Jake Vancour

On May 4, between 9 AM and 12 PM, I had yet another session in the studio. This time, I put in a virtual triangle on one track, and a virtual shaker on two other tracks. 

During another session on May 5, between 430 and 10:30 PM, I worked with Austin Sullivan, whom I had recorded on bass during a previous session. This time I recorded him doing rhythm guitar and two separate lead guitars. I put each of them on three tracks (one left, one right, and one rear) so I could fill up the number of tracks I needed for my 64 track recording. Then I recorded Austin singing the lead vocals and three separate backup vocal parts. I put each of the vocal parts on two separate tracks (one left and one right) so I could, again, fill up the number of tracks I needed. It took one to two takes to record each of the guitar and vocal parts. After that, I did whatever mixing was needed for each of those tracks, and then I decided to throw in an additional traffic sound effect to go along with the car sound effects I had put in the recording last week. I put the traffic sound effect on two different empty tracks and did the mixing on them as well. 

I’m getting close to being done. What I’m missing now, though, is a sax player and a trumpet player. I intend to notate the sax part and the trumpet part each on an empty piece of music sheet paper for each of them before I record them. When I’m done recording them, I will duplicate the tracks twice each, so I can not only fill up the remaining tracks I'm missing, but also create a small sax section and a trumpet section. I did the same thing to the trombone part that I recorded in a previous session, so I have a small trombone section as well. With the sax and trumpet recorded, that will finally be the end of my recording process. 

My Recording Production II class is at an end. This is my last blog for the semester. I had a good semester writing about my experience in the Salem state University Studio this semester. Can't wait to finally be done with this class! 

I put in more work on my 64-track recording in the studio on Tuesday April 24 between 2:30 and 10:30 PM, and again on Saturday April 28 from 11 AM to 5 PM.

On the 24th, I recorded Austin Gath on tambourine, and then recorded Jonah Sanabia on Synthesizer. It took 4 takes to record the tambourine, and 6 takes to record the synth. Austin and Jonah messed up their parts a few times, so we redid them until they nailed them down. 

On the 28th, I did some editing and mixing, particularly on the synth and tambourine. Then I copied the 2 trombone tracks (Left and Right) that I had recorded on Tuesday the 17th, and duplicated them twice on four empty audio tracks. I made six trombone tracks in all, so now it sounds like a small section of trombones!  In addition, I added a virtual instrument track, which sounds sort of like a brass-synth instrument. I also added some car noises, like the ones the original Billy Joel song, Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) uses. I  uploaded them from a website called http://www.freesfx.co.uk. I included the sounds of a car door opening and closing, a car engine starting, a car driving, a car horn, and tires screeching. 

Next, I plan on including three guitars (2 lead, 1 rhythm), 1 lead vocal, 4 background vocals, a triangle, a trumpet, and a sax.   

This past Tuesday, I put in more work on my 64-track recording in the studio between 2:30 and 10:30 PM. This time, I recorded Conor Barry on piano and Owen O’Brien on trombone. It took me four takes to record the piano and six takes to record the trombone. 

Before the session, I had trouble trying to find sheet music for the trombone part for Billy Joel‘s Moving Out (Anthony’s Song). I couldn’t find any trombone sheet music for that song on Google, and neither could Owen. Owen said he only gets his sheet music from his instructor; he couldn’t get it anywhere else. I tried Googling the same thing for trumpet and saxophone sheet music, but I had the same problem. So on Tuesday, before we began recording, Owen and I figured out the trombone part by listening to the recording multiple times. Then Owen wrote down the notation on a piece of empty sheet music paper and practiced it over and over until he finally managed to nail it down, then I recorded him. After six takes, I fixed the trombone part to make it sound perfect. Other than that, Conor had the piano part nailed down and played it with ease, although it took four takes. 

As far as the trumpet and sax parts are concerned, I asked my jazz band director, Professor Palance, for help, and he hed the same kind of problem as me. So he suggested that I try listening to the recording again and notating both the trumpet and sax parts, like Owen and I did the trombone part, and give the notation to my sax player and trumpeter.

So far, I’ve managed to fill up 18 tracks, but I’ve got some more musicians to record next, including a synth player, a sax player, a guitarist, vocalist, and a percussionist. Plus, I still have yet to find a trumpeter and possibly another guitarist, and I still plan to make a virtual instruments and add some car noises towards the end of the song. Overall, I making some progress, slowly but surely.

