The microphone I chose is the SE Titan. I didn't want to use this mic because I wanted to use the AKG 414 or Rode NT1000. These mic are great for male and female vocals because they have clarity deliver a nice bright end and body to the vocals and when I listen to the track with the recorded vocals I am instantly satisfied with the outcome and when it comes to mixing the vocals I don't have to use too much EQ. However, I couldn't use the 414 because someone in my class broke the mic and if I wanted to use the NT1000 I would have to book a production room. However, the SE Titan mic managed to do the same job like a Rode NT1000. What I mean by this is Imani's vocals came out clear and transparent because the SE Titan is a condenser mic and condenser mics have a high frequency range and they are more sensitive than dynamic mics.
I chose not to record in the production room. I chose the college's recording studio to record the 1st track because I can listen to the instrumental with the vocals being recorded in the control and I can use the three blue panels to make a small vocal booth for Imani. The blue panels flatten any unwanted sound to prevent bleed during the recording of the track. However, if the is bleed in the recording I can get rid of that using volume automation or gating. This will allow me to hear the recorded vocals with very little or no bleed and this will make my track sound much better.
I used the three blue panels to create a triangular vocal booth for Imani because these panels flatten unwanted sound. I didn't want any unwanted sound during the recording process and by using the three blue panels I ensured that all the unwanted sound is flattened and not hearable.This means that when I have finished recording one vocal or more I can solo and listen to the recordings and notice that all the unwanted sound isn't there because of the blue panels and I also notice that there is very little or no bleed at all.
Before recording I had to rig the microphone up. I screwed the microphone onto the mic stand in front of a shield, I then placed a pop shield in front of the mic to prevent bursts of air being recorded. From there I connected and XLR cable from the mic into socket 3 of the I/O box. The stereo output is coming out of channels 1 & 2. So I chose not to connect the microphone those 2 inputs. I also had to rig up the headphone mixer so that Imani can hear himself and the music that is being played. I plugged a Jack - XLR cable from the headphone mixer's input and I plugged it into socket 'A' of the I/O box. I connected a headphone extension cable into a spare socket and I place it onto the handles that tighten the microphone stand. I did this because it would be easier for Imani to adjust the volume of the music he can hear in the headphones.
Once the headphone mixer was set up I powered it up, I went to the control room and opened the logic file that contained the instrumental I was working on with Imani. I then used the blue headphone gain knobs on channels 1 & 2 so that everything being played on logic is being played on the headphones. I also turned the headphone gain knob on channel three so that Imani able to hear himself through the headphones. I had to ensure the gain levels were just right because if the levels were too loud it will cause bleed in the recording and they were too quiet Imani wouldn't be able to hear what's being played. Once that was done I also listened to the music on the headphones and the music being played cause a lot of terrible distortion. I used the trim to get knob on the headphone mixer to rid of that distortion and it made the instrumental sound improved. I then went back into the control room and I checked whether Imani can hear me and I can hear him. I pressed the 'Cue' button on the mixing desk and I spoke to him to see if he could he me. If I did't have my finger on the 'Cue' button he wouldn't be able to hear me at all. From there I took my hand of the cue button and he responded straight away. This means I managed to get this process to work first time round without any problems.
I used the three blue panels to create a triangular vocal booth for Imani because these panels flatten unwanted sound. I didn't want any unwanted sound during the recording process and by using the three blue panels I ensured that all the unwanted sound is flattened and not hearable.This means that when I have finished recording one vocal or more I can solo and listen to the recordings and notice that all the unwanted sound isn't there because of the blue panels and I also notice that there is very little or no bleed at all.
Before recording I had to rig the microphone up. I screwed the microphone onto the mic stand in front of a shield, I then placed a pop shield in front of the mic to prevent bursts of air being recorded. From there I connected and XLR cable from the mic into socket 3 of the I/O box. The stereo output is coming out of channels 1 & 2. So I chose not to connect the microphone those 2 inputs. I also had to rig up the headphone mixer so that Imani can hear himself and the music that is being played. I plugged a Jack - XLR cable from the headphone mixer's input and I plugged it into socket 'A' of the I/O box. I connected a headphone extension cable into a spare socket and I place it onto the handles that tighten the microphone stand. I did this because it would be easier for Imani to adjust the volume of the music he can hear in the headphones.
Once the headphone mixer was set up I powered it up, I went to the control room and opened the logic file that contained the instrumental I was working on with Imani. I then used the blue headphone gain knobs on channels 1 & 2 so that everything being played on logic is being played on the headphones. I also turned the headphone gain knob on channel three so that Imani able to hear himself through the headphones. I had to ensure the gain levels were just right because if the levels were too loud it will cause bleed in the recording and they were too quiet Imani wouldn't be able to hear what's being played. Once that was done I also listened to the music on the headphones and the music being played cause a lot of terrible distortion. I used the trim to get knob on the headphone mixer to rid of that distortion and it made the instrumental sound improved. I then went back into the control room and I checked whether Imani can hear me and I can hear him. I pressed the 'Cue' button on the mixing desk and I spoke to him to see if he could he me. If I did't have my finger on the 'Cue' button he wouldn't be able to hear me at all. From there I took my hand of the cue button and he responded straight away. This means I managed to get this process to work first time round without any problems.
I recorded the track in comping mode. Comping mode is audio recording with the cycle turned on and I chose this method because it allows me to choose the best vocal take for the track and another thing I like about comping mode is I can select one part of a vocal take and select another part to make one perfect vocal take. By clicking the triangle on the top left of the vocal comp track I can look at all the takes I have recorded and listen to which take sounds the best and fits in with the track. I can also mute the unwanted bits by highlighting an empty section of another vocal take and getting rid of it.
It took me two sessions to record the entire track and after those two sessions I needed to un-rig the mic because there was no point in leaving it rigged up if I weren't going to use it anymore. Firstly I pulled channel three' fader down because if I had turned off the phantom power with the fader up I would've heard a little pop and I didn't want to happen. So it was crucial that the fader on the mixing desk was down. I then turned the phantom power off so that I could un-rig the microphone. From there I unplugged the XLR cable from the mic and I/O box. I then wrapped the cable into a circular shape and hanged it onto the peg. From there I unscrewed the mic from the mic stand and I put the mic back into it's box.
After that I turned the headphone mixer off and I un-rigged the headphones and extension. I wrapped the cable around the headphones and I wrapped the extension the same way I wrapped the XLR cable. Finally I put the blue panels back where I had taken them and I ensured that they were in line neatly. Once all of that was done I double checked that all the equipment I used were back in it's original place and I also checked that the mixing desk was flattened. I also ensured that the logic file was saved to the audio drive because if the file wasn't saved onto the audio drive I would've lost all my recordings and I would've had to record them all over again and this isn't what I wanted.
Before recording the track I had to ensure that the logic file was saved onto the audio drive. If the project wasn't saved onto the audio drive errors will have popped up on logic telling me I can't record. So it was important for me to save the file onto the audio drive. I named the logic file clearly so I know it's mine, I then saved the file to my folder of the audio drive and I ensured the 'Copy audio files to project' was ticked. If this wasn't ticked I would've lost all the recordings and this would've wasted a whole session. So it was vital that this box was ticked off.
Track 2 - I asked Camilla from 1st year performance to write and perform this track and I also got Reggie to rap on the bridge section. I asked Camilla to record this track because I have listened to her sing before and I really like the tone of her voice and I really like the way she performs her vocals. She is fluent when she sings and this are the kind of musicians that really make a song stand out strong.
Reggie wanted me to play some instrumentals to him to see whether he could rap to any of them. I Played him the track I was working on with Camilla and he was interested in rapping a section of the song. So I sent him the instrumental and he spoke to Camilla about lyrics so that he knows exactly what the song is about and knows what to write.
I recorded Camilla using the Rode NTK mic and I used this mic because it's a condenser mic and this mic has fantastic clarity. This means the vocals will sound clear and I won't need to do much with them when it comes to mixing them. I needed a brilliant sounding mic to record the vocals and the Rode NTK is the best mic to do the job.
