Unit 48 - Brief 2 - Being A Recording Engineer

Glockenspiel Task

Glockenspiel Recordings

AKG D112 (Egg)

• Position/Distance - 20cm above the Glockenspiel pointing at the keys
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 20 - 17,000 Hz

We used this microphone to record the glockenspiel. We recorded this in a studio and that meant there was no background audio and that the instrument was isolated. This sort of microphone is not supposed to be used for this, it is microphone is more used for bass instruments like a kick drum on a drum kit. this is why the recording didn't sound as good because it only really picks up the bass end of the Glockenspiel rather than the whole range.

Shure SM58

• Position/Distance - 20cm Above the glockenspiel Pointing at the keys
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 to 15,000 Hz

We used this microphone for recording the glockenspiel. We recorded this in a studio and this mean that there was no background noise or wind to contend with. This meant that the recording sounded good because we had no other noise to contend with. The Shure Microphone sounded okay for recording the Glockenspiel but we got clipping so it ruined the recording.

AKG C1000

• Position/Distance - 20cm above the Glockenspiel Pointing at the keys
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 

We used this microphone in the studio for recording the Glockenspiel, doing it in the studio meant that the recordings sounded the best because there is no wind in the studio and it is completely isolated so we could only hear the instrument. The microphone we used here was the best microphone for the job but we have the microphone too close to the glockenspiel so we had some clipping going on and this made the recordings not sound as good as they could.

Guitar Task

Guitar Recordings

Studio

Studio Recording

• Microphone - AKG C1000S
• Position/Distance - 20cm away from the sound hole of the guitar
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 20,000Hz

In the Studio we used one AKG C1000S to record an Acoustic Guitar in the recording studio. We positioned the microphone about 20cm away from the sound hole of the guitar and this meant that the sound was clear coming from the guitar but we didn't get any clipping or any plectrum noise on the strings. Also we did this recording in a studio so that meant that there is no background noise because the studio is an isolated room with sound dampening foam in there so that any background noise there would normally be there isn't.

Room

Room recording

• Microphone - AKG C1000S
• Position/Distance - 20cm away from the sound hole of the guitar
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 20,000Hz

We also used an AKG C1000S for recording the guitar for the room recording as well. We had the same set up with the microphone 20cm away from the sound hole to make sure we didn't have any clipping or plectrum problems. For the room recordings we used a potable mixing desk (Zorg D888) so that we could record with the AKG C1000S as it uses an XLR lead so we cant just record strain onto a computer.

Planning for my Final Recording

Location - Studio

Time - 8:30am - 10:50am

Date - 09/10/15

People - David Cuff, Maisie Goodman and Georgia Tomson

Roles for each person

David Cuff - David will be setting up the microphones for the 3 recordings that we will be doing as a group. He will set up the microphones for the Drums, the Guitar and vocals.David will need good listening skills to be able to listen to what Maisie is saying and diagnose the problem. He will also need good technical knowledge to be able to know what microphones to use and how to set them up.

Maisie Goodman - Maisie will be the one that sets up cubase and sorting out the gain for the microphones. Maisie will need good communication skills to be able to diagnose and tell David what is wrong if anything with the microphones so david will be able to sort it out. She will also need good technical knowledge to be able to diagnose the problems with Cubase.

Georgia Tomson - Georgia will be doing the sound checks for the the 3 different instruments. she will be making sure that the instruments sound as good as they can before we start recording. Georgia will need good communication skills to do then because she will be making sure the performer knows what they have to do. She will also need good listening skills and musical knowledge tomake sure the the instruments sound as good as they can. 

What could go wrong 

There are lots of things that could go wrong when doing our recordings. One thing that could go wrong is that Cubase could Crash and this could cause lose of recordings or set ups. if this happens we will have to restart the Mac and restart Cubase and if we have lost the recordings do them again or reset up Cubase. 

