Music Portfolio

When deciding what to do for our portfolio, we got together as a group and listen the
main things we would need, and what each others strong point was, Harry was
producing and vocals, mine was vocals also and Lee's strong point was that he could
always jazz things up, For my first trac i used a sample of a clip i found on !ou"u#e,
when deciding what i wanted to do with my portfolio $ came to the conclusion that $
wanted to use a range of genres, For e%ample i used an $ndie #and for the song the
song which needed drums and a &apper for the song '(M which is a hip hop sampled
song) We used a range of e*uipment when recording, we used a +oundcraft +apphyre
Mi%ing des to give a range for all the instruments we used F,-s and F,.s as well as
two (udio "echnica Pro /' for the overheads)
' (M Hoodie H 0$ haven't contri#uted too as a writer1
When recording this $ found a sample of a man saying 2$ts five o'cloc in the
morning2and lied the sound of it so i decided to put it onto the &ap instrumental $ was
maing on Logic, Harry also lied it so we sat down and had a real listen, We then
opened the file of our instrumental and uploaded the audio of the sample, We then
compressed the vocals using the 3ompression tool on the Logic plug in, we left the
compression threshold at .-)' d4, which means the gain had to #e put at 5d4, We then
looed at a pitch change using Pitch +hifter also in the Logic plug ins, we turned the
semi tone to 6, then then put the senses on '- and the mi% to ,-- which gave the vocal
the female chipmun effect, (t this point we had realized we had forgotten to 78 it so we
used the 78 plug in, We had to #ring the mids down slightly and found that there was
some unwanted signal at certain fre*uencies so we had to reduce it to get a clean vocal,
When moving on to Harry's verse we 3reated a new trac and came up with the lyrics,
"he mic we used for this was a s7 9, which ran 9L&+ through a Focusrite +affire 6
:+4 sound card, "he *uality of the vocals was clear cut, once he had recorded his first
verse we #egan to edit it and mae it sound professional, we started with 78 when we
started the 78 was very simple ;ecreasing the high and #oosting the mids, We the
came across an unwanted fre*uency and reduced the main to level it all out, <nce the
78 was the #est we could get it, we decided to do compression where we didn't really
have to do alot we just too the threshold to ,=)' and the gain to . we also changed the
ratio to .>,, the main vocals were #asically complete for the first verse ne%t we added
adli#s for which we had to create a new channel on Logic and 3lic record, (dli#s is
where you record over your previous tae and highlight the most stand out lyrics,
(fterwards we added the same effects from the main vocals just turned down the
channel so it wouldnt #e as loud and stand out, it created the feeling lie there was an
echo, "he second verse was done easily and did not tae half as much time to write or
record, We added the same effects to the second verse as we did the first which wored
out perfect, for the ending we faded out the instrumental soft and su#tle using the
(utomation tool when pressing ( on a (pple ?ey#oard) When mastering this trac we
done an mp5 #ounce then open a master trac on a new Logic +ave and we done a
fae master where we 7*'ed it then added a multipress to #oost the fre*uencies and
added an adaptive limiter to #oost the overall levels)
Homesic 0;rums1
<ne of my friends came to me with a concept of a song and need a technician to record
his #and in their friends home studio, "hey new how to use the e*uipment #ut couldn't
figure out how to record drums, When recording this song we used a +oundcraft 7F9@
mi%er which has @ mic inputs which is perfect for drums, We mics all the drums up using
(udi% F,-s and F,.s For the ?ic, "op snare, 4ottom snare, &ac tom, Floor tom, Hi
Hats, and two (udio "echnica Pro /'s for the &ight and Left <verheads, we set the over
heads up at a A-B angle so they would #e a#le to pic everything up, we then phased the
drums so there was no feed#ac, We recorded the instruments separately to each other
and the vocals, When recording the drums i had to eep a constant eye on the levels
and to mae sure there was enough headroom and that the was no clipping with peaing
levels, <nce the drums were recorded i then had to record the guitars it was easy cause
i could use Line in and not have to record them with a microphone which was one of the
things they were confused a#out, We started with an 7lectric (coustic guitar recorded
into Line in on the mi%er we then recorded the #acing electric guitars, When adding
effects and compressing the instruments i started with the drums i made sure that they
were all level and 78'ed so they weren't all on the same fre*uency , i then added
compression to them so they were at a stand out level and not drowned out #y the