Before recording I needed to rig the microphone up. The first thing I did was set up the blue panels to create a small vocal booth. I used the blue panels because these panels flatten any unwanted background noise. I didn't want any background noise in the recordings because it wouldn't make the recordings sound clear. Without the blue panels I would've heard bleeding in the recordings. So it was important for me to use the blue panels so that I can get rid of the background noise.
The next thing to do was place the mic on the mic stand and place the mic stand inside the vocal booth. I had to ensure the mic and mic stand were screwed on tight because if the were loose the mic would've dropped to the ground and this could damage the and if the mic stand wasn't screwed on tight it would've tilted to one side. So once I place the mic onto the mic stand and placed the mic stand inside the vocal booth I double checked that the mic and mic stand were screwed on tight.
The next thing was to plug the mic into the I/O box. I plugged the multicore cable from the mic into the power supply. I then plugged and XLR cable from the power supply into channel 3 of the I/O box. I plugged the XLR cable into this channel because the stereo output is coming out of channels 1 & 2 and it wouldn't be possible to record the vocals on the stereo output channels. So I plugged the mic into channel 3 because there was nothing coming out of channel 3.
The last thing to do was to plug the power cable from the power supply into a free socket. I then made sure the socket and power supply was switched off because if it was turned on and I wasn't using it the power supply and mic would've gotten really hot and this could damage the mic. So I made sure the socket and power supply was off.
After the mic had been rigged up I needed to rig the headphone mixer so that Camilla can listen to the backing track. I placed the headphone mixer near the vocal booth so that when I connect an extension cable into the headphone mixer I hook the extension onto one of the mic stand's hooks. This would be easier for Camilla to control the gain on the headphones.
I then plugged the headphones into the extension socket and I placed the headphones on the mic stand so that Camilla use and remove the headphones for herself. I then used a Jack - XLR cable from the I/O into the headphone mixer's input. This allows everything that is being played from the output to be heard in the headphones. The next thing to do was to plug the headphone mixer into a free socket and power it up and the last thing to do was to test the headphones. I needed to test the headphones because I needed to know whether the headphones were distorting or too quiet. I listened to the backing track and it didn't sound distorted but it was too quiet too hear. So I used the gain knob on the extension so that it was loud enough for Camilla. I didn't want the headphones to be too loud because it will cause bleed and that bleed would've been recorded with the vocals.
Once everything was rigged up in the live room I needed to open the logic file I was going to use to record Camilla. I went into the control room and I found the named file I was going to use to record the vocals. The next thing I did was set up audio channels for every section of the song. I did this because recording vocals on separate audio channels is easier to work with instead recording the entire song in one take. What I mean by easier is the recorded vocals can be mixed separately and each audio channel is labelled so you know which audio channel is the verse, chorus and so on. In the first session I only recorded lead vocals for each section apart from the bridge because Camilla needed more work on her harmonies, ad libs and backing vocals and the bridge section is the section where Reggie will rap on. I then made sure the faders on channels 1 & 2 were up and that the daw buttons were switched on. If the daw buttons were not switched on I wouldn't hear anything being played on logic. I also had to make sure the master fader and master gain knob were up as well because if these two controls were not up I wouldn't hear anything being played even if the daw buttons on the stereo output were turned on or the faders were up.
I then powered up the mic because I was ready to record Camilla and I needed to adjust the level for the mic. I didn't need to turn the phantom power on the desk because the NTK's power supply is the phantom power for the mic and this meant that there was not extra phantom power required for the mic. Before I could adjust levels I needed to pull channel 3's fader up so that I can hear Camilla communicating with me and I needed to make sure the mic's level was at descent level. I didn't want the level too loud because it will the recorded vocals will overpower and distort and if the level was too quiet I wouldn't be able to hear anything Camilla is singing or saying to me.
I then had to make sure that she could hear me and I could hear her. I pressed and held the cue button on the mixing desk and spoke to her to know that she could hear me. By pressing and holding the cue button everything I say will be heard by Camilla. If I didn't press and hold the cue button she wouldn't hear a thing. So I always pressed and held the cue button whenever I was communicating with her. As soon as she replied back I knew she could hear me and I could hear her. Now that everything was set I was able to start recording Camilla's vocals.
I recorded all the lead vocals in comping mode. Comping mode is audio recording with the cycle turned on and this allows me to choose or select the best bits from one take and select other good bits from another take. By using this mode I can create a perfect sounding take using the best bits from the recorded takes, Plus, this method of recording is easier for me because I don't have to record a take, play it back and delete it because it isn't good and repeat the same process again. This would waste a lot of time and recording in comping mode doesn't waste so much time and it helps me get most of the vocals recorded in one session. I used this method of recording to record the verses, pre chorus sections, chorus sections and bridge section.
Before I started recording her I told her how I was going to record her and she understood what she had to do. I set a cycle around the first verse and I told her which section we were going to record first. She did some run throughs before recording so that she can practise her lyrics and know what key to sing in. After she did some run throughs we were ready to record. I pressed record by pressing the 'R' button on the type pad and I recorded 4 - 5 takes for the first verse. I stopped recording after 5 takes and she wanted to listen to all the takes so that she could listen to the take she likes the most. I also told that in my spare time I will listen to all the take and select the bits I like the most and create one perfect take for the first verse. On the second verse I recorded 8 takes because Camilla did make a few minor errors such as singing one or two words in a flat key and getting her timing incorrect while singing. Recording more takes is another good way of finding the best bits of each take and making them perfect because the more takes that have been recorded the easier it is to find the best bits of each take and out them into one perfect take.
I then repeated the same method for record the first pre chorus section and chorus section. I didn't need to record the 2nd pre chorus or 2nd and 3rd chorus because after I recorded the first pre chorus and first chorus section I copied and pasted those recordings onto those sections. I did this because it saves time to record the next set of vocals for the song e.g. backing vocals, ad libs and harmonies and the lyrics of the pre chorus and chorus won't change. So it was easier for to just copy and paste those recordings rather than recording them again.
I wanted to record ad libs, backing vocals and harmonies but Camilla needed more time to practise that. I bounced the instrumental with the vocals to an mp3 file and sent it to her so that she can practise her harmonies, backing vocals and ad libs. She also told me that she get someone to help her out. So in the first session I managed to record all the lead vocals for all of the sections apart from the intro, outro and bridge because she only wrote vocals for the verses, pre chorus sections and chorus sections.
After I finished recording Camilla's vocals I saved and overwrite the same logic file with the recorded vocals. I also made sure that the 'Copy audio files to project' was ticked because if it wasn't I would've lost all the recorded vocals and that would've wasted an entire two hour session. It was crucial that this option was ticked off and once the project saved all the recorded vocals I quit logic, turned the gain knob on channel 3 to zero and pulled the fader down because I no longer needed it.
I then needed to unrig the headphone mixer and mic. I unrigged the headphone mixer first because the headphone mixer didn't have a lot of cables to wrap up. The first thing I did was turn off the power on the headphone mixer because I wanted to be sure that nothing will happen when I unrig it. In my opinion it's safer to unrig equipment when the power has been cut off. I unplugged the headphones from the extension and I unplugged the extension from the headphone mixer and I wrapped the extension into a spherical shape so that the extension is wrapped up neatly and I could hang it onto the peg where the XLR and Jack to XLR cables live. I then unplugged the Jack to XLR cable and wrapped it up the same way I wrapped up the headphone extension because the cable will wrapped up neatly and I placed the cable onto the peg where the other cables live because that is where I took the cable from and that's where it needs to be hanged after being used. Finally I wrapped the headphones up because I no longer needed them and I didn't want the cable to be all over the place.
Before unrigging the mic and I turned the power off on the power supply and socket because it would be a very bad idea to unrig the mic while the power is still on because the mic could've been damaged and the mic wouldn't be useful anymore. So I made the power on the mic was cut off completely. I then felt the power supply and mic and they were a tiny bit warm. So I left them to cool down for a bit before I could unrig it because I didn't want to unrig it while they were a bit warm because something could happen to the mic if the mic was unrigged while it was still warm. The NTK is a valve mic, plus, it becomes warm because it's being used for lengthly period of time and the power supply will be warm because it's providing power for the mic for a lengthly period of time.
