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PingKang Chen's Blog
Project Name: Recording Project
This project is my final project for the 'Sound Studio Technology' course. I was grouped with two other classmates to complete 4 pieces of recordings for two different bands, one is electroacoustic band, and another is acoustic band.
Session 1 (Electroacoustic band)
The drummer, electric guitarist, and bassist were all in the live room, where only the drum kit was recorded. Meanwhile, the vocal, bass speaker and guitar speaker were recorded in three separate isolation booths.
For the recording of electric bass speaker placed in iso-booth A1, the signal of pickup of the electric bass can be connected with an instrument cable to the “ISP A1 INST A1-1” which is an instrument connection end around the bottom of the wall panel in the live room, and then the pickup’s signal will go directly to the end of LIVE RM INST A1-1 which is a quarter inch connection on the bottom of the wall panel in iso-booth A1, followed by another instrument cable connecting it to the input of the DI box, the output of which will be connected to a channel input as the DI clean signal. The button 'LIFT' on the DI box is pressed to isolate the ground connection and ensure that there are no ground loop issues or unwanted hums. After the THRU connection of the DI goes into the amp head, a microphone is used to capture the signal from the speaker, and the microphone's output is then connected to a channel input.
For the recording of electric guitar in another iso-booth, the Radial SGI will come in handy in this case to convert the high-impedance guitar signal to a low-impedance signal, which can travel over longer distances without losing its tone and clarity. Besides, as for how, the transmitter of SGI as a wired device firstly connected to the electric guitar through an instrument cable will convert and boost the unbalanced high-impedance signal (instrument level) from the guitar to a balanced low-impedance signal(line level) that can travel over long distances without interference, and the receiver in a separate room then converting the line-level signal back to instrument level is then connected to the amplifier. After this, the signal of the speaker will be recorded by the microphone, feeding into the final input channel.
When recording the drum kit for a vintage-inspired yet modern lo-fi sound design, I chose the Copperphone AV20 microphone to capture the entire kit. Renowned for its capacity to refine midrange frequencies with a distinctive 'telephone' vibe, this microphone adds a pleasant touch of warmth and an interesting midrange character to the overall sound. The final effect was excellent.
As for the choice of instruments, since the electric guitar and bass were brought by the players, I initially didn't know how they would sound. With the aim of creating a more nostalgic and warmer recording for the band, I first selected the AEA A440 to record vocals due to its low-end and proximity effect. However, the bass was a 5-string Bass, and the electric guitar was a Jazz guitar, leading to a severe lack of high frequencies. Consequently, I later switched the vocal mic to the 'Neumann U 87,' adding a more airy sense to the vocals.
The recorded signal from the electric bass speaker initially had some low-level noise. Initially unsure of its source, I later discovered that the noise originated from the bass amplifier, which had a loud fan. Consequently, I repositioned the microphone, originally aimed at the top cone, to point at the bottom cone, thus solving this problem.
1: Mainly Recording Equipments Employed
• Kick In — Shure Beta 91
Drum Kit
• Kick Out — Shure Beta 52A
• Snare Top — Shure Sm57
• Snare Bottom — Shure Sm57
• Hi-hat — Beyerdynamic M160
• Shaker (Overdub) — Beyerdynamic M160
• Rack Tom — Sennheiser MD421 II
• Floor Tom — Sennheiser MD421 II
• Ride Cymbal — Beyerdynamic M 160
• Vintage Smack Stack — Sennheiser MD421 II
• Overhead (A/B Left) — AKG C414 XLII
• Overhead (A/B Right) — AKG C414 XLII
• Room — AEA R88 MkII
• EQ, compression, gating on SSL Duality
miking setup of drum kit in session 1
Electric Guitar
• Fender Twin Reverb Guitar Combo Amp
• Shure SM57 (mic1)
• Royer 122 MKII (mic2)
• Radial SGI
Electric Bass
• Bass Amp Head — Ampeg SVT VR
• Bass Speaker Cabinet — Ampeg SVT 410
• Electro-Voice RE20 (mic)
• Radial ProDI Box
Vocal
• Neumann U 87 (mic)
assisting with bass player's recording setup
• Compressor — LA-2A
• Compressor — Empirical Labs Distressor
2: Final Recording Tracks (2 pieces)
Session 2 (Jazz Trio)
The drummer, pianist, and upright bass player were recording in the same room where the Gobos were used.
I initially chose to mic the piano with the 'Coles 4038,' but its bidirectional nature caused unwanted reflections from the grand piano lid. Additionally, the grand piano in the studio sounded a little dull. To address these issues, I switched to the 'DPA 4099' microphone. This choice was motivated by its supercardioid polar pattern, providing high separation from nearby instruments like the drum kit and double bass. Furthermore, the 'DPA 4099' has a bright sound quality, which helps compensate for the dark tonality of the piano.
As it is a Jazz Trio, the use of isolation Gobos is crucial for achieving optimal sound quality and minimizing bleed. The double bass, with its resonant tones, can be particularly sensitive to ambient noise and interference from nearby instruments. When setting up the Gobos, I devoted extra attention to striking a balance between achieving optimal sound isolation and preserving the visual connection between players.
1: Mainly Recording Equipments Employed
• Kick In — AKG D12 VR
Drum Kit
• Overhead (Left) — Royer R122-MKII
• Kick Out — AKG D112 MKII
• Overhead (Right) — Royer R122-MKII
• Snare Top — DPA 2011C
• Room (Top) — AKG C414 XLS
• Snare Bottom — Shure Sm57
• Hi-hat — Shure Sm81
• Room (Bottom) — AKG C414 XLS
• Rack Tom — DPA 2011C
• Floor Tom — DPA 2011C
miking the piano in session 2
Upright Bass
• mic 1(aiming sound hole) — Electro-Voice RE20
• mic 2 (aiming fingerboard) — AKG C414 XLII
• Radial ProDI Box
Grande Piano (Spaced Pair)
• mic 1 — DPA 4099
• mic 2 — DPA 4099
2: Final Recording Tracks (2 pieces)
Original Recording Engineering Files (Pro Tools)
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