Component 4: The contemporary music maker
Process evidence (101 hours in total)
October-November 2018 – Total time spend was 10 hours
-I completed writing a song to the best of current ability. (The focus of this project is
recording and therefore, I will not count these hours)
-I constructed my project plan by meeting with my teacher, reading various online
materials and confirming two collaborators. (10 hours)
December 2018 – Total time spend was 15 hours
-I spent the month of December researching how to use Logic Pro X. I also applied what
I learned by experimenting with the software. I learned numerous basic elements
regarding Logic Pro X such as how to start and save projects, control features on the
main page such as playback and navigation, audio and software instrument tracks,
arranging regions, etc. I found this source to be incredible as it covers the basics and
advanced features of this program.
[Link]
January 2019 – Total time spend was 15 hours
Setting up drums, microphones, recording equipment and recording drums (8 hours
total)
-Collaborator #1 asked for me to record a rough take of the melody and chords into
Logic Pro X so that he could play along to it when recording the drums resulting in a
more realistic experience for him. I simply recorded into the software using the
microphone from my computer. I was amazed at how long this process took as I
frequently played out of sync with the click track. This was my first experience recording
with a click track. (3 hours)
-Collaborator #1 has great knowledge about different types of microphones and how to
best capture the sound of acoustic drums using microphones. I had no idea that certain
microphones are used to capture certain sounds and how much there is to know about
microphones.
-For Recording Session #1, Collaborator #1 was able to gather an AudioBox (PreSonus
AudioBox 22VSL) and three microphones (Shure PE86L, Sennheiser e835 and the
Audio-technica AT2020USBi). He explained that although the AudioBox contains two
external line return (XRL) inputs or two quarter inch inputs and one usb input, he would
not use the Audio-technica AT2020USBi microphone has he did not have a boom stand
for it. Collaborator #1 explained that the PE86L is a dynamic unidirectional mic really
intended for vocalists however, it will do the job by placing it over the drum set to
capture signals from the entire kit. He continued to explain that the e835 is also a
unidirectional microphone primarily used for live vocal performances and this would be
fine to capture the bass drum. As a side note, Collaborator #1 said that he would lend
me the AudioBox and the AT2020USBi microphone for the rest of my project as it is a
large diaphragm condenser mic which is designed as an all-purpose recording mic for
instruments and vocals.
-Collaborator #1 explained that to properly mic up a drum set would include several
microphones however, with two microphones it would be best to place one in front of
the bass drum and the other over the entire drum set. He experimented with brief
recordings by placing the microphones closer and further for the drums until he was
content with the signal and overall sound. (2 hours)
-Collaborator #1 recorded many takes and kept the two that he felt were best. He also
recorded several sections of the song so that I had extra material to use for editing
purposes. For instance, if the kick drum in certain sections is late or early, soft or loud,
etc., I will be able to substitute parts. (3 hours)
Editing drums in Logic Pro X (7 hours total)
-At this point, I began editing the drum part based on what I have learned in December
pertaining to Logic Pro X. The first step was to quantize all drum tracks to eighth notes
so that the tracks would be closer in line with the beats as well as tempo. See photos.
-I copied the drum tracks and created another file in the event that I encountered editing
difficulties. That is, I was afraid of messing up the drum track.
-Collaborator #1 informed me that human performance is seldomly perfectly in time
compared to drum machines. Slight imperfection in areas such as timing makes a
recording feel real. I kept this in mind when editing. Although I was tempted to, I did not
correct every single bass drum or snare that was slight out of time.
-Editing was taking so much longer than I expected and I felt myself become agitated. In
order to avoid being agitated, I decided to split up this task into several working days.
This also gave my ears a break. For instance, what I thought was fine would day, I
discovered was not fine the day I went back to work. I also started to name some of the
sections such as verse, pre-chorus, etc., in the tracks in order to avoid confusion among
parts. I discovered through making several errors, that organization (such as naming
tracks) is a must when editing tracks.
-There are some measures that contain a 2/4 time signature rather than a 4/4 time
signature so I created different time signatures in Logic Pro X making the other
recording sections easier to navigate around the structure of the song. I also glued each
section of the song (drum track) together which will also make the rest of the recording
sessions more organized when working on various parts of the songs.
-Lastly, I added an effect, compression, to the drum set in order to remove extreme
highs and lows. I may add more effects to the drums later as I listen to what the drums
sound like once I record more instruments.
February 2019 – Total time spend was 6 hours
-Based on how challenging I found it when playing to a click track as I recorded a rough
sketch of the vocal line and chords in order to provide Collaborator #1 with a track to
play to when he recorded the drums, I decided to practice the bass part with a click
track. (2 hours)
-Even though I believed I was well prepared to lay down the bass track during
Recording Session #2, I still had to rely on recording certain sections over and over until
they were relatively correct. (2 hours)
-I planned on using our school bass guitar but unfortunately, a string was broken and
the teacher placed an order for new strings. I was explaining this situation to
Collaborator #2 and he told me that I could use his Mustang GT100 Guitar amp which
contained an effect called “basic octaver.” With this effect, you could hear the regular
guitar pitch and a pitch one octave lower, in the bass guitar range. I really like the sound
of this effect.