Once the mic and power supply cooled down I unrigged the microphone by unplugging the XLR cable and wrapping it up the same way I wrapped up the headphone extension and Jack to XLR cable because this makes the cable look tidy and easy to hang onto the peg. I then unplugged the power cable from the socket and and power supply and I wrapped it up the same way I wrapped up the other cables so that it will fit into it's case. From there I unplugged the multicore cable from the mic and power supply and I wrapped it the same way I wrapped up the other cables and for the same reason as the mic's power cable to ensure the multicore cable could fit into it's case. I then put the power supply back into the case and finally I unscrewed the mic from the mic stand and I unscrewed the mount stand from the mic and I put the mic and mount stand back into it's case. Before I closed the case I double checked that everything was in the case and nothing was missing. Finally and closed and sealed the case shut so that nothing will fall out of the case.
The last thing to do was to move the blue panels back into their original position. I removed the mic stand from the small vocal booth and I placed each blue panel into an orderly line because that's how I found the blue panels while I was setting up and I knew I had to align them like that when I didn't need them anymore. I placed each blue panel near the back left corner of the live room where the mic stands were because that's where they were in the first place and I placed the mic stand in front of the blue panels because that's where I found the mic stand while I was setting up and that's where I had to put it when I didn't need it anymore. The last thing to do was to check everything is back in it's original place and that the live room looked neat and tidy.
Track 3 (Chord Progression, Melodies & Bass) - When I came up with an idea to produce the third track of my E.P I didn't have midi keyboard. The way I recorded the chord progression, melodies and bass is by used the type pad on my PC to play the chord progression, melodies and bass. Then I would use the piano roll and paste the notes in. This took some time because I'm using the type pad to play the ideas I have for the song and I'm using the piano roll to paste them in whereas with a midi keyboard you can play the ideas you have, record the ideas in and quantise them after, plus, it wastes less time because all you are doing is playing the melody or chord and recording it in and quantising it. On the other hand, there are good things about using the piano roll to paste notes in. All the notes will be the same velocity and all the notes will play the same velocity. You can also adjust the velocity of the notes manually so that they are equal with the other notes. Another good thing about pasting notes in is you can adjust the length of the note manually so the note is accurate, plus there is no need to quantise them because they are being adjusted anyway.
The first thing I recorded is the chord progression. I found I pad that I really liked on the vst plugin I was using and I knew It would definitely fit the style of music for my E.P. The first thing I did was play some chords on the type pad on my PC until I found the right chords to use. The next thing to do was to open the piano roll and play those chords so that it's easier to see which notes to paste in. After pasting the notes I adjusted the length of each and every notes so that each note is lasting two bars each and all together the chord progression will be 8 bars long. I made the chord progression using this method because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use for recording the ideas down and it also helped me with pasting the right notes after playing the chords and adjusting the length of the notes so that they are accurate. There was no need to open the quantise option. From there I repeated the same method for the melodies and bass that were going to be use in this track and this for the same reasons for making the chord progression but I didn't use legato notes for the melodies or bass because the melodies and bass are accompanying the chord progression and the song itself wouldn't sound entertaining at all.
Drums - I selected the drums I wanted to use for the song and I recorded the drums the same way I recorded the chord progression, melodies and bass. All the drums I used were one shot drums so there was no need to change the length of the notes because it wouldn't make any difference to how they were played. I used quarter for the drums because it makes the drum pattern look tidy and not messy.
The first thing I did was put the finger snaps on 3 & 7 and clap 7 only using the piano roll. I put these instruments in first because I found it easier to come up with a pattern for the kick drum. It would've been a bit difficult to come up with a pattern for the kick drum without the finger snap and clap because the finger snap and clap are guide instruments that will help me when I have an idea for the kick drum. Also the finger snaps and clap have a gentle sound. They don't sound harsh and tinny and these instruments fit in well with the track because of how they sound.
For the hats I found it to come up with an idea for the chorus sections only. For the other sections apart from the intro and outro I used 8th notes so that the hats played in simple form. When it came to the chorus I used 8th, 16th, 32nd & 64th notes so that the hats were playing like a live drummer would play. I didn't want the verses to be anything special because I wanted to save that for the chorus sections. As the chorus section comes in every instrument and sound will be played and I didn't want the chorus to sound exactly like the verse and by changing the drum patterns for each drum I was able to make the chorus sound more uptempo and lively.
For the snare drum I knew I wanted this drum play on the offbeat only and I pasted the notes in but not on every offbeat. I put the snare on the off beat because I knew that instruments hitting the offbeat add more groove to the song. House music is a good example of groove. The open hi hats and percussions are always playing on the offbeat and this is what makes house music uptempo, funky and groovy. Another reason why I put the snare drum on the offbeat is because it adds more rhythm and it does this by playing on the offbeat. If the snare was to hit 3 & 7 constantly it wouldn't sound like anything special but would be useful for layering the finger snaps and claps. I used the same snare for the chorus but I added in some extra notes so that the snare added more rhythm to the chorus and not sound like the verses.
I did grab another snare to play on the 3 & 7 and the offbeat in the chorus sections. In the chorus sections I take out the finger snaps and replace with snare drum. The snare drum I used in the chorus has a gentle punch and wide sound. It doesn't sound like a mono instrument and has a stereo image. I used the snare drum in the chorus because this snare really good at layering the clap. The snare is adding punch to the clap that is hitting 3 & 7. I also put the snare drum on the offbeat as well because the chorus sounds more improved and uptempo when it's hitting the off beat. I played the chorus without the snare hitting the offbeat and it didn't sound as great like the snare hitting the offbeat. SO I decided to keep the snare hitting 3 & 7 and the offbeat in the chorus sections.
I grabbed a rising sweep effect from the vst plugin I was using and I only pasted a half length note for it. I did this because I didn't want this sound effect lasting for too long and eventually the sound effect will have a harsh white noise sound I didn't this kind of sound in this song. This is why I kept this sound effect short. I also used a downlifter effect but I used a different plugin for it. I used the 3xOsc and I selected the white noise waveform for all three oscillators. I then opened the piano and pasted the note in and I made this note 8 bars long because I wanted the downlifter to last longer than the riser. I then used a lo pass filter and automated it because the automation will cut off every frequency gradually and will sound like a proper downlifting sound effect. Without the automation the sound effect will just sound like harsh and piercing white noise.
Track 4 (Chords, Melodies and Sub Bass) - For recording the chords, melodies and sub bass for this track I had to use my PC's type pad to play the ideas and use the piano roll to paste the notes. I did this because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use for playing and recording the ideas. So it became a bit difficult to record the ideas without the midi keyboard. Also it took me some time to paste each and every single note for each sound I was going to use in this track.
There are good things bad things about using the piano roll. The first good thing about using the piano roll is you adjust the length so it's accurate and placed on the first beat of the bar. Another good thing about using the piano roll is all the velocities will be the same and the velocities can be adjusted if necessary. Another good thing about using the piano roll is you can remove the wrong notes in a melody or chord progression and paste in the right notes.
The bad things about using the piano roll is it takes more time to create the melodies, chord progressions, bass, etc than using a midi keyboard. There are parameters you can't control or will have to automate such as the pitch and modulation. On the midi keyboard you can change the octave you play the melodies, chord progressions, etc using the + & - buttons that are located above the pitch and modulation wheel whereas the piano roll you would need to scroll up to paste the notes on a different octave.
The first thing I recorded is the chord progression. I selected the pad I wanted to use and I played some chords using the type pad on my PC. Once I came up with a chord progression I opened the piano roll and I played the chords so that I can see which notes I was playing and paste the notes in. I then adjusted each note so that they last two bars each and the chord progression itself is 8 bars long. I recorded the chord progression this way because the chord progression was the easiest part to record even without a midi keyboard. It was easy to look at the piano roll and know which notes I'm playing so that I could paste the correct notes in once. It was also easy to adjust the length of the notes because I made sure the notes were placed on the first beat of the bar and I also made sure that each and every note was 2 bars long so that the chord progression itself is 8 bars long. From there I repeated the same steps I took for recording the chord progression to record the sub bass and melodies.
