In this blog, I will describe the studio recording process of my 8-track recording project.
On February 8, at 5 PM, Brennan, one of the studios supervisors, let me into the studio. I began to set up microphones and headphones that I was going to need, and Brennan helped me. Then I set up ProTools on the Apple computer on the studio’s Yahama 02R96 Digital Mixing Console to do my recording. For the gear settings, I used the console’s Patchbay for my inputs, using the standard configuration (Studio Ties 5 and 6 connected to Mixer Omni Out 5 and 6). For my floor plan, I had the synthesizer positioned on the left side of the recording room, the lead guitar on the right, the bass on the front left, the drums on the front right, and the vocals in the center. For the microphones, I used a D112 for the kick, an SM57 for the snare, two C451s for the two overheads, a C418 PP for the tom, an AT4014 for the synth, and a Neumann for the vocals. The guitar and the bass were plugged into direct inputs, so they didn’t need mics for their amps.
Between 5:45 and 6:05, all the musicians showed up and set up all their instruments. Tyler, the rhythm guitarist, forgot to bring his guitar to the studio, so we decided to record him just singing, along with Austin S., the other vocalist, after we recorded just the instruments, which was the first thing I planned to do, on the first six tracks. That meant that I had to change the track sheet, so that the drums were on three tracks (the kick on track 1, the snare and the left overhead on 2, and the tom and right overhead on 3), the synth was on track 4, the bass on 5, the lead guitar on 6, the two vocals on 7, and the virtual instrument on 8.
I asked each of them to sign a Musician Waiver and Release form, so they would give me permission to produce and distribute the recording, and so they would agree not to sell or distribute my recording without my consent. It took everyone from around 6:05 to about 7:00 set up all their instruments and rehearse “Tangled“, which took longer than I had anticipated. Between 7:05 and 7:15, Brennan and I did a sound check all the tracks for each instrument, and then we finally started recording.
The recording process was done in a total of eight takes, and it lasted from about 7:15 to 10:00 PM. In the first three takes, I recorded the full band, minus the vocals. When the band and I listened to a playback of each of the first two takes, we didn’t like either of those takes. So I decided to do a third take, so the recording would sound better. After we did the third take, and when we played back, Connor and the two Austins said that their instruments sounded great. Jonah, however, said he didn’t like the way he played the synth on that take, so he asked to be re-recorded on the synth individually over the other instrument parts. So on track 4, I overdubbed the synth individually. Jonah didn’t like that one either, so we did a fifth take, and it sounded better - just as good as the other instruments. After that, Austin G, Jonah, and Connor were done being recorded, so they took down their instruments. Austin G. and Jonah left, while Connor stayed to just listen to me record the voices of Austin S. and Tyler next. Tyler did the lead vocals, and Austin S. did the backup vocals, and Brennan and I recorded them in three takes. Tyler and Austin messed up in the first two takes a little, but the final take was successful. Each of the eight takes we did was about three minutes and five seconds long. At 10:00, we took down all the equipment. Then I saved my recording on my thumb drive, and at around 10:30, Brennan, Tyler, Austin and I turned all the electric equipment off, shut down the studio, and went home.
Next week's post will be about the post production/mixing process of my project. So, once again, stay tuned!