In this module I will be recording a song from a live band in our music studio, mixing the song, and mastering it. The band who I would record consisted of a drummer, vocalist, guitarist, and myself on the bass guitar. We recorded a cover of the song “You Know I’m No Good” by Amy Winehouse for me to begin mixing and mastering.
Before I began recording, I arranged the room and set up all of the necessary microphones for recording this arrangement. starting with the drum kit, here is a list of the microphones I had used:
AKG D440 
AKG D112 
Shure SM57
The AKG D112 was used on the kick drum, and the Shure SM57 was used to record the Hi-Hats.
When setting up the microphones for the drum kit, I made sure to do each microphone in a specific order to help make the input to the mixing desk make the most sense when checking levels and mixing. Here is the order in which I set them up:
- Kick Drum – AKG D112
I started off by setting up the AKG D112 microphone to record the kick drum and sending this into channel 1. When setting this up I wanted to get a fairly powerful bass heavy sound, therefore I positioned the microphone about 2 inches away from the front of the drum and somewhat central in order to get a sharp attack from the kick pedal hitting the drum.
2. Snare Drum – AKG D440
I then set up the snare drum mic, using a clip on AKG D440. This is a dynamic microphone made specifically with the drum kit in mind. This microphone has a cardioid polar response meaning that it is most sensitive on the front face, helping to lessen the spill from other drums a bit.
3. Hi-Hats – Shure SM57
The third channel on my recording would be the Hi-Hat cymbal. I chose this because this combined with the kick and snare are the backbone of the kit, and it makes the most sense for them to be in order to me. For the Hi-Hats, I used a Shure SM57 dynamic microphone, which also has a carioid polar response. I used this because not only is it rugged and a precise microphone that records exactly what you point it at, but its frequency response boosts higher frequencies and rejects the bass. this makes it ideal for the Hi-Hats frequency range, and it’s a brilliant mic all round when it comes to guitar, sax, or any mid frequency range instrument.
4 & 5. Rack and Floor Tom – AKG D440
Channels 4 and 5 would be the Rack Tom and the Floor Tom respectively. Like with the Hi-Hats, I used AKG D440 clip on microphones for both of these drums as they were most suited to the task.
6 & 7. Overhead Left & Right – sE1A
For the overhead microphones, I decided to try out a pair of sE1A Condenser microphones. The reason I opted for these is that they have an ideal frequency response for capturing the cymbals, and has a cardioid polar response pattern meaning it will pick up the kit well when pointing down at it.
When setting up the overhead microphones I made sure to aim both of them towards the snare drum. I then used a length of wire to ensure that each microphone was the same distance away from the snare, as this can reduce phasing. Phasing is quite literally a delay between when the mic’s pic up the strike of the snare, making sure that they’re an equal distance away eliminates this risk.
One last thing to note is that as these are condencer microphones, they require phantom power to work. (+48v)
Guitars and Bass
Originally I was going to mic up the amp cabinets for the guitars and bass, however I decided against this and instead ran them all through a DI box. This allowed the band to all play together with headphones on, but with the drum kit being the only mic’d instrument therefor eliminating unwanted spill from the guitars. The Bass guitar has a DI output built into the amp, and for the guitars I used a separate DI box.
Vocals
For the vocal microphone, I opted for an sE Titan. This microphone has many positives; it provides a musically flattering sound, it is mounted on a shock mount – eliminating any noise from vibrations or knocks to the stand, and it includes extras like a 10db pad and a low frequency roll off filter. This microphone provides in my opinion some of the best takes when used for vocals, and also acoustic guitars. The only flaw in this mic is that it is so sensitive that it picks up things that are incredibly quiet, so spill is an issue.
When setting this mic up, I actually did it in a separate room to the band in order to remove as much spill as possible.
This microphone is also a condenser, therefor it requires phantom power to work.
Recording
With all of the microphones and instruments set up an ready to go, we recorded a few takes of the song “You Know I’m No Good” by Amy Winehouse, until we got one that I was happy with. Now that this was done I saved and was ready to start mixing the following week.
Project Update:
As stated in many of my other projects, the UK has entered a lockdown due to the Covid-19 global pandemic situation. This unfortunately occurred between my finishing of the recording process, and starting of the mixing process, meaning I had lost my track and any access to recording software.
I am working around this and trying to set up a digital audio workstation at home to continue my work.
Bibliography:
Akg.com. n.d. D440 (Discontinued) – AKG US. [online] Available at: <https://www.akg.com/support/D440_.html> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
sE Electronics. n.d. Se Electronics – Se1a. [online] Available at: <https://www.seelectronics.com/se1a-mic> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
Shure.com. n.d. SM57 – Dynamic Instrument Microphone. [online] Available at: <https://www.shure.com/en-GB/products/microphones/sm57> [Accessed 9 May 2020].
White, P., 2005. SE Electronics Titan. [online] Soundonsound.com. Available at: <https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/se-electronics-titan> [Accessed 9 May 2020].