Drums - I dragged the one shot drum samples I wanted to use for creating the rhythm of the song. I started off using the kick drum because the kick is main key instrument that everyone likes to listen to. I didn't use the type pad to create a pattern for the kick drum because I already had a good idea of how the kick drum should play and it was easier to paste the notes in rather than using the type pad first. Then I placed the some kicks on the beat and some on the off beat and I did this because the kick drum is a powerful instrument and the kick drum gives a better groove to mostly the sub bass because the sub bass is being played every time the kick is being played.
The only thing I did for the snares is I placed them on mostly 3 & 7. On the last bar of the chord progression the snares play on the offbeat. I did this because the snare is a guide instrument that helps keep the rhythm itself in time with the chord progression, melodies and sub bass. I used more than one snare because one snare alone didn't have enough crunch and layering them with two extra snares was a good way for me to make one snare much more crunchy, plus they also deliver a brighter sound while all three of them are being played together. I used an extra snare in the chorus but I didn't place on 3 & 7. I placed them mostly on the offbeat because I wanted this snare to add groove. The offbeat was the best place to put the snare because the offbeat is what gives the groove. If the snare was constantly hitting 3 & seven with the other snare drums they would've clashed and the sound would of the snares altogether would sound harsh. Also there was no need to add an extra on 3 & 7 because in this track there are snares and I wanted to make the rhythm for the chorus more complex than the verses.
For the hats I used 8th, 16th, 32nd & 64th notes and I used these notes because these notes help the hats sound like hats you would hear in hip hop music and these notes make the whole rhythm more entertaining when it's played with the chord progression and melodies. For the first 4 bars I used 8th and 32nd notes and in the last for bars I added 16th and 64th notes. I wanted the first 4 bars to not be too complex because I wanted to save that for the last four bars because I wanted to variate the way the hats play in the song. I didn't want the hats in the first 4 bars playing constantly throughout the song because the hats wouldn't have done a good job at making the drums sound entertaining and the drums wouldn't have presence. By variating hats I was able to make the drums stand out and have presence.
The next thing I did for the drums is add a reverberated clap hitting 7 only. I did this because this clap has quite a bit of reverb and and if the clap were to hit 3 & 7 I would hear a tiny bit of clashing and I didn't want them to clash. Another reason why I put the clap on seven is so that the 7th bar has and impact. The reverberated clap is giving that impact and when layered with the snare drums it gives even more impact because the thwack of the snare drums is giving a stronger impact as it hits with the clap. This is happens in the chorus sections only because by putting the clap on the chorus sections it's not repetitive in the other sections if the song and it makes the chorus sound much different to the verses because of the amount instruments and sounds that are being played in the chorus.
The last thing I did for the song is I dragged a sound effect from a drum pack and I placed it onto a free region rather than placing it in the sequencer. I did this because I wanted to make sure the sound effect hit the first beat of the bar. I can't do this on the sequencer because I won't be able to see the waveform of the sound effect and by looking at the waveform I can cut up parts I don't need and I can align the sample or any sample so that it's hitting the first beat of the bar.
Track 5 (Chords, Melodies, Bass) - For recording the piano chords I used my PC's type pad to play some chords and I used the piano to see which notes I was playing so that I can paste them in and adjust the length of the notes. I recorded the piano this way because I didn't have have a midi keyboard to use while I was composing this track. So it took me longer to get an idea of what the chord progression should be and what it should sound like. I then made a note of the chord progression so that when I an electric piano & pad from garageband I know which chords to put in.
For recording the chords on the electric piano and pad on garageband I opened two channel regions so that I can paste the notes into the piano roll. For the electric piano I didn't want all the notes playing together. I wanted them to play separately because the electric piano would've not sounded any different to the piano if all the notes were being played at the same and the electric piano would sound much more subtle and gentle. For the pad I decided to make all the notes 8th notes because I wanted the pad to play stabs instead of playing legato. If the pad was playing legato notes the pad would've drowned out the other sounds and instruments in the song because the pad has reverb and reverb is what drowns out parts of the song. For the rest of the sounds I repeated the same steps for recording piano, electric piano and pad to record the melodies and bassline.
Drums - After I dragged the one shot drums I wanted to use the first pattern I made was the snare pattern. I placed the snare on 2 & 4 on the piano roll and I did this because the snares will help me with making a pattern for the kick drum. The snare drum will be a guide instrument to me and when I play the kick drum I can get and idea for this instruments. Another reason why I started off with the snare is because the only thing I had to do was put notes on 2 & 4 and it didn't take very long whereas with other instruments I will take me a bit longer.
For the kick I played it by using a key on my PC's type pad so that I would be able to play the kick in time with the snare and I would be able to come up with a good idea of how the kick should sound like. I opened the piano roll and I started pasting the notes in for the kick drum pattern. As I was doing thisI wanted the kick drum to be swung. I wanted the kick drum to be swung because with the kick drum swung the kick will sound more old school than new school. Old school is one of the styles the fifth track obtains and the kick was the most essential that will make the fifth track sound like old school.
For the closed hats I pasted 8th notes into the piano roll only and I used 8th notes because I didn't want the hats to be play in a complex way. Since this track has a bit of old school in it I didn't want the hats to sound like new school hip hop or trap because it wouldn't fit in well with the track. By using 8th notes in this song I made sure the drums sounded simple but effective as well. I also placed open hats on the offbeat and I did this because placing instruments like percussions or open hats on the offbeat adds groove to the drums and the track itself. There is also space on the offbeat for the open hats to play on and it prevents the open hats from clashing with the other instruments.
The only thing I did for the crash cymbal was place it on the first beat of the bar using the sequencer instead of the piano roll. I used the sequencer because the pattern isn't a long pattern like the kick drum or hats and I only needed one crash cymbal. From there I placed the crash cymbal every 4 bars and I did this because the crash cymbal helps keep track with how many bars one section is playing. For example, there will be 4 crash cymbals playing in the verses and chorus sections. This means these sections are 16 bars long and this is because there is a crash cymbal for every 4 bars.
Finally, I pasted in 4 16th notes into the piano and changed the last two notes to a lower key. I used 16th notes because 16th notes make the tom fill sound like it's being played faster and it also sounds like the hi, mid and lo tom are being played even though the tom is a one shot sample. The tom fill in this song doesn't do much. The only thing the tom fill does is introduces the next section of the song.
The last thing to do was to make each drum instrument have there channel to play in because if all the drums were being played in one channel it wouldn't be easy to take some instruments out. Another reason why I wanted each drum instrument to have the own channel to play is because I can solo each drum instrument and I can note down which instrument is the kick, snare, hats, crash, etc. Plus, I can mix the instruments with confidence and flair because I'm only looking at one frequency only rather mixing all the lo end, mids and hi end altogether.
Track 6 (Chords, Melodies & Bass) - I produced the last instrumental for my E.P in college using Logic 9 and this meant I can use a midi keyboard to create the chords, melodies, bassline and drums. Before recording the chords I played them on the midi keyboard with the metronome so that I can get the timing correct. I then pressed 'R' type pad to start recording and pressed the space bar to finish recording. I used 'R' and the space bar because these two function are shortcuts for starting and stopping a recording and I don't have to use the mouse as much or at all. I opened the piano roll and noticed the notes were not on the beat. So used the shortcut 'cmd + a' to select all the notes and I quantised them to 1/4 so that the chord progression is on the first beat of the bar. The next thing I did is made the adjust the length of the notes so that all the notes used in the chord progression are equal. I didn't need to press 'cmd + a' because they were still selected when I quantised them. I then selected the 'note force legato' option and that made every note in the chord progression equal length. The only thing that was left to do was to make the velocities on the chord progression equal. All the notes in the chord progression were still selected when I quantised them and adjusted the length of them. So there was no need to press 'cmd + a'. I selected the 'Fixed Velocity' option and what this function does is it turns makes every note the same velocity and it's quicker than manually adjusting the velocity. I didn't want the velocity to be at 127 because 127 is a harsh velocity and I wanted a gentle velocity not only for the chord progression but for the other sounds and drums as well. I made the velocity on the chord progression 80 and 80 was a good number for the chord progression because the chord progression didn't sound harsh as it was being played and it the chord progression was playing smoothly and gently. The last thing to do was to click 'Select and Operate' because if this option wasn't used the velocities wouldn't have changed. 'Select and Operate' is the final function of making all the notes' velocities the same.
