AA Wk 1 – Session Planning and Management:
27/02/07
Exercise in session planning:
Production Schedule:
Band: Metallica
Tracks: 1
Song: Battery
Style: Speed Metal
Band members: 4 – Drums, Bass, Guitar, Guitar/Vocals
Band: Metallica
Tracks: 1
Song: Battery
Style: Speed Metal
Band members: 4 – Drums, Bass, Guitar, Guitar/Vocals
Stylistic considerations:
"Kirk, tell me again why we have to record at EMU - they dont even have a stocked bar?!!"
Kick drum sound must be tight and staccato – suggest to drummer that he attach thin metal plates to the kick drum skins at points of hammer contact to help achieve this.
Guitars must sound saturated and aggressive but also have clean separation of notes – suggest recording at lower distortion settings and dialling in more gain from a plugin at the mixdown stage.
Guitars must sound saturated and aggressive but also have clean separation of notes – suggest recording at lower distortion settings and dialling in more gain from a plugin at the mixdown stage.
Instrumentation:
Vocalists: 1
Drumkit:
Toms: 4 + Floor tom
Kicks: 2
Snare: 1
Rides: 2
HHat: 1
Crash: 3
**Have the drummer drop his kit at the studio 24 hours before the session so it can acclimatise to the environment. Tune the kit prior to the session beginning.**
Bass: 1 (electric)
Guitars: 2 (electric)
Guitar Amps: 10 (Only using one at a time but space for ten is required for switching between amps rapidly)
1. Bass and Drums with scratch vocal track
2. Drum overdubs
3. Bass overdubs (if necessary)
4. Electric guitars (rhythm)
5. Vocals
6. Vocal overdubs
7. Solos
Vocalists: 1
Drumkit:
Toms: 4 + Floor tom
Kicks: 2
Snare: 1
Rides: 2
HHat: 1
Crash: 3
**Have the drummer drop his kit at the studio 24 hours before the session so it can acclimatise to the environment. Tune the kit prior to the session beginning.**
Bass: 1 (electric)
Guitars: 2 (electric)
Guitar Amps: 10 (Only using one at a time but space for ten is required for switching between amps rapidly)
Recording order:
1. Bass and Drums with scratch vocal track
2. Drum overdubs
3. Bass overdubs (if necessary)
4. Electric guitars (rhythm)
5. Vocals
6. Vocal overdubs
7. Solos
Track Assignments:
1. Kick 1
2. Kick 2
3. Snare
4. Tom 1
5. Tom 2
6. Tom 3
7. Tom 4
8. HHat
9. Ride 1
10. Ride 2
11. Crash 1, 2
12. and 3 (overhead condenser pair)
13. Bass
14. Guitar 1
15. Guitar 2
16. Guitar solos
17. Vocal scratch
18. Vocal 1
19. Vocal overdub
20. Room ambience 1
21. Room ambience 2
1. Kick 1
2. Kick 2
3. Snare
4. Tom 1
5. Tom 2
6. Tom 3
7. Tom 4
8. HHat
9. Ride 1
10. Ride 2
11. Crash 1, 2
12. and 3 (overhead condenser pair)
13. Bass
14. Guitar 1
15. Guitar 2
16. Guitar solos
17. Vocal scratch
18. Vocal 1
19. Vocal overdub
20. Room ambience 1
21. Room ambience 2
Microphone input list:
1. Kicks: Beta 57 X 2
2. Snare: SM 57
3. Toms: MD 421 X 4
4. HHat: Rhode NT3
5. Rides: Rhode NT3 X 2
6. Crash: Overheads – Rhode NT5 (stereo pair)
7. Bass: DI
8. Guitars: SM 57 X 2
9. Vocals: U87
10. Room ambience: U87 X 2
Create a Pro-tools session to suit the above.
1. Kicks: Beta 57 X 2
2. Snare: SM 57
3. Toms: MD 421 X 4
4. HHat: Rhode NT3
5. Rides: Rhode NT3 X 2
6. Crash: Overheads – Rhode NT5 (stereo pair)
7. Bass: DI
8. Guitars: SM 57 X 2
9. Vocals: U87
10. Room ambience: U87 X 2
Create a Pro-tools session to suit the above.
Layout of space:
Place drum kit close to the monitoring station window and wall input bay to cut down on necessary cable length.
Have singer (during scratch vocal recording) partly muffled by baffles and facing away from the drummer (but still visible to him for body language cues) to cut down on bleeding of vocals into the drum mics.
Place a low baffle in front of the bass guitar to reduce bleed of picking noise into the drum mics. Ensure that the three musicians can all see one another if necessary.
Guitar amps should be furthest away from the wall bay as they will only require a single microphone at the cabinet.
Keep extra baffles handy to create a ‘dead’ space for recording the vocal overdubs.
Produce greatest metal song of all time…(Load, Reload? What the hell were they thinking).
References:
David Grice. "Audio Arts – Session Planning and Management." Practical Class presented at EMU space, 5th floor, Schulz Building, University of Adelaide, 27 February, 2007.
Glenn Fricker. “Recording Metal Drums” Noise 101. 13 January 2007. noise101.wikidot.com/metal-drum-guide (28 February 2007).
Place drum kit close to the monitoring station window and wall input bay to cut down on necessary cable length.
Have singer (during scratch vocal recording) partly muffled by baffles and facing away from the drummer (but still visible to him for body language cues) to cut down on bleeding of vocals into the drum mics.
Place a low baffle in front of the bass guitar to reduce bleed of picking noise into the drum mics. Ensure that the three musicians can all see one another if necessary.
Guitar amps should be furthest away from the wall bay as they will only require a single microphone at the cabinet.
Keep extra baffles handy to create a ‘dead’ space for recording the vocal overdubs.
Produce greatest metal song of all time…(Load, Reload? What the hell were they thinking).
References:
David Grice. "Audio Arts – Session Planning and Management." Practical Class presented at EMU space, 5th floor, Schulz Building, University of Adelaide, 27 February, 2007.
Glenn Fricker. “Recording Metal Drums” Noise 101. 13 January 2007. noise101.wikidot.com/metal-drum-guide (28 February 2007).
posted by David J Dowling @ 10:23 AM
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