Another thing that could go wrong is that the microphone doesn't work, in this case we will troubleshoot the problem to see if it is XLR lead or the morphophonemic that doesnt work. if this is the case we will change the equipment that is broken and then make sure that it works by testing it again.

Drums

Overhead microphones

• Mircrophone - 2x AKG C1000S
• Position/Distance - 1m above the Cymbals, 1 to the left about the 16 inch crash cymbal, 1 to the right between the 18 inch crash and the ride cymbals
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 20,000Hz

These will be used for the over head microphones because they will be able to pick up the full range of sound that comes from the cymbals.

Kick Drum

• Microphone - AKG D112
• Position/Distance - 10cm away from the hole on the Kick Drum.
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 20 - 17,000 Hz

I will use this microphone because the frequency response will pick up the lows that the Kick Drum will give out.

Toms/Snare

• Microphone - 4x Samson DMC 100
• Position/Distance - 5cm above the 3 toms and the snare
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Super Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 16,000Hz

These Microphones are specifically made and used for these parts of the drum kit.

Hi Hat

• Microphone - Samson C02
• Position/Distance - 15cm above the Hi Hat
• Type of Microphone - Condenser 
• Polar Pattern - Super Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 20,000Hz

This microphone is made specifically for using for Hi Hats because of the Type of Microphone and the Frequency Response of the microphone.

Guitar

• Microphone - 2x AKG C1000S
• Position/Distance - 1 microphone 20cm away from the sound hole of the guitar, 1 microphone 20cm away from the neck of the guitar.
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 20,000Hz

We will use these microphones because they are good for recording acoustic because they are Dynamic Microphone and because of the frequency Response they will pick up the full range of sound of the guitar.

Vocals

• Microphone - AKG C1000S
• Position/Distance - We will have the microphone 10cm away from the mouth of the singer. 
• Type of Microphone - Dynamic
• Polar Pattern - Cardioid
• Frequency Response - 50 - 20,000Hz

We will position the microphone 10cm away from with a pop shield infront of the in between the microphone and the singer. This is to limit the amount of air that will get to make the microphone to make sure you dont get wind noise in the microphone. 

What techniques will I use based on my research? 

For recording the guitar I will be using 2 microphones as this is one of the ways that The Beatles recorded their acoustic guitar. They had 1 microphone on the sound hole of the guitar and 1 on the neck to get some of the string sounds. The Drums are set up to record modernly, this is to show the difference between the recording techniques from 1969 to now.

Evaluating My Final Recordings

Drums

Final Recording - Drums

The drums were record in the studio, therefore there was no background noise. All of the microphones where correctly positioned and they where the correct microphones to be used for recording a drum kit and because they where correctly positioned there was no chance that the drummer was going to hit the microphone and ruin the recording. In the recording of the drums there was no problems that we came into apart from the Cubase on the Mac wouldn't launch. That was a case of just restarting the Mac it is fixed the problem. The Drums sound good in the recording and there is no clipping on any of the microphones and this made the recording quality very good. The bass Drum Emits a high SPL (Sound Pressure Level) So we uses an AKG D112. We used this because it is a Moving Coil Microphone and this is best suited to the task of recording the bass drum.

Vocals

Final Recording - Vocals

For this recording I did this in a room not the studio and this meant that there was some background noise due to the fact that there was no sound dampening foam on the walls to absorb the sound. despite this the recording is still very good and sounds good. We recorded this using an AKG C1000S and this is a good microphone to do vocals with because it has a very wide frequency response range so it will pick up the vocals very well. We also had a pop shield in between the singers mouth and the microphone and this limited the amount of breath that got to the microphone making the quality of the recording even better. For this recording there was acoustic Reflection in the room we

Guitar

Final Recording - Guitar

We did this recording in a room like the vocals and we once again used an AKG C1000S for the recording and because it was done in a room not a studio there was some background noise and echoing because there was no sound dampening foam on the walls. The microphone was close enough for the recording to sound good but it wasn't too close so that you hear the plectrum on the strings and this means that the recording was very good.