guitars, $ then audio to scored #ut turned down the score versions so you could just
a#out mae out they were there, $ ne%t moved onto the guitars, i used a #uilt in guitar
amp and compressor to mae them sound sharp, for the electric acoustic i started with
78 where i had to #oost the low end to get some of the rifs and decreased the high end
cause it was played too harsh, i the compressed it using the in#uilt compressor where i
turned the gain down and attac i also changed the ratio to .>,>, once the guitars were
recorded i moved onto the vocals, "here was only one vocalist which made it alot easier
for me) he had already written the lyrics so there was no time wasted, We used a focus
rite cherry studio pacage mic, the vocals were recorded in around two or three taes,
once they were finished i added 78, 3ompression and alittle rever# to them they were
recorded in a #ooth i then added space design where i changed the settings to wooden
#ooth and turned the wet to ., and dry to .-, which gave the vocals a feeling lie they
were matching the #acing trac once they were done i #egane to master it all, When
mastering this trac we done an mp5 #ounce then open a master trac on a new Logic
+ave and we done a fae master where we 7*'ed it then added a multipress to #oost the
fre*uencies and added an adaptive limiter to #oost the overall levels)
"rust $ssues 0writer1
When starting this project i new it was going to #e hard for me cause i cannot play any
instrumentals to a good standard so i had help from a third party source who helped
mae an emotional &C4D&ap instrumental, $t starts of with a warped guitar #eing pluced
then moves to an am#ient piano, #efore the drums ic in, $ first heard it and the concept
for the name the concept of this song was a#out how womenDmen are constantly played
#y the opposite se% and are starting to #elieve that there is no one out there for him, i
wanted to e%press myself and tell who ever is listening that nothing is set in stone and
there could #e a chance that they will find the perfect someone, lyrics instantly came to
mind as i have trust issues myself and it is a touchy su#ject #ut music has #een my way
of e%pressing myself for some times, $ didn't record myself for this song it was all up to
Harry i just gave him an idea of how i wanted it to sound and the style i wanted it to #e,
when it was coming to a close it was clear we needed a strong chorus for it to #e a stand
out song so we #rang a singer called "illy Pantlin in to record the chorus which was
originally written, "illy however couldn't figure out how she could sing it and was *uite
nervous when recording cause of the amount of people in the studio so she had to
record with her facing the door, #ecause she couldn't figure out how to sing it we had to
come up with a whole new chorus which Lee wrote very *uicly on the spot, which was
great as time was running out, When she had more confidence we started to record her
vocals #ut at first she sounded too enthusiastic and that isnt how you should feel when
singing a#out such a touchy su#ject so she did her taes again this time she put some
emotion into her voice which really made #oth the verse and the chorus play of each
other, when recording the mic we used for the vocals was a &E;7 F",--- which has
ultraGlow 6d4( selfGnoise and transformerless circuitry,which was running phantom
power through a Focusrite +affire 6 :+4 which has a &eal World (;3 ;ynamic &ange>
,-' d4 0(Gweighted1, ;ynamic &ange 0(GWeighted1> ,-' d4 microphone input as well
as a Fre*uency &esponse of .-Hz G .-Hz HDG -), d4) when recording the software
used was Logic Pro A and the computer we used was a i Mac, (fter recording Harry
started to add 78, 3ompression, and space design to #oth of our vocals and also using
3elemony's Melodyne plug in he corrected the pitch in "illy's chorus, $ wasn't there for
the editing process as i had some where to #e #ut after he had finished and showed me
the final product $ ased him what he did to master it and he told me he Fae mastered it
and added a adaptive limiter)
?ings of Leon 3over 0Iocals , of .1
4ecause i new vocals were my strong point when it came to the tech side of music $
needed to really show it and when one of my friends called Lauren e%pressed her
urgency to record a cover of one of her favorite songs i was happy to a#lidge, Lauren sat
down with me and told me what song she wanted to record which was a ?ings of Leon
cover of the song :se +ome#ody, We got her set up in the #ooth at my home recording
studio and set her height on the mic stand as the was *uite small, we then played her an
acoustic piano remae of the ?ings of Leon #acing trac, which she loved and started
to really enjoy the recording process, We started recording #ut had a pro#lem with the
latency which we didn't now that the Latency #utton had to #e pressed on Logic