For the strings I copied the main chord progression onto the channel with the string section, I opened the piano roll and the only thing I did was take a few notes out. I did this because I didn't want the strings playing the same chord progression like the electric piano because these two sounds would've clashed together. By taking a few notes out of the string section the strings didn't clash with the electric piano and the strings helped accompany the main chord progression. The strings have a subtle tone and brightness and these two elements from the string section is what helped accompany the main chord progression. There was no need to re record, quantise, note force legato or velocity adjust the strings because the main chord progression I copied to the string section was already recorded, quantised, note force legato and velocity adjusted. After recording the two chord progressions I repeated the same steps to record the melodies and bassline for the final track.
Drums - I used ultrabeat to make the rhythm of the track and I didn't record them in. Ultrabeat has a sequencer that allows me to create the drum pattern and drag onto the channel and this is a quicker way of making the drums rather than recording them in. I don't need to quantise the drums, I don't need to adjust the length or velocity of the drum because all that information is registered onto ultrabeat. I made the drum pattern for the chorus first because I was going very instrument in the chorus and by making the drum patter for the chorus I can drag the finished pattern onto the channel and I can create new ultrabeat channels so that the kick, snare, open and closed hats have there own channel to live rather that than all the drums being played in one channel. Another reason I did this is because when it come to mixing the final track I can mix each instrument and sound individually. If the drum pattern was playing in one channel it would be hard to mix because I would be looking at so many different frequencies and that would it difficult for me to mix down. This is why I put each drum instrument into there own channels because I name them appropriately and I can mix them down with confidence and flair.
After I created the drum pattern I dragged the pattern onto the ultrabeat channel. I the opened the piano roll and I looked at the velocities and the velocities need changing. I changed the velocities because the wasn't at 80 and I wanted them at 80 because the velocities of the chords, melodies and bassline were at 80 and I wanted to make the drums equal with the sounds. I pressed 'cmd + a' to select all the notes and I used the 'Fixed Velocity' option and I changed the velocity to 80 and clicked 'select and operate' and this made all the notes' velocities 80. The last thing to do was to create new channels and copy the drum pattern into each new created channel. I then opened the piano roll and took out the instruments so that the kick is playing one channel, the snare is playing on one channel and so forth. I also had to ensure that ultrabeat was turned off because if ultrabeat was still on the drums playing on ultrabeat would've clashed with the drums playing on the grid. So this was another thing to be careful of.
It took me two sessions to record the entire track and after those two sessions I needed to un-rig the mic because there was no point in leaving it rigged up if I weren't going to use it anymore. Firstly I pulled channel three' fader down because if I had turned off the phantom power with the fader up I would've heard a little pop and I didn't want to happen. So it was crucial that the fader on the mixing desk was down. I then turned the phantom power off so that I could un-rig the microphone. From there I unplugged the XLR cable from the mic and I/O box. I then wrapped the cable into a circular shape and hanged it onto the peg. From there I unscrewed the mic from the mic stand and I put the mic back into it's box.
After that I turned the headphone mixer off and I un-rigged the headphones and extension. I wrapped the cable around the headphones and I wrapped the extension the same way I wrapped the XLR cable. Finally I put the blue panels back where I had taken them and I ensured that they were in line neatly. Once all of that was done I double checked that all the equipment I used were back in it's original place and I also checked that the mixing desk was flattened. I also ensured that the logic file was saved to the audio drive because if the file wasn't saved onto the audio drive I would've lost all my recordings and I would've had to record them all over again and this isn't what I wanted.
Before recording the track I had to ensure that the logic file was saved onto the audio drive. If the project wasn't saved onto the audio drive errors will have popped up on logic telling me I can't record. So it was important for me to save the file onto the audio drive. I named the logic file clearly so I know it's mine, I then saved the file to my folder of the audio drive and I ensured the 'Copy audio files to project' was ticked. If this wasn't ticked I would've lost all the recordings and this would've wasted a whole session. So it was vital that this box was ticked off.
Track 2 - I asked Camilla from 1st year performance to write and perform this track and I also got Reggie to rap on the bridge section. I asked Camilla to record this track because I have listened to her sing before and I really like the tone of her voice and I really like the way she performs her vocals. She is fluent when she sings and this are the kind of musicians that really make a song stand out strong.
Reggie wanted me to play some instrumentals to him to see whether he could rap to any of them. I Played him the track I was working on with Camilla and he was interested in rapping a section of the song. So I sent him the instrumental and he spoke to Camilla about lyrics so that he knows exactly what the song is about and knows what to write.
I recorded Camilla using the Rode NTK mic and I used this mic because it's a condenser mic and this mic has fantastic clarity. This means the vocals will sound clear and I won't need to do much with them when it comes to mixing them. I needed a brilliant sounding mic to record the vocals and the Rode NTK is the best mic to do the job.
Before recording I needed to rig the microphone up. The first thing I did was set up the blue panels to create a small vocal booth. I used the blue panels because these panels flatten any unwanted background noise. I didn't want any background noise in the recordings because it wouldn't make the recordings sound clear. Without the blue panels I would've heard bleeding in the recordings. So it was important for me to use the blue panels so that I can get rid of the background noise.
The next thing to do was place the mic on the mic stand and place the mic stand inside the vocal booth. I had to ensure the mic and mic stand were screwed on tight because if the were loose the mic would've dropped to the ground and this could damage the and if the mic stand wasn't screwed on tight it would've tilted to one side. So once I place the mic onto the mic stand and placed the mic stand inside the vocal booth I double checked that the mic and mic stand were screwed on tight.
The next thing was to plug the mic into the I/O box. I plugged the multicore cable from the mic into the power supply. I then plugged and XLR cable from the power supply into channel 3 of the I/O box. I plugged the XLR cable into this channel because the stereo output is coming out of channels 1 & 2 and it wouldn't be possible to record the vocals on the stereo output channels. So I plugged the mic into channel 3 because there was nothing coming out of channel 3.
The last thing to do was to plug the power cable from the power supply into a free socket. I then made sure the socket and power supply was switched off because if it was turned on and I wasn't using it the power supply and mic would've gotten really hot and this could damage the mic. So I made sure the socket and power supply was off.
After the mic had been rigged up I needed to rig the headphone mixer so that Camilla can listen to the backing track. I placed the headphone mixer near the vocal booth so that when I connect an extension cable into the headphone mixer I hook the extension onto one of the mic stand's hooks. This would be easier for Camilla to control the gain on the headphones.
I then plugged the headphones into the extension socket and I placed the headphones on the mic stand so that Camilla use and remove the headphones for herself. I then used a Jack - XLR cable from the I/O into the headphone mixer's input. This allows everything that is being played from the output to be heard in the headphones. The next thing to do was to plug the headphone mixer into a free socket and power it up and the last thing to do was to test the headphones. I needed to test the headphones because I needed to know whether the headphones were distorting or too quiet. I listened to the backing track and it didn't sound distorted but it was too quiet too hear. So I used the gain knob on the extension so that it was loud enough for Camilla. I didn't want the headphones to be too loud because it will cause bleed and that bleed would've been recorded with the vocals.
Once everything was rigged up in the live room I needed to open the logic file I was going to use to record Camilla. I went into the control room and I found the named file I was going to use to record the vocals. The next thing I did was set up audio channels for every section of the song. I did this because recording vocals on separate audio channels is easier to work with instead recording the entire song in one take. What I mean by easier is the recorded vocals can be mixed separately and each audio channel is labelled so you know which audio channel is the verse, chorus and so on. In the first session I only recorded lead vocals for each section apart from the bridge because Camilla needed more work on her harmonies, ad libs and backing vocals and the bridge section is the section where Reggie will rap on. I then made sure the faders on channels 1 & 2 were up and that the daw buttons were switched on. If the daw buttons were not switched on I wouldn't hear anything being played on logic. I also had to make sure the master fader and master gain knob were up as well because if these two controls were not up I wouldn't hear anything being played even if the daw buttons on the stereo output were turned on or the faders were up.
