Track 1
Equipment and Recording - In the first song I composed, I used garageband to make the chord progression and string section. The reason why I used this daw it has a nice electric piano. The song style I wanted to make is smooth rnb. I set the tempo to 96 bpm because rnb songs are produced at a slow speed. I played the chord on the type pad on my mac because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use. When I came up with some chords I made a new channel region and inputted the notes using the piano roll and it did not require quantising. All I had to do was adjust the length of the notes. I did it this way because I found it very tricky to record with the type pad on my mac. Once I inputted the notes in the piano roll, I opened a new instrument and I selected a string from the sound library. I then used the type pad to come up with idea for a string section. When I came up with a string section I opened a new midi region, opened the piano roll and used 16th notes with make the string section. I did this because I liked what I played over the electric piano and thought this can go very well with the track. I then bounced the electric piano and strings individually and emailed the files to myself.
Once that was done I opened fl studio because I was going to make the drums. The reason why I used fl studio is because fl studio has very good one shot drums and they were perfect for the style of music I was composing. Before I could make the drums I had to set the tempo to 96 bpm so that the audio files can match the bars on fl studio, then I downloaded and imported the audio files onto fl studio. I then put some one shot drums into the sequencer and I inputted the drums into the piano roll. I found this method of making drums much easier because I don't need to extend the length of the notes at all plus it was easy for me to correct the errors I made while I was making the drums and did not require quantising. When I finished making the drums I structured the track and bounced the unfinished instrumental. I then emailed it to myself so that I can download it from college, import it onto logic so that I can come up with a good bass line and a melody line.
When I opened logic I set the exact tempo of the song, created a new audio, imported the unfinished instrumental, put it on the exact crotchet it's supposed to be on and created to new software instrument channels. When I found a nice bass I used the midi keyboard to make a bass line. I found using the midi keyboard so much easier to use because I can instantly come up with melodies, bass lines and chord progressions. Once I came up with a bass line, pressed the 'R' button to record and once that was done I pressed 'R' again. I then opened the piano roll and noticed that the notes were not quantised. So what I did was I pressed 'cmd a' to select all the notes, clicked on 1/16 and it quantised all the notes in the region. I then clicked 'functions', 'fixed velocity' and I selected the velocity to 100 and then pressed 'select and operate'.
I found this method of recording very useful because it doesn't require me to use the mouse as much, it is much faster and quicker than inputting notes into the piano roll and I can use commands using the type pad. I repeated the same process for recording the melody line.
Once I recorded the bass line and melody line I structured them ensuring to their suitable places in the song. I then bounced both sounds individually from start to finish, e-mailed to myself, downloaded them and imported them into fl studio where the full song is fully finished and ready to be mixed and mastered.
On May 9th I used the recording studio with Norell to record his vocals. I used the NT1000 condenser mic, a pop shield and a pair of headphones. I used the NT1000 mic because it delivers bright, clean and crisp vocals, also it is a condenser mic and these mics are good for recording audio sound in a small environment. This mic is my favourite mic and I will continue to use this mic in future recordings. I used a pop shield to prevent any words that have a burst of air entering the mic during the recording. I wanted the recording to sound sound sharp and clear without any burst of air in the recording. Whenever I or someone else is about to record vocals it is very essential to use a pop shield because it can prevent words with bursts of air entering the mic and prevent mess up the recording. Finally I used a pair of headphones so that Norell can hear me communicating with him and hear the instrumental track as well. If he can't hear me or the instrumental track, the recording process could go very wrong. So it is always important to use a pair of headphones when recording vocals and live instruments because it can help recording go smoother for the person you are recording.
When I finished recording Norell I saved the logic project with the copied audio files and I then put the audio files into fl studio ready for mixing and mastering. I then sent the track to Leon so that he can write a 16 bar verse as he was part of the song.
Mixing - During the mixing phase of the song I listen very carefully to what I can hear. I noticed that the drums were flat and not punchy enough. So what I did is I added a EQ and I adjusted the lo ends of the EQ so that I could get a much better punchy sound of the kick. I then used the volume fader in the mixer to adjust the right volume in the mix. I didn't want the kick drum to be louder than the other instruments. I wanted the volume just right in the mix. I then repeated this method for the other instruments and sounds but some of them didn't need EQ because when I listened back to them I was happy with what I heard. But other than that I used limiters and compressors and the volume faders on the mixer to adjust each sound and instrument to it's best quality. Once I mixed down the instrumental track I listened back to it and it was nearly ready for mastering. I just had tweak one or two channels in the mixer and then it would be ready for mastering.
When I was mixing Norell' vocals I found it very hard to overcome because I do not know how to mix vocals properly yet. So what I did with Norell' vocals is I automated the volumes on the parts I couldn't hear very well and on the parts that were too loud, then I added reverb and delay to make the vocals sound wetter and more suitable for the instrumental track. Finally I added an eq because there was a bit of popping in the recording. Also I wanted to make the mid and hi ends of the vocals sound brighter and clearer. When I listened the vocals without the EQ it sounded very dull and flat. When I listened to the vocals with EQ it sounded so much brighter and clearer and I was very convinced that this would be enough.