For my 64-track recording project, I am recording a cover of Billy Joel’s Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song). So far, for my band I have hired Jamie O’Meara on the drums; Austin Sullivan on bass guitar, electric guitar, and lead vocals; Conor Barry on piano; Jonah Sanabia on synth; and Owen O’Brien on trombone. On Thursday, April 12 between 2:30 PM and 10:30 PM, I recorded Jamie on the drums, and then Austin on bass. Before recording, I took a YouTube video of the Billy Joel recording and uploaded it to iTunes, and copied it onto ProTools on two audio tracks, so that Jamie and Austin could listen to the recording and play along with it, while I recorded them. I recorded each instrument individually. It took one unexpectedly successful take to record the drums, and two takes to record the bass. Then I spent the rest of my session that night doing some mixing on each ProTools track. 

I still need to hire more musicians. I’m planning on getting trumpet player, another guitarist, a sax player or two, and someone to do some percussion, such as shaker or tambourine. Also, I plan to use a virtual instrument to program into my recording, like I did for my 8-track recording a couple months ago. Plus, since the original song uses car noises (Car motors, tires screeching, etc.) towards the end, I intend to use some car sound effects that I can pull up on ProTools. This recording's going to take up a lot of time, but I know I can make it work! 

Check out this article below. This was written by a psychedelic pop/rock group called “The Grip Weeds”. It’ll give you some really helpful hints on miking techniques used on vocals, guitars, drums, basses, and more. It’s really awesome! Plus, I might use some of these techniques for my 64-track recording project. 

https://www.adorama.com/alc/basic-miking-techniques-for-recording-poprock-music 

I have a 64 track recording to do for my next project. I have yet to figure out what song to record, whom to hire, and how to make whatever instruments I have into 64 tracks. Plus, the due date has yet to be given.

This past Wednesday, my Recording Production class got the due date of our 24-track recording project extended another week, due to the previous series of snowstorms that had prevented some of us from being able to put some work into our recording projects at the Salem State studio. I'm glad we got that extension. That gives me more time to finish the write-up that needs to be submitted on Canvas, along with my recording, which is now complete. In fact, my write-up is about halfway done. I can't wait to finally get the whole project done, and move on to the next project! 

I am almost done with my 24-track recording. There are a few things left to do. I have to re-record the drums and piano, finish the mixing, finish the write-up, and then submit the whole recording and the write-up on Canvas by Thursday at noon. Doing all of those things is going to take up a lot of time, and there are only a few days left, but I’m getting closer to the end of project. It’s going to be great! 

On another note, check out my St. Patrick’s Day performance video on my homepage.

In this week's blog, I'll explain 13 correct ways to mic a drum kit. 

1. Choose a dynamic mic for picking mid-range. It rejects sounds coming from behind it and boosts bottom-end when placed close to what you're miking. 

2. Choose a condenser mic for phantom power, which supplies a small amp inside the mic that increases the signal.  

3. Placing a mic in front of the bass drum works, but miking it inside gives it more isolation, weight, and definition. 

4. If you want to mic the bass drum on the outside, use two out-of-phase mics to capture the ambient sound of the front head. 

5. Use the X/Y overhead miking technique to eliminate phasing problems. 

6. For wider stereo image,use the spaced overhead miking technique. 

7. Mic the snare from the top, pointing at the center. 

8. Bring the mics down low towards each of the toms to get a more defined sound. 

9. Mic the hi-hat with a small condenser mic, 2-3 inches away.

10. Place a second mic at the bottom of the snare to capture the sizzle of the snare wires. 

11. If you're recording in a big room, put up a room mic behind the drum kit to capture some natural ambiance. 

12. If you're recording in a smaller room, place a large condenser mic in front of the kit. 

13. Use a spare mic for the bass drum, such as the Yamaha sub-kick. Such a mic will work as a big dynamic mic and give the bass drum sound more low end. 

To find out more, check out the link below.

https://www.musicradar.com/tuition/drums/13-correct-ways-to-mic-up-a-drum-kit-209119 

This week and next week, I am going to work on another recording project. This time, it is a 24-track recording, and I'll be recording a band performing a cover of Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger. It will feature Austin Sullivan on Bass, vocals, and rhythm guitar; Jamie O'Meara on drums and vocals; and Connor Barry on lead guitar, piano, and vocals. I'll figure how to put all the instruments and voice on 24 tracks in the mean time. It's going to be an awesome recording!