8/20/2019 Music Technologist Project T5

1/3

Music Technologist Project T5.1- 57 (original piece of music)

I decided that I wanted to eperiment with the recording of this trac! "# using $M57

microphones eclusi%el#. The creation of the trac! came naturall# through sitting aroundeperimenting with %arious instruments& chord progressions and ri's. fter nding the

*ass +uitar ri' that pla#s throughout& it was clear that the feel of the song was to "e

relaed so from there I "egan to thin! of other instruments that would complement this

new aim. The trac! consists of a *ass +uitar& Tam"ourine& ,ongas& *a"# +rand Piano&

and originall# an coustic +uitar which I decided to cut from the from the nal mi. I felt

the coustic +uitar didnt sit well with the other instruments& it was slightl# scratch# and

I couldnt nd a wa# to ma!e it wor!.

 The ,ongas were the "iggest challenge while recording this trac!. Mi!ing up a pair of

,ongos is dicult when using onl# one $M57. t rst I had the mic in the centre of the

two drums faced downwards& "ut after recording found that it lac!ed punchiness and

needed a "it more attac!. I then positioned the microphone so it was in the centre on the

drums "ut directed %er# slightl# towards the /uinto. I thought that "# doing this I would

capture that initial hit on the drum s!in while also pic!ing up some room am"ience from

the other and it seemed to "e e'ecti%e "ut I still wasnt happ# with the recording. I came

to the conclusion that it was how I pla#ed it that was throwing it o' so I decided to use a

pair of drumstic!s to hit the ,ongas instead of m# hands and the sound was perfect after

adding some 0/& ,ompression and e%er". I used 2ogic 3 for all of m# wor! in this unit.

Im not sure what genre the trac! "elongs in "ut I too! in4uence from outh 2agoons

6ear f 8i"ernation& Third 0ar *ands 6Magic Music and *en 8owards 6I 9orget :here

:e :ere.

- 2i!e olling $tone ( new rrangement)

s a "ig *o" ;#lan fan this was the o"%ious choice for me to rerecord for this project. The

original %ersion of this song was produced "# Tom :ilson& "eing the onl# song from

68ighwa# $* caused the recording to ha%e random spi!es of static noise which meant the

whole thing would ha%e to "e scrapped and recorded again. This time I recorded the

+uitar using a MI;I room& an 0lectric +uitar and a ;I and it sounded much "etter.

I decided to use the drummer on 2ogic to pro%ide m# drum trac!. Its ?uic! and eas# to

use and would "e good eperience as I hadnt used it prior to this trac!. It allows #ou to

select the tempo& the st#le of pla#ing& the amount of lls and c#m"als "ut I needed a

relati%el# simple drum trac! so I !ept these to a minimum. I listened to the original trac!

on $potif# and attempted to isolate each instrument trac! and thin! of how I could

implement them into m# own %ersion. Theres a lot of instrumentation in this song so I

decided to strip it "ac! a "it& going with just the +uitar& the ;rums and the rgan. The

rgan was the most dicult part of the process as I couldnt nd the ta" or the chords

online so I had to pla# it "# ear and create what was almost a harmon# with the +uitar as

I dont ha%e the !e#"oard s!ills to recreate l @oopers pla#ing.

8/20/2019 Music Technologist Project T5

2/3

- The Man :ho $old The :orld (MI;I)

I felt this was an appropriate choice of song due to ;a%id *owies recent passing. It

translates fairl# easil# into MI;I "ut I couldnt nd an# helpful ta"s or scores so I pla#ed

the whole thing "# ear. riginall# I used a s#nth sound which later changed to an

coustic +uitar. I split the melod# into separate trac!s namedA i'& ,horus& Berse and

$cale. These indi%idual trac!s pla#ing alone sounded slightl# wea! so I dou"led up eachone and "rought all the notes down an octa%e to create multiple harmonies& gi%ing it a

more full sound. I attempted to use the ;rummer again "ut it would go out of time

whene%er the drums had to drop out at the chorus so I inputted the drums m#self

through MI;I. fter e%er"ing& ,ompressing and 0/ing the trac!s the song was nished.

Recorded Developmental Pieces

9or this section of the project I used a ;rum @it placed in a small drum recording "ooth. I

wanted to see what !ind of recording Id get using %arious microphones to mic things

that the# traditionall# wouldnt "e used for. In m# rst set up I had an udi f15 as an

%erhead mic& an udi f1C as a @ic! ;rum mic and a Deumann @M1EF on the "ottom

$nare.

9loor TomGCH.aif @ic!GCI.aif 78GCH.aif 1ac! TomGCH.aif $nareGCH.aif 

M# second setup used the same mics on the same drums "ut with each of them mo%ed a

couple of feet awa# from the !it. This reduced the attac! from the drums and increased

the presence of the room& almost ma!ing it sound li!e the ;rum @it is in a slightl# larger

en%ironment.

9loorGC1.aif @ic!GC1.aif 7%erheadGC1.aif ac!GC1.aif $nareGC1.aif 

In m# third setup I mi!ed onl# the "ottom $nare (udi f15) and the o%erhead (Deumann

@M1EF) to see if a minimalist approach might sound "etter than epected. 8owe%er& this

didnt ma!e for a good recording in m# opinion. The *ass ;rum is "arel# audi"le and the

,#m"als and $nare are o%er empowering.

8/20/2019 Music Technologist Project T5

3/3

78GCH.aif $nareGCH.aif 

Its clear to see wh# certain microphones are used for certain functions. Than!s to itsslightl# enhanced fre?uenc# response and cardioid pic! up pattern the udi f15 is

ideall# suited for o%erhead applications. It can perfectl# capture the high mid sound of

the c#m"als and still get the feel of the room as the rest of the drums are pla#ed.

 The udi f1C is "etter suited for @ic! ;rum mi!ing than an# other microphone I had

a%aila"le. It is slightl# "oosted in the low end which helps to capture the punchiness of a

*ass ;rum. T#picall# I would use it to mic the Toms or the $nare howe%er.

 The Deumann @M1EF has a slight fre?uenc# response increase at around J !8K. It is well

rounded and ideal for man# studio applications "ut I would use it for ,#m"als& *rass or

coustic +uitar& an#thing that ma# need a mic that handles high fre?uencies.

9or the Fth

 setup I mo%ed to the 8D, studio and used the ;rum @it in there to test thedi'erent acoustics of the space and also some more microphones. This room is

considera"l# larger than the rst so I epected a larger sound. The setup I used was as

followsA an udi f1H on the @ic! ;rum& udi f1C on the "ottom $nare& $hure $M5E on

the top $nare and H Deumann T2M 1Cs as o%erheads.

*ottom$nareGCH.aif 

@ic!GCH.aif 2eft 78GCH.aif ight 78GCH.aif Top $nareGCH.aif 

 Then for m# nal setup I mo%ed the microphones awa# from the !it again. Than!s to the

"igger room I had much more space to pla# with so the o%erheads were mo%ed "ac! H L

metres or so and the other mics mo%ed "ac! a few feet.

*ottom$nareGCH.aif 

@ic!GCH.aif 2eft 78GCH.aif ight 78GCH.aif Top $nareGCH.aif