Mastering - Before I went to the mastering phase of the I bounced the fully mixed instrumental track as a wav file and I imported it into logic. I then set the exact tempo of the song and placed the in time with the click track in logic. Once that was done I reduced the volume on the instrumental track channel because it was clipping a little bit, after that I put and adaptive limiter in the output master and I adjusted how much pre gain I wanted. I did this because I wanted to ensure that the volume of the entire song was at an appropriate level. This means I didn't want it to be too loud or too quiet. I finially exported the mastered track asn a wav file and I burned it into an empty CD. The track is not fully finished because Leon didn't finish his verse in time for the song.
When I opened logic I set the exact tempo of the song, created a new audio, imported the unfinished instrumental, put it on the exact crotchet it's supposed to be on and created to new software instrument channels. When I found a nice bass I used the midi keyboard to make a bass line. I found using the midi keyboard so much easier to use because I can instantly come up with melodies, bass lines and chord progressions. Once I came up with a bass line, pressed the 'R' button to record and once that was done I pressed 'R' again. I then opened the piano roll and noticed that the notes were not quantised. So what I did was I pressed 'cmd a' to select all the notes, clicked on 1/16 and it quantised all the notes in the region. I then clicked 'functions', 'fixed velocity' and I selected the velocity to 100 and then pressed 'select and operate'.
I found this method of recording very useful because it doesn't require me to use the mouse as much, it is much faster and quicker than inputting notes into the piano roll and I can use commands using the type pad. I repeated the same process for recording the melody line.
Once I recorded the bass line and melody line I structured them ensuring to their suitable places in the song. I then bounced both sounds individually from start to finish, e-mailed to myself, downloaded them and imported them into fl studio where the full song is fully finished and ready to be mixed and mastered.
On May 9th I used the recording studio with Norell to record his vocals. I used the NT1000 condenser mic, a pop shield and a pair of headphones. I used the NT1000 mic because it delivers bright, clean and crisp vocals, also it is a condenser mic and these mics are good for recording audio sound in a small environment. This mic is my favourite mic and I will continue to use this mic in future recordings. I used a pop shield to prevent any words that have a burst of air entering the mic during the recording. I wanted the recording to sound sound sharp and clear without any burst of air in the recording. Whenever I or someone else is about to record vocals it is very essential to use a pop shield because it can prevent words with bursts of air entering the mic and prevent mess up the recording. Finally I used a pair of headphones so that Norell can hear me communicating with him and hear the instrumental track as well. If he can't hear me or the instrumental track, the recording process could go very wrong. So it is always important to use a pair of headphones when recording vocals and live instruments because it can help recording go smoother for the person you are recording.
When I finished recording Norell I saved the logic project with the copied audio files and I then put the audio files into fl studio ready for mixing and mastering. I then sent the track to Leon so that he can write a 16 bar verse as he was part of the song.
Mixing - During the mixing phase of the song I listen very carefully to what I can hear. I noticed that the drums were flat and not punchy enough. So what I did is I added a EQ and I adjusted the lo ends of the EQ so that I could get a much better punchy sound of the kick. I then used the volume fader in the mixer to adjust the right volume in the mix. I didn't want the kick drum to be louder than the other instruments. I wanted the volume just right in the mix. I then repeated this method for the other instruments and sounds but some of them didn't need EQ because when I listened back to them I was happy with what I heard. But other than that I used limiters and compressors and the volume faders on the mixer to adjust each sound and instrument to it's best quality. Once I mixed down the instrumental track I listened back to it and it was nearly ready for mastering. I just had tweak one or two channels in the mixer and then it would be ready for mastering.
When I was mixing Norell' vocals I found it very hard to overcome because I do not know how to mix vocals properly yet. So what I did with Norell' vocals is I automated the volumes on the parts I couldn't hear very well and on the parts that were too loud, then I added reverb and delay to make the vocals sound wetter and more suitable for the instrumental track. Finally I added an eq because there was a bit of popping in the recording. Also I wanted to make the mid and hi ends of the vocals sound brighter and clearer. When I listened the vocals without the EQ it sounded very dull and flat. When I listened to the vocals with EQ it sounded so much brighter and clearer and I was very convinced that this would be enough.
Mastering - Before I went to the mastering phase of the I bounced the fully mixed instrumental track as a wav file and I imported it into logic. I then set the exact tempo of the song and placed the in time with the click track in logic. Once that was done I reduced the volume on the instrumental track channel because it was clipping a little bit, after that I put and adaptive limiter in the output master and I adjusted how much pre gain I wanted. I did this because I wanted to ensure that the volume of the entire song was at an appropriate level. This means I didn't want it to be too loud or too quiet. I finially exported the mastered track asn a wav file and I burned it into an empty CD. The track is not fully finished because Leon didn't finish his verse in time for the song.
No comments:
Post a Comment