I then powered up the mic because I was ready to record Camilla and I needed to adjust the level for the mic. I didn't need to turn the phantom power on the desk because the NTK's power supply is the phantom power for the mic and this meant that there was not extra phantom power required for the mic. Before I could adjust levels I needed to pull channel 3's fader up so that I can hear Camilla communicating with me and I needed to make sure the mic's level was at descent level. I didn't want the level too loud because it will the recorded vocals will overpower and distort and if the level was too quiet I wouldn't be able to hear anything Camilla is singing or saying to me.
I then had to make sure that she could hear me and I could hear her. I pressed and held the cue button on the mixing desk and spoke to her to know that she could hear me. By pressing and holding the cue button everything I say will be heard by Camilla. If I didn't press and hold the cue button she wouldn't hear a thing. So I always pressed and held the cue button whenever I was communicating with her. As soon as she replied back I knew she could hear me and I could hear her. Now that everything was set I was able to start recording Camilla's vocals.
I recorded all the lead vocals in comping mode. Comping mode is audio recording with the cycle turned on and this allows me to choose or select the best bits from one take and select other good bits from another take. By using this mode I can create a perfect sounding take using the best bits from the recorded takes, Plus, this method of recording is easier for me because I don't have to record a take, play it back and delete it because it isn't good and repeat the same process again. This would waste a lot of time and recording in comping mode doesn't waste so much time and it helps me get most of the vocals recorded in one session. I used this method of recording to record the verses, pre chorus sections, chorus sections and bridge section.
Before I started recording her I told her how I was going to record her and she understood what she had to do. I set a cycle around the first verse and I told her which section we were going to record first. She did some run throughs before recording so that she can practise her lyrics and know what key to sing in. After she did some run throughs we were ready to record. I pressed record by pressing the 'R' button on the type pad and I recorded 4 - 5 takes for the first verse. I stopped recording after 5 takes and she wanted to listen to all the takes so that she could listen to the take she likes the most. I also told that in my spare time I will listen to all the take and select the bits I like the most and create one perfect take for the first verse. On the second verse I recorded 8 takes because Camilla did make a few minor errors such as singing one or two words in a flat key and getting her timing incorrect while singing. Recording more takes is another good way of finding the best bits of each take and making them perfect because the more takes that have been recorded the easier it is to find the best bits of each take and out them into one perfect take.
I then repeated the same method for record the first pre chorus section and chorus section. I didn't need to record the 2nd pre chorus or 2nd and 3rd chorus because after I recorded the first pre chorus and first chorus section I copied and pasted those recordings onto those sections. I did this because it saves time to record the next set of vocals for the song e.g. backing vocals, ad libs and harmonies and the lyrics of the pre chorus and chorus won't change. So it was easier for to just copy and paste those recordings rather than recording them again.
I wanted to record ad libs, backing vocals and harmonies but Camilla needed more time to practise that. I bounced the instrumental with the vocals to an mp3 file and sent it to her so that she can practise her harmonies, backing vocals and ad libs. She also told me that she get someone to help her out. So in the first session I managed to record all the lead vocals for all of the sections apart from the intro, outro and bridge because she only wrote vocals for the verses, pre chorus sections and chorus sections.
After I finished recording Camilla's vocals I saved and overwrite the same logic file with the recorded vocals. I also made sure that the 'Copy audio files to project' was ticked because if it wasn't I would've lost all the recorded vocals and that would've wasted an entire two hour session. It was crucial that this option was ticked off and once the project saved all the recorded vocals I quit logic, turned the gain knob on channel 3 to zero and pulled the fader down because I no longer needed it.
I then needed to unrig the headphone mixer and mic. I unrigged the headphone mixer first because the headphone mixer didn't have a lot of cables to wrap up. The first thing I did was turn off the power on the headphone mixer because I wanted to be sure that nothing will happen when I unrig it. In my opinion it's safer to unrig equipment when the power has been cut off. I unplugged the headphones from the extension and I unplugged the extension from the headphone mixer and I wrapped the extension into a spherical shape so that the extension is wrapped up neatly and I could hang it onto the peg where the XLR and Jack to XLR cables live. I then unplugged the Jack to XLR cable and wrapped it up the same way I wrapped up the headphone extension because the cable will wrapped up neatly and I placed the cable onto the peg where the other cables live because that is where I took the cable from and that's where it needs to be hanged after being used. Finally I wrapped the headphones up because I no longer needed them and I didn't want the cable to be all over the place.
Before unrigging the mic and I turned the power off on the power supply and socket because it would be a very bad idea to unrig the mic while the power is still on because the mic could've been damaged and the mic wouldn't be useful anymore. So I made the power on the mic was cut off completely. I then felt the power supply and mic and they were a tiny bit warm. So I left them to cool down for a bit before I could unrig it because I didn't want to unrig it while they were a bit warm because something could happen to the mic if the mic was unrigged while it was still warm. The NTK is a valve mic, plus, it becomes warm because it's being used for lengthly period of time and the power supply will be warm because it's providing power for the mic for a lengthly period of time.
Once the mic and power supply cooled down I unrigged the microphone by unplugging the XLR cable and wrapping it up the same way I wrapped up the headphone extension and Jack to XLR cable because this makes the cable look tidy and easy to hang onto the peg. I then unplugged the power cable from the socket and and power supply and I wrapped it up the same way I wrapped up the other cables so that it will fit into it's case. From there I unplugged the multicore cable from the mic and power supply and I wrapped it the same way I wrapped up the other cables and for the same reason as the mic's power cable to ensure the multicore cable could fit into it's case. I then put the power supply back into the case and finally I unscrewed the mic from the mic stand and I unscrewed the mount stand from the mic and I put the mic and mount stand back into it's case. Before I closed the case I double checked that everything was in the case and nothing was missing. Finally and closed and sealed the case shut so that nothing will fall out of the case.
The last thing to do was to move the blue panels back into their original position. I removed the mic stand from the small vocal booth and I placed each blue panel into an orderly line because that's how I found the blue panels while I was setting up and I knew I had to align them like that when I didn't need them anymore. I placed each blue panel near the back left corner of the live room where the mic stands were because that's where they were in the first place and I placed the mic stand in front of the blue panels because that's where I found the mic stand while I was setting up and that's where I had to put it when I didn't need it anymore. The last thing to do was to check everything is back in it's original place and that the live room looked neat and tidy.
Track 3 (Chord Progression, Melodies & Bass) - When I came up with an idea to produce the third track of my E.P I didn't have midi keyboard. The way I recorded the chord progression, melodies and bass is by used the type pad on my PC to play the chord progression, melodies and bass. Then I would use the piano roll and paste the notes in. This took some time because I'm using the type pad to play the ideas I have for the song and I'm using the piano roll to paste them in whereas with a midi keyboard you can play the ideas you have, record the ideas in and quantise them after, plus, it wastes less time because all you are doing is playing the melody or chord and recording it in and quantising it. On the other hand, there are good things about using the piano roll to paste notes in. All the notes will be the same velocity and all the notes will play the same velocity. You can also adjust the velocity of the notes manually so that they are equal with the other notes. Another good thing about pasting notes in is you can adjust the length of the note manually so the note is accurate, plus there is no need to quantise them because they are being adjusted anyway.
The first thing I recorded is the chord progression. I found I pad that I really liked on the vst plugin I was using and I knew It would definitely fit the style of music for my E.P. The first thing I did was play some chords on the type pad on my PC until I found the right chords to use. The next thing to do was to open the piano roll and play those chords so that it's easier to see which notes to paste in. After pasting the notes I adjusted the length of each and every notes so that each note is lasting two bars each and all together the chord progression will be 8 bars long. I made the chord progression using this method because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use for recording the ideas down and it also helped me with pasting the right notes after playing the chords and adjusting the length of the notes so that they are accurate. There was no need to open the quantise option. From there I repeated the same method for the melodies and bass that were going to be use in this track and this for the same reasons for making the chord progression but I didn't use legato notes for the melodies or bass because the melodies and bass are accompanying the chord progression and the song itself wouldn't sound entertaining at all.