-I used the Audio-technica AT2020USBi microphone and placed it in front of the
Mustang GT100 Guitar amp which contains one 12-inch speaker.
-Editing the bass part was very similar to the drum part. I did not have to quantize the
bass track. I cut and moved all parts that were noticeably out of time. I glued all sections
of the song such as verse, chorus, etc. I also added a compression effect on the track
as well. (2 hours)
March 2019 – Total time spend was 3 hours
-So far, I am on track with my project plan however, I am going to alter my timeline. That
is, I will use April and May to work on a finalized guitar solo, guitar hooks and a
keyboard part.
-I rehearsed and recorded the rhythm guitar track. Since the guitar is my primary
instrument, Recording Session #3 did not take as long as I anticipated when creating
my project plan. I did not use an amp for this recording. I plugged my guitar into the
PreSonus AudioBox 22VSL and plugged the AudioBox into my MacBook Pro. (2 hours)
-I also recorded a rough sketch guitar solo. I would like to analyze this solo and see
what parts fit and parts that I should remove. (1 hour)
April/May 2019 – Total time spend was 10 hours
-After analyzing the rough draft of my guitar solo, I decided I wanted to improvise the
solo instead of having the solo pre-determined. The reason for this is that I really enjoy
improvising. I also was extremely concerned about the sound after hearing the rough
draft of my solo. I do not like the distortion effects in Logic Pro X as they are more like a
soft overdrive. I thought I would experiment with the effects in the Mustang GT100
Guitar amp. After playing over the tracks in Logic Pro X with many different patches
from the amp, I decided to go with a distortion which includes a high degree of drive as
this was what I was hearing in my head. This sound also seems to blend well with the
rest of the tracks. I did not use the same sound for the hook as I did for the solos as I
believe an overdrive would be more suitable however, the overdrive would need more
drive than the overdrive effects in Logic Pro X. Therefore, I decided to once again go
with a patch from the Mustang GT100 for the guitar hooks. (3 hours)
-Recording Session #4 consisted of recording and editing the guitar solo and hooks. I
recorded a few takes of the guitar solo and took the best take. I recorded the hook a few
times and took the best take which I copied and pasted in other parts of the song. (3
hours)
-Since I am not a great keyboard player and the keyboards will primarily be used for
background material, I thought I would deviate from my project plan and experiment
with what I learned in December 2018 about inputting parts using the midi input via the
piano roll in Logic Pro X. I found this feature of Logic Pro X fascinating. (4 hours)
June 2019 – Total time spend was 0 hours
-Unfortunately, Collaborator #2 cancelled his recording session with me as he was busy
completing work for his school year. Collaborator #2 informed me that he would be able
to spend the required time to record and edit vocal tracks in August or September. I
decided to book Collaborator #2 in August as I would rather complete this section earlier
rather than later since I am depending on someone else for this critical part of my
recording.
August 2019 – Total time spend was 11 hours
-Recording Session #5 consisted of Collaborator #2 recording the lead vocal line using
the Audio-technica AT2020USBi microphone directly into the MacBook Pro.
Collaborator #2 used the loop function to record several takes of every section in this
piece. At the end of the recording session, Collaborator #2 worked hard at cutting and
pasting different takes. This required a considerable analysis of what parts were the
strongest vocally. (5 hours)
-Recording Session #6 consisted of Collaborator #2 singing many harmonies. Most of
these harmonies were improvised on the spot and because of this, Recording Session
#6 took longer than anticipated. Once the harmonies were all laid out, Collaborator #2
once again cut and pasted the best parts. After this, Collaborator #2 balanced the vocal
tracks, adjusting volumes within each track and added the following effects: pitch
correction, equalizer, compressor and reverb. (6 hours)
September 2019 – Total time spend was 16 hours
Mixing (12 hours total)
-Overall, I found mixing overwhelming as there is so much to learn.
Mixing in Logic Pro X
[Link]
q=how+to+mix+in+logic+pro+x&oq=how+to+mix+in+l&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l6.3246j0
j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_Bhe0Xv7KN8uPtAaUrYb4CA68
-I combined various tracks in a “bus” in order to reduce the overall number or tracks. I
reduced my 11 tracks into 5 tracks. For example, I put all 4 vocal tracks into 1 “bus.”
Tracks in the same “bus” are compressed together.
-I added more channels such as a sub-mix and channel strips for effects. However, I did
not use the channel strip for effects as each channel and channel bus contains effects.
-Gain needs to be adjusted on all tracks in order to avoid clipping (averaging around a
low end of -18 and peaking no higher than 6).
-The next step was to balance and slightly pan some tracks. This is extremely time
consuming but makes a great difference in the overall sound.
-I was shocked to learn how much is involved with equalizing each track. Logic Pro X
allows you to bring out or reduce certain frequencies within a sound. For most tracks, I
brought out some bottom end. For instance, in the bass track which was recorded on a
guitar using an effect where we hear the guitar at its regular pitch and one octave lower.
By bringing out lower frequencies and cutting out higher frequencies, I was able to bring
the lower octave out so much more.