otherwise it sounds severely out of time, once the pro#lem was solved Lauren could
#egin her recording, her vocals were done in very few taes only #ecause she is a
perfectionist when it comes to her singing, the s7 9, mic was perfect for Lauren as it
has G5. d4IDPa 0.'),mIDPa1 which means it is sensitive to the sound it pics up which
means it can pic up all of Lauren's fre*uencies, <nce recording was finished we then
went a#out editing it, We started with 78 we needed this #ecause whilst she was
recording she noced the mic, you could only hear it when you really focused onto it #ut
we needed to mae sure, so we played through the vocals on 78 and came to a
massive spie in the fre*uency which we toned down and cut the low end out
completely, ne%t we added compression on to the vocals to #ring them up, there was
nothing wrong with the vocals #ut the #acing trac seemed to #e fighting against the
vocals on who could #e the loudest so we turned the channel volume down for #oth to
mae sure there was enough headroom and to mae sure there was no clipping from
either, we put the threshold at ,@d4 which meant we had to move the gain to .d4 we left
the attac alone #ut changed the &atio to .>,, When adding space design to your vocals
you clic the plug ins #utton it should #e under the &ever# ta#, we put the settings to
wooden #ooth which gave us the option to turn &ever# and ;ry up or down so we turned
we up ;ry all the way and &ev at ., which made the vocals fit perfectly, when this was
finished we played through the whole trac to see if anything was missing and there
didn't seem to #e so we moved on to mastering, When mastering this trac we done a
fae master where we 7*'ed it then added a multipress we also added an adaptive
limiter to #oost the overall levels)
Lauren Jee G "he +cript 4rea 7ven 3over
When recording this cover we really used the same tools and effects as we did on her
?ings of Leon cover, Lauren wanted to record a cover to #e worthy of !ou"u#e so she
ased me if $ could record her cause she lies how she sounds on the s7 9,, We found
her the #acing trac to #rea even and started to record, she did this one in only one
tae and the editing process #egan, We added 78 it wasn't as hard this time cause she
didn't noc the mic stand, there was not many fighting fre*uencies so we ept the mid
the same #oosted the high and decreased the low, We then ne%t compressed it #ecause
he voice is the same we did the same with the compression on her vocals, we put the
threshold at ,@d4 which meant we had to move the gain to .d4 we left the attac alone
#ut changed the &atio to .>,, we then added space design to her vocals on this one, we
put the settings to wooden #ooth which again gave us the option to turn &ever# and ;ry
up or down so we turned we up ;ry all the way and &ev at ., just lie we did on the
previous cover, once the recording process was finished we then had to master this
trac, When mastering we again done a fae master where we 7*'ed it then added a
multipress we also needed an adaptive limiter to #oost the overall levels)
7llie Joulding +ample
When creating this instrumental i had a melody in mind that was ind of a 4ass #ut &C4
style, i set a#out creating it on a midi ey#oard at college, $ started of with a synth and
created the melody from there, $ used a pre made synth from the Logic instruments, $
had a overall view of what i wanted and once the synth was created an in time, and to a
4PM of A-, once the melody was recorded and logic i then #egan playing with the drums
and added a new software instrumental channel, i used the pre made studio drums and
wrote them into the se*uence the fits in with the melody, i then *uantized the drum #eats
to a / #eat so they were in time with the melody, no i have the maings of the
instrumental i needed something else and seeing that i didn't have a sample trac for my
portfolio i thought 7llie Joulding would #e perfect, i used one of her acoustic sessions on
!ou"u#e and downloaded it to the logic file, it fit great with the instrumental so i out it
into the es%./ sampler and used the midi ey#oard to sample it, i then added the
finishing touches, and had to e* the vocals #ecause they were taen from a acoustic
session so i needed them to sound recorded, $ decreased all of the 78 so you couldn't
tell that it was an acoustic session, $ then compressed it cause the 78 made it really low,
i had to up the threshold to ., so i had the gain on 5 and on full attac, the ratio was
changed to .>,>, i then added sample delay to the sample, and space design, $ copy and
pasted the sample channel two more times so i could pan each one to a left, &ight , #oth
speaers, when mastering this trac i again #ounced it down to an mp5 file then opened
a new logic master save file we then done a fae master where we 7*'ed it then added a
multipress we also added an adaptive limiter to #oost the overall levels)