Sound Production Mix Down With Use Of Analogue/Digital Workflow
Response to a client(s).
Some practitioners of music production have argued that capturing the overall sound of an artist(s) or band is not subjective at all, as there are common practises that are followed in most recording studios. The objectivity of whether a particular sound is too a person's own style or taste will vary (Flemming, 2014). This paper seeks to explore the vast potential of differences between analogue and digital workflows that provide an ability for a music producer to gather sufficient insight as to develop their skills with use of both. The choice of location for a formal professional recording has developed from use of large studios to often now recordings completed on a laptop or D.A.W (Digital Audio Workstation).
Although the physical writing and arrangement of a song itself can often transform a piece of music into a highly recognisable hit record. The development of physical recording devices have allowed the need for a music producer/studio engineer still to be an integral role in determining the final sound that a wider public will hear. A variable point then is not just to consider whether the use of one or more microphones are required for a standard four shell drum kit, a greater importance is the sound an artist(s)/band is attempting to capture. It is difficult to argue the need for equipment specifications, such as a 1960’s four track recording and sub grouping pre-mix of a drum kit to one fader are simply elements of the technical advances or standard techniques learned from that period to now (Amendola, 2006).
In an interview with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick in 2006 he explained to ‘Modern Drummer’ how to sound like John Bonham or, create the Bonham drum sound was a requirement of really needing the actual player to create it. It wasn’t until stereo mixing was available that ideas and potential phasing of how drums were being mic’d became important to the overall score. In the song produced as an artefact for the assignment the drums were mic’d at an equal distance from the snare. Emerick describes drums as ‘one instrument made up of several components’.
Analogue versus Digital
In the article ‘Analogue Warmth’ published by Sound on Sound the author Hugh Robjohns discusses the relevance of analogue versus digital often being the way an individual has learned their craft of sound engineering or production. Natural distortions captured or used have been determined as ‘pleasant’ to the ear in terms of an analogue production (Robjohns, 2010). That stated with the article having been written at the start of the last decade, it also discussed that modern DAW equipment had reached a peak of being able to compete with standards from the 1950’s through to the 1970’s. Hardware you find in a studio is often redundant or obsolete overtaken by DAW plugins we find in programs such as Pro-Tools and Apple’s Logic Pro. The actual workflow of the recording however doesn’t ever really change.
In the box mixing, whereby producers such as David Guetta produce solely on a laptop, will often at some point plug into an analogue system (Tingen, 2018). The article Outside the box by Paul White develops on the idea that a producer who solely trained on analogue gear can return to it and find benefits over that of more developed years of inside the box purely using DAWs. (White, 2010). During the mix down process mentioned below it was necessary to seek the benefits of use of out of the box compressor. It again for the purposes of the demonstration identifies areas for improvement. As to whether or not to choose to use out board ideas during summing.
Drums V Drum Machines
The science of being slightly off is an article published by Physics Today whereby it is discussed that many people prefer the sound of a natural drum kit over that of a precise beat of a drum machine because of natural deviations to the sound. Often the difference is only 10-20 ms and yet it is reasoned that the human ear is able to pick that up subconsciously therefore producers may wish to humanise a mechanical drum beat (Hennig, 2012).
The drums on the chosen artefact are live drums pre recorded outside the box of the post production room in a recording studio and combine the basics of a kick, snare, toms. Each drum being mic’d independently therefore uses different microphones the studio also utilised room mics.
In choosing to use a live kit it is essential that a number of exercises are taking place; for example the tuning and damping of a drum kit is essential to the overall finished sound (Seymour, 2010). It may be as mentioned earlier that the pitch of a snare drum or sound of a kick drum will differ greatly depending on the individual playing the kit. Moreover if the outcome of capturing a natural sound set into a mix is key to post production the placement of microphones in genres can and will greatly change. From condenser mics to ribbon mics as the process of capturing them as an equal part of one instrument does not always guarantee an overall sound, Matt Seymour estimates that up to 80% of a success in capturing a live drum sound comes down to the heads themselves.
Experimentation
Having not been at the original recording of the audio artefact, ‘Chasing Pavements’ it is often difficult to find a rhythmic stance whereby ever feel part of the initial excitement of the recording itself. Therefore to study the artefact on purely professional levels will often initially experiment with the general feel of the track, once the stems are loaded.. In terms of why: Pitch change was an interesting choice in less than it worked. Reducing the overall song down a whole step was aiming for a lounge room feel, before quickly reverting it back. With it not being uncommon for early house Dj’s to switch the pitch of a vinyl record there are examples of fairly well known songs that are played either at variant pitches or change of speed (Ryder, 2015).
The mix down
Having sub-grouped the drums leaving a small amount of reverb on the overheads, needed to create an overall feel that is clearly different from the original by Adele. In how long to spend on a mix must admit it takes around 45 minutes. Not that one is working from templates as so to speak, yet, once the initial feel has been duplicated on to all the usable channels. With exceptions to master bus plugins, tend to re apply a further compression. Squashing the vocal subtly into the mix is achieved within 45 minutes. This being important in both analogue habits spurned into digital, whilst conducting all other tasks from fades down to unity (Tingen, 2018).
Conclusion
In knowledge that much of the individual mixing carried prior to this task is a tried and tested technique used by other professionals in the industry, in attempting to place a certain amount of realism to the sound. Applying reverb as mentioned to the overhead drums along with a corner of the room effect to the piano, as to develop its ambient sound (White, 2009).
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