-Compression is so much more complex than what I thought. Essential compression
deals with controlling the dynamics. That is, not making your soft sounds too soft and
your loud sounds too loud.
-At this point, I experimented with dynamic processors. Here are some examples:
Adaptive Limiter which I included in the Sub Mix so that when the entire work
gets too loud, this effect will automatically reduce the volume.
DeEsser which gets rid of the overly used “s” sounds in the vocals.
Noise Gate to remove noise outside the source such as squeaks from the bass
drum pedal.
The multipressor in Logix Pro X is split up into four parts allowing a longer attack
on low frequencies allowing bass pitches to really come out and short attack on
higher frequencies so that they decay quickly.
I later realized that it would have been better if I kept each track dry (without
effects) and add effects in the bus channels so that groups of instruments would
have the same equalizer, compression, etc.
I also realized that Logic Pro X contains many amps and effects that I did not
notice. There was no need for me to use the Mustang GT100 Guitar amp.
Mixer Bus Channels in Logic Pro X
[Link]
Mastering (4 hours total)
I began by trimming the introduction and ending of the song. This way the song
will begin soon after the listener clicks on play.
I bounced all tracks out as a wave file and inputted the file to a new file in Logic
Pro X ready to master.
I checked for mono versus stereo in “direction mixer” since many listeners play
music from their phones.
I did not use any external plugins outside. I figured that I first learn about plugins
within Logic Pro X.
I used reference tracks to ensure the overall volume of my track was aligned with
other music people listen to. (I used two extremely popular songs for referencing:
With or Without You by U2 and Every Breath You Take by The Police)
I examined the equalizer of the reference songs and compared it to my song.
Apparently, there are many other tools I could use to do this however, at this
point in time, learning how to do this using the equalizer in Logic Pro X is where I
am in my learning stage.
The equalizer shows many similarities my work and that of U2 and The Police.
The general shape of a steep curve from the low end to approximately 130 Hertz
(Bass drum, bass guitar, etc.) to the highest points in the mid-range at
approximately 500-1000 Hertz. My work differs in that my higher range
significantly drops around the 3000 Hertz range. I recall when mixing my work, I
rolled down the highs as I was looking for a warmer sound. Although I still feel
that rolling off the highs sounds better in my recording, I could now hear that I
need to slightly increase the highs. Overall, the balance and curve seem to be
aligned with the other works discussed above.
It is important to compress the entire work before adjusting the equalizer.
Equalizing the sound first and then compressing it undoes a great deal of the
equalization. After compressing the project and increased the highs in the
equalizer focusing on 2000 Hertz to 5000 Hertz area.
I learned that it is important to “top and tail’ your track when mastering to avoid
any unwanted noise. This is accomplished by inserting a slight fade in at the start
and end of the work.
Mastering in Logic Pro X
[Link]
How to Master in Logic Pro X – With Stock Plugins
[Link]
October/November 2019 – Total time spend was 15 hours
Organizing the documentation of this project (3 hours)
I had organized all of my files and folders. For example:
-Word Document (Project plan and written notes based on Process evidence)
-Screencastify videos (Process evidence for every stage of this project such as
every recording, mixing and mastering session)
-Pictures such as microphones on the drum set
Final Presentation (5 hours)
Preparing and delivering the final project by creating a video of my final studio
recording and presenting it to a live audience. My future goal is to include this
final presentation as my audition material for a post-secondary Audio
Engineering programme.
Begin the recorded presentation with a short introduction where I inform the
audience of my project and briefly describe the role of my collaborators followed
by my role. At this point, I will play the recording (audio) and show the Logic Pro
X file (visual). Lastly, I will briefly state what I learned, discuss next steps (plug-
ins) and thank the audience for listening. I will also include feedback from my
collaborators at the end of the presentation.
The final presentation will be just under 7 minutes.
Creating the multimedia presentation (7 hours)
The total time of my process evidence exceeds 15 minutes by a great deal. I
therefore edited my Screencastify videos in order to capture what was most
important in my project.
My multimedia presentation will be constructed using WeVideo and it will contain
the following elements:
-Project Plan (including musical intentions and my role)
-Process evidence including role evaluations of both collaborators and myself
-Resources
-Final presentation
Final list of resources includes the following:
-Instruments including drums (Pearl Export Series), guitar (Fender Stratocaster)
amp (Mustang GT100)
-Recording equipment (Logic Pro X (version 10.3.2), AudioBox (PreSonus
AudioBox 22VSL) and three microphones (Shure PE86L, Sennheiser e835 and
the Audio-technica AT2020USBi).
-Headphones (Audio Technica) and patch chords
-Logic Pro X Help [Link]
-Mixing in Logic Pro X
[Link]
q=how+to+mix+in+logic+pro+x&oq=how+to+mix+in+l&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l6.
3246j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-
8#kpvalbx=_Bhe0Xv7KN8uPtAaUrYb4CA68
-Mixer Bus Channels in Logic Pro X
[Link]
-Mastering in Logic Pro X
[Link]
-How to Master in Logic Pro X – With Stock Plugins
[Link]
-WeVideo
[Link]