RESOURCES REQUIRED

Artefact 1 – ADR & Foley

Although ProTools is the main DAW that I have worked on for this, I used Ableton to create the music for the track as I feel it has a wider selection of MIDI instruments.

I took advantage of the evening studio bookings to record my foley however there was a technical error, to compensate for this I recorded my Foley at home using ProTools on my laptop and the SM57 I had at home. Please refer to the Methods of Working section for further information on this. Other microphones I used to record sound for this were the RODE NTG3 shotgun mic and the Lewitt LCT 441 large diaphragm condenser for the dialogue.

I used websites such as FreeSound and the college’s sound library to source my other SFX such as fire crackling, cat sounds and other non-foley SFX.

Artefact 2 – ISP

I used a blend of both ProTools and Ableton to complete this task. I used Ableton for the main composition by using MIDI instruments available on the software. In order to program this, I used an Oxygen25 MIDI keyboard so that I could test melodies and basslines before drawing the notes or using capture and quantising the notes. I also made use of the dials by mapping certain controls to the MIDI keyboard which I used for the bass line by increasing the frequency on certain notes to create a distortion effect. I then bounced each track as individual STEMS before importing into ProTools which I used for my recorded elements.

For the drums, I gave the drummer some reference tracks and small direction with how I wanted it to sound. I then allowed him to have creative control over how the rhythm would go and he advised that he wouldn’t be using cymbals for the main rhythm but for the fills that I had requested. Taken this into account please refer to the table below for mic choices and my reasoning why:

SOUND SOURCE

MICROPHONE

REASONING

Kick

Audix D6

Designed as a kick drum mic this was a definite choice for this as it captures full bodied sound produces by the kick. Highly durable it is able to withstand the frequency and volume produced. It has good attack and clarity meaning the kick won’t sound dull and thumpy.

Snare Top

Audix i5

Frequency response (FR) is flat in the mids with a slight boost in the high end. Durable and able to withstand the punchy sound. Comfortable in noisy environments without picking up excess sound.

Snare Bottom

SM57

I wanted the floor tom to feature more prominently, and as there are only 2 i5’s in the college, I decided to use this as they are similar in design and durability.  I made sure to invert the phase on this mic as it was placed in line with snare top.

Floor Tom

Audix i5

Doesn’t feature low end roll off so I decided to use it for the this. The floor tom in college studios has a slight boom possibly due to loose skin and the i5 is comfortable in noisy environments without picking up excess sound.

Rack Toms

SM57

Produces a full balanced sound and has similar FR to the i5 with the SM57 being 40Hz-15kHz and the i5 being 50Hz-16kHz. It has a nice warm tone to it and minimises excess noise.

OH’s (L, C, R)

SE-2A

I chose to use small diaphragm condensers for my OH’s as they produce more natural and clean sounds. As I’m going to be using effects when mixing this was crucial. Also, as they have a wider frequency response than large diaphragm condensers, it meant they would capture the whole kit. L & R were set to cardioid to give an accurate representation of left and right for mixing. Centre was set to omni to give the perspective of the whole kit around you. This was a creative decision as I wanted to give the drums lots of reverb and push them back in the mix.

Room

LCT 441

I set the room mic up as a potential capture of the whole kit. As stated earlier, I wanted the drums in the final mix to be extremely reverberant and almost as if they were in a different room

 

I also used the OHL and OHR mic to record the cymbal fills. For the guitar, I completed this at home using my laptop, Focusrite audient’s DI and ProTools.

Artefact 3 – Spatial Recording & Reproduction

For this artefact, I shall be using the mobile recording kit provided to us by the college. This includes 3 x Audient 8 channel Pre-amps, a Windows laptop, a 16 channel Digital Recorder, XLR cables and mic stands/arrays. The microphones used will be whatever I decide to use for my set up from the college mic list. I feel that after a visit to the venue and through practicing the techniques with my lecturer that I will be able to make a decision as to what mics to choose.

I will also be using my communicating and networking skills to liaise with the client (ensemble/group) and the venue to ensure that health and safety checks, risk assessments and also the content being produced is acceptable to all.

Artefact 4 – PDP

As I want to develop my skill in as many DAW’s as possible, I also used both Ableton and ProTools for this artefact. Ableton was used to create a music bed for underneath the dialogue and ProTools was used to record the dialogue as well as mix and edit the podcast episodes. I used automation and various plugins such as compressor and De Essers when editing.

I used various websites as part of this artefact such as Instagram for my promotion and marketing and PodBean, Spotify and SoundCloud for uploading my podcast to. I also completed research on the conditions and charities associated with them to aid in promotion. As I had worked with one of the charities on a number of occasions, I utilised this connection to my advantage to aid in the promotion of my podcast.