hz oscillating earth loop coming from the guitar amps (they weren't studio recording amplifiers, better suited for live performance), we did some trouble shooting by doing a quick signal flow test, but the noise wasn't diminishing. Eventually the issue was fixed by the lead guitarist (Dan), by turning on the reverb on his pedal board. Everything was sounding great! But unfortunately the earth loop came back about half way through the session. This was okay for now though, by that time we had moved on to recording their single(s) and our main focus for the recordings were the get clean and prominent drum recordings. The band is coming back next week to record the overdubs; Vocals, Guitar, Bass. In an ideal situation, we would be using different amps for the overdubs, but as the band is supplying their own gear that will be slightly harder to achieve.

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Fools Land finished recording just before 4:45 and were out by 5:15. Overall this session was great, I learned a lot from Guy about communication, positivity and being relatable to the artist(s); building rapport as fast and easy as possible. Like I previously mentioned, the band is scheduled to come back to the studio next week (Friday I believe) to perform the overdub recordings for a couple of their singles, I cannot wait to get back into the studio and work with these guys as they have incredible talent and are the type of people I wish to work with in the future. I have already made contact with them on social media, and connected with the Dan and Zach individually. Looking forward to finishing this project and getting the chance to mix the final Pro Tools session with all attributes of the song.

References:

Tchad Blake | Awards | AllMusic. (2019). AllMusic. Retrieved 28 October 2019, from https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tchad-blake-mn0000017254/awards

Technology, A. (2014). DRUM RECORDING: BEYOND THE STANDARD SETUPS — AudioTechnology. AudioTechnology. Retrieved 28 October 2019, from https://www.audiotechnology.com/tutorials/drum-recording-beyond-the-standard-setups