Drums - I selected the drums I wanted to use for the song and I recorded the drums the same way I recorded the chord progression, melodies and bass. All the drums I used were one shot drums so there was no need to change the length of the notes because it wouldn't make any difference to how they were played. I used quarter for the drums because it makes the drum pattern look tidy and not messy.
The first thing I did was put the finger snaps on 3 & 7 and clap 7 only using the piano roll. I put these instruments in first because I found it easier to come up with a pattern for the kick drum. It would've been a bit difficult to come up with a pattern for the kick drum without the finger snap and clap because the finger snap and clap are guide instruments that will help me when I have an idea for the kick drum. Also the finger snaps and clap have a gentle sound. They don't sound harsh and tinny and these instruments fit in well with the track because of how they sound.
For the hats I found it to come up with an idea for the chorus sections only. For the other sections apart from the intro and outro I used 8th notes so that the hats played in simple form. When it came to the chorus I used 8th, 16th, 32nd & 64th notes so that the hats were playing like a live drummer would play. I didn't want the verses to be anything special because I wanted to save that for the chorus sections. As the chorus section comes in every instrument and sound will be played and I didn't want the chorus to sound exactly like the verse and by changing the drum patterns for each drum I was able to make the chorus sound more uptempo and lively.
For the snare drum I knew I wanted this drum play on the offbeat only and I pasted the notes in but not on every offbeat. I put the snare on the off beat because I knew that instruments hitting the offbeat add more groove to the song. House music is a good example of groove. The open hi hats and percussions are always playing on the offbeat and this is what makes house music uptempo, funky and groovy. Another reason why I put the snare drum on the offbeat is because it adds more rhythm and it does this by playing on the offbeat. If the snare was to hit 3 & 7 constantly it wouldn't sound like anything special but would be useful for layering the finger snaps and claps. I used the same snare for the chorus but I added in some extra notes so that the snare added more rhythm to the chorus and not sound like the verses.
I did grab another snare to play on the 3 & 7 and the offbeat in the chorus sections. In the chorus sections I take out the finger snaps and replace with snare drum. The snare drum I used in the chorus has a gentle punch and wide sound. It doesn't sound like a mono instrument and has a stereo image. I used the snare drum in the chorus because this snare really good at layering the clap. The snare is adding punch to the clap that is hitting 3 & 7. I also put the snare drum on the offbeat as well because the chorus sounds more improved and uptempo when it's hitting the off beat. I played the chorus without the snare hitting the offbeat and it didn't sound as great like the snare hitting the offbeat. SO I decided to keep the snare hitting 3 & 7 and the offbeat in the chorus sections.
I grabbed a rising sweep effect from the vst plugin I was using and I only pasted a half length note for it. I did this because I didn't want this sound effect lasting for too long and eventually the sound effect will have a harsh white noise sound I didn't this kind of sound in this song. This is why I kept this sound effect short. I also used a downlifter effect but I used a different plugin for it. I used the 3xOsc and I selected the white noise waveform for all three oscillators. I then opened the piano and pasted the note in and I made this note 8 bars long because I wanted the downlifter to last longer than the riser. I then used a lo pass filter and automated it because the automation will cut off every frequency gradually and will sound like a proper downlifting sound effect. Without the automation the sound effect will just sound like harsh and piercing white noise.
Track 4 (Chords, Melodies and Sub Bass) - For recording the chords, melodies and sub bass for this track I had to use my PC's type pad to play the ideas and use the piano roll to paste the notes. I did this because I didn't have a midi keyboard to use for playing and recording the ideas. So it became a bit difficult to record the ideas without the midi keyboard. Also it took me some time to paste each and every single note for each sound I was going to use in this track.
There are good things bad things about using the piano roll. The first good thing about using the piano roll is you adjust the length so it's accurate and placed on the first beat of the bar. Another good thing about using the piano roll is all the velocities will be the same and the velocities can be adjusted if necessary. Another good thing about using the piano roll is you can remove the wrong notes in a melody or chord progression and paste in the right notes.
The bad things about using the piano roll is it takes more time to create the melodies, chord progressions, bass, etc than using a midi keyboard. There are parameters you can't control or will have to automate such as the pitch and modulation. On the midi keyboard you can change the octave you play the melodies, chord progressions, etc using the + & - buttons that are located above the pitch and modulation wheel whereas the piano roll you would need to scroll up to paste the notes on a different octave.
The first thing I recorded is the chord progression. I selected the pad I wanted to use and I played some chords using the type pad on my PC. Once I came up with a chord progression I opened the piano roll and I played the chords so that I can see which notes I was playing and paste the notes in. I then adjusted each note so that they last two bars each and the chord progression itself is 8 bars long. I recorded the chord progression this way because the chord progression was the easiest part to record even without a midi keyboard. It was easy to look at the piano roll and know which notes I'm playing so that I could paste the correct notes in once. It was also easy to adjust the length of the notes because I made sure the notes were placed on the first beat of the bar and I also made sure that each and every note was 2 bars long so that the chord progression itself is 8 bars long. From there I repeated the same steps I took for recording the chord progression to record the sub bass and melodies.
Drums - I dragged the one shot drum samples I wanted to use for creating the rhythm of the song. I started off using the kick drum because the kick is main key instrument that everyone likes to listen to. I didn't use the type pad to create a pattern for the kick drum because I already had a good idea of how the kick drum should play and it was easier to paste the notes in rather than using the type pad first. Then I placed the some kicks on the beat and some on the off beat and I did this because the kick drum is a powerful instrument and the kick drum gives a better groove to mostly the sub bass because the sub bass is being played every time the kick is being played.
The only thing I did for the snares is I placed them on mostly 3 & 7. On the last bar of the chord progression the snares play on the offbeat. I did this because the snare is a guide instrument that helps keep the rhythm itself in time with the chord progression, melodies and sub bass. I used more than one snare because one snare alone didn't have enough crunch and layering them with two extra snares was a good way for me to make one snare much more crunchy, plus they also deliver a brighter sound while all three of them are being played together. I used an extra snare in the chorus but I didn't place on 3 & 7. I placed them mostly on the offbeat because I wanted this snare to add groove. The offbeat was the best place to put the snare because the offbeat is what gives the groove. If the snare was constantly hitting 3 & seven with the other snare drums they would've clashed and the sound would of the snares altogether would sound harsh. Also there was no need to add an extra on 3 & 7 because in this track there are snares and I wanted to make the rhythm for the chorus more complex than the verses.
For the hats I used 8th, 16th, 32nd & 64th notes and I used these notes because these notes help the hats sound like hats you would hear in hip hop music and these notes make the whole rhythm more entertaining when it's played with the chord progression and melodies. For the first 4 bars I used 8th and 32nd notes and in the last for bars I added 16th and 64th notes. I wanted the first 4 bars to not be too complex because I wanted to save that for the last four bars because I wanted to variate the way the hats play in the song. I didn't want the hats in the first 4 bars playing constantly throughout the song because the hats wouldn't have done a good job at making the drums sound entertaining and the drums wouldn't have presence. By variating hats I was able to make the drums stand out and have presence.
The next thing I did for the drums is add a reverberated clap hitting 7 only. I did this because this clap has quite a bit of reverb and and if the clap were to hit 3 & 7 I would hear a tiny bit of clashing and I didn't want them to clash. Another reason why I put the clap on seven is so that the 7th bar has and impact. The reverberated clap is giving that impact and when layered with the snare drums it gives even more impact because the thwack of the snare drums is giving a stronger impact as it hits with the clap. This is happens in the chorus sections only because by putting the clap on the chorus sections it's not repetitive in the other sections if the song and it makes the chorus sound much different to the verses because of the amount instruments and sounds that are being played in the chorus.
The last thing I did for the song is I dragged a sound effect from a drum pack and I placed it onto a free region rather than placing it in the sequencer. I did this because I wanted to make sure the sound effect hit the first beat of the bar. I can't do this on the sequencer because I won't be able to see the waveform of the sound effect and by looking at the waveform I can cut up parts I don't need and I can align the sample or any sample so that it's hitting the first beat of the bar.
Track 5 (Chords, Melodies, Bass) - For recording the piano chords I used my PC's type pad to play some chords and I used the piano to see which notes I was playing so that I can paste them in and adjust the length of the notes. I recorded the piano this way because I didn't have have a midi keyboard to use while I was composing this track. So it took me longer to get an idea of what the chord progression should be and what it should sound like. I then made a note of the chord progression so that when I an electric piano & pad from garageband I know which chords to put in.
For recording the chords on the electric piano and pad on garageband I opened two channel regions so that I can paste the notes into the piano roll. For the electric piano I didn't want all the notes playing together. I wanted them to play separately because the electric piano would've not sounded any different to the piano if all the notes were being played at the same and the electric piano would sound much more subtle and gentle. For the pad I decided to make all the notes 8th notes because I wanted the pad to play stabs instead of playing legato. If the pad was playing legato notes the pad would've drowned out the other sounds and instruments in the song because the pad has reverb and reverb is what drowns out parts of the song. For the rest of the sounds I repeated the same steps for recording piano, electric piano and pad to record the melodies and bassline.
Drums - After I dragged the one shot drums I wanted to use the first pattern I made was the snare pattern. I placed the snare on 2 & 4 on the piano roll and I did this because the snares will help me with making a pattern for the kick drum. The snare drum will be a guide instrument to me and when I play the kick drum I can get and idea for this instruments. Another reason why I started off with the snare is because the only thing I had to do was put notes on 2 & 4 and it didn't take very long whereas with other instruments I will take me a bit longer.
For the kick I played it by using a key on my PC's type pad so that I would be able to play the kick in time with the snare and I would be able to come up with a good idea of how the kick should sound like. I opened the piano roll and I started pasting the notes in for the kick drum pattern. As I was doing thisI wanted the kick drum to be swung. I wanted the kick drum to be swung because with the kick drum swung the kick will sound more old school than new school. Old school is one of the styles the fifth track obtains and the kick was the most essential that will make the fifth track sound like old school.
For the closed hats I pasted 8th notes into the piano roll only and I used 8th notes because I didn't want the hats to be play in a complex way. Since this track has a bit of old school in it I didn't want the hats to sound like new school hip hop or trap because it wouldn't fit in well with the track. By using 8th notes in this song I made sure the drums sounded simple but effective as well. I also placed open hats on the offbeat and I did this because placing instruments like percussions or open hats on the offbeat adds groove to the drums and the track itself. There is also space on the offbeat for the open hats to play on and it prevents the open hats from clashing with the other instruments.
The only thing I did for the crash cymbal was place it on the first beat of the bar using the sequencer instead of the piano roll. I used the sequencer because the pattern isn't a long pattern like the kick drum or hats and I only needed one crash cymbal. From there I placed the crash cymbal every 4 bars and I did this because the crash cymbal helps keep track with how many bars one section is playing. For example, there will be 4 crash cymbals playing in the verses and chorus sections. This means these sections are 16 bars long and this is because there is a crash cymbal for every 4 bars.
Finally, I pasted in 4 16th notes into the piano and changed the last two notes to a lower key. I used 16th notes because 16th notes make the tom fill sound like it's being played faster and it also sounds like the hi, mid and lo tom are being played even though the tom is a one shot sample. The tom fill in this song doesn't do much. The only thing the tom fill does is introduces the next section of the song.
The last thing to do was to make each drum instrument have there channel to play in because if all the drums were being played in one channel it wouldn't be easy to take some instruments out. Another reason why I wanted each drum instrument to have the own channel to play is because I can solo each drum instrument and I can note down which instrument is the kick, snare, hats, crash, etc. Plus, I can mix the instruments with confidence and flair because I'm only looking at one frequency only rather mixing all the lo end, mids and hi end altogether.
Track 6 (Chords, Melodies & Bass) - I produced the last instrumental for my E.P in college using Logic 9 and this meant I can use a midi keyboard to create the chords, melodies, bassline and drums. Before recording the chords I played them on the midi keyboard with the metronome so that I can get the timing correct. I then pressed 'R' type pad to start recording and pressed the space bar to finish recording. I used 'R' and the space bar because these two function are shortcuts for starting and stopping a recording and I don't have to use the mouse as much or at all. I opened the piano roll and noticed the notes were not on the beat. So used the shortcut 'cmd + a' to select all the notes and I quantised them to 1/4 so that the chord progression is on the first beat of the bar. The next thing I did is made the adjust the length of the notes so that all the notes used in the chord progression are equal. I didn't need to press 'cmd + a' because they were still selected when I quantised them. I then selected the 'note force legato' option and that made every note in the chord progression equal length. The only thing that was left to do was to make the velocities on the chord progression equal. All the notes in the chord progression were still selected when I quantised them and adjusted the length of them. So there was no need to press 'cmd + a'. I selected the 'Fixed Velocity' option and what this function does is it turns makes every note the same velocity and it's quicker than manually adjusting the velocity. I didn't want the velocity to be at 127 because 127 is a harsh velocity and I wanted a gentle velocity not only for the chord progression but for the other sounds and drums as well. I made the velocity on the chord progression 80 and 80 was a good number for the chord progression because the chord progression didn't sound harsh as it was being played and it the chord progression was playing smoothly and gently. The last thing to do was to click 'Select and Operate' because if this option wasn't used the velocities wouldn't have changed. 'Select and Operate' is the final function of making all the notes' velocities the same.
For the strings I copied the main chord progression onto the channel with the string section, I opened the piano roll and the only thing I did was take a few notes out. I did this because I didn't want the strings playing the same chord progression like the electric piano because these two sounds would've clashed together. By taking a few notes out of the string section the strings didn't clash with the electric piano and the strings helped accompany the main chord progression. The strings have a subtle tone and brightness and these two elements from the string section is what helped accompany the main chord progression. There was no need to re record, quantise, note force legato or velocity adjust the strings because the main chord progression I copied to the string section was already recorded, quantised, note force legato and velocity adjusted. After recording the two chord progressions I repeated the same steps to record the melodies and bassline for the final track.
Drums - I used ultrabeat to make the rhythm of the track and I didn't record them in. Ultrabeat has a sequencer that allows me to create the drum pattern and drag onto the channel and this is a quicker way of making the drums rather than recording them in. I don't need to quantise the drums, I don't need to adjust the length or velocity of the drum because all that information is registered onto ultrabeat. I made the drum pattern for the chorus first because I was going very instrument in the chorus and by making the drum patter for the chorus I can drag the finished pattern onto the channel and I can create new ultrabeat channels so that the kick, snare, open and closed hats have there own channel to live rather that than all the drums being played in one channel. Another reason I did this is because when it come to mixing the final track I can mix each instrument and sound individually. If the drum pattern was playing in one channel it would be hard to mix because I would be looking at so many different frequencies and that would it difficult for me to mix down. This is why I put each drum instrument into there own channels because I name them appropriately and I can mix them down with confidence and flair.
After I created the drum pattern I dragged the pattern onto the ultrabeat channel. I the opened the piano roll and I looked at the velocities and the velocities need changing. I changed the velocities because the wasn't at 80 and I wanted them at 80 because the velocities of the chords, melodies and bassline were at 80 and I wanted to make the drums equal with the sounds. I pressed 'cmd + a' to select all the notes and I used the 'Fixed Velocity' option and I changed the velocity to 80 and clicked 'select and operate' and this made all the notes' velocities 80. The last thing to do was to create new channels and copy the drum pattern into each new created channel. I then opened the piano roll and took out the instruments so that the kick is playing one channel, the snare is playing on one channel and so forth. I also had to ensure that ultrabeat was turned off because if ultrabeat was still on the drums playing on ultrabeat would've clashed with the drums playing on the grid. So this was another thing to be careful of.
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