Major Project: Composing 3 Tracks of Different Styles (Intro & Update)

So for my major project for Studio 3, I'll be composing 3 tracks that will be different in style to each other. The tracks will still incorporate elements and a similar vibe that I create in all of my compositions eg, chorus and flanger effects on the guitars, track length being about 2 mins and creating a laidback feel in the track. A friend will be helping me record in the studio and will also be assisting me with mixing the tracks. Doing this project will challenge me to compose in a different style than I'm used to which'll help broaden my composition skills. This project will also motivate me to make more tracks as I've been slacking on composing for a bit so creating 3 will push me to keep my creative flow going.

With these compositions, I'm also getting two other musicians to play the bass tracks and drum tracks I've composed so that I'm able to improve my communication and coaching skills with artists, as well as to work with others as I normally do everything by myself. I've organised a drummer (Ben) and a bassist (Carter) to come in on separate sessions to record (drum session first), where the drums will be recorded in the Neve and the bass in the Audient B studio. I could've organised to record the drums in the Audient B studio as well but I haven't payed the Neve a visit in a while and I'd like to be more competent with the desk and workflow in there so I booked a 6 hour session there for the drums.

Demos

Listen to the 3 demos here

Recently I completed the demos of the three tracks and because I'm very particular with my guitars and its editing, I've basically finished with the guitars which will be in the final mix, unless I make some small changes. This would've saved us a lot of time recording in the studio as I probably would've been difficult as it takes me ages to get the perfect take. The tracks are yet to be named but will definitely come up with names after the recordings are done and I begin mixing, so that I can get a feel of the mood for the tracks.

The track "6.4" is a track I composed in 6/4 with a whole bunch of revered guitars and harmonies that all seem to work together, a slightly distorted heavy bass line which I played (I've also finished recording and editing the bass for this track so re-recordings of the bass won't be needed for this track), and some hard drums which I programmed. I want to re-record live drums and mix it with the programmed drums so that I can get a more human feel to the rhythm as it sounds too in-time and repetitive velocity wise. I also wanted to record the drums with a more lo-fi sound as the programmed drums sound to clean and feels like it'd suit a heavy rock genre which isn't the feel I want for the track.

"Beat" was a hip hop kinda track that still incorporates the same guitar effects used in all three demos but because this track is more tight in rhythm, the main guitar tracks are plucked with hardly any reverb and are played on every beat of a bar. Again, I want more humanised feel to the drums by re-recording drums and mixing it with the programmed one and I'd like to record the bass again as I spotted some errors in some notes.

"3AM" is a more lofi chill track and has the slowest tempo out of all the demos. This is normally the type of music I make so I whipped this up quicker than the others. The programmed drums sound too clean in this demo so I'd like to re-record the drums and add a roomier sound to it. I'd also like to record the bass again for this track because I feel like the melody is a bit too simple (probably me just overthinking) but I'd like to see if the bassist has any ideas to spice it up or something but if not, I'd just get him to play the same melody.

Recording

I want to get all the recordings done by the end of week 6 to then start editing and mixing throughout week 7 and 8. This way I'll still have time to re-record anything else or make changes to the tracks. Our lecturers also discussed an opportunity to get our mixes mastered over at the SAE Melbourne campus so I'd like to get my mixes done as soon as I can so that the mastering engineer will have time to master them and to make changes if need be.

Because these tracks will be mixed in lo-fi, I've decided to ave simple mic setups for the drums and bass. With the drums, I've only used a kick, snare, hi-hats and rides for all tracks so I wouldn't need to mic up every single drum and cymbal (thank god). For the drums, I'll have 2 ribbon mics as overheads (to capture the ride and the entire drum kit), an SM57 on the snare, a Sennheiser pencil condenser on the hi-hats and the Beyerdyamic M88 1 metre in front of the drum kit for a lofi room sound. For the bass, I'll be micing the bass amp with an AKG D112 as well as DI'ing the bass to get the raw sound out of the bass amp as well as a clean signal (to also use with Guitar Rig 5 effects if need be) to mix together later. If I had to re-record some of the guitars, I would've them DI'ed to use Guitar Rig 5 for effects.

Mixing Ideas

With mixing, I'd like to mix these tracks in lo-fi quality and also have them sound like they are being played in a sort room space like a lounge or a basement. For this, I'll be using Avid's Space Reverb Plug-in as its able to emulate sounds coming from post-pro spaces such as kitchens, a Mercedes van, lounge rooms, etc. In some of my previous compositions, I tend to add atmos sounds to fill the mix and give it an interesting environment so I'll definitely incorporate that idea into the tracks. Because one of our tasks throughout the trimester is to mix in 5.1, I'd like to mix one of the tracks in surround sound (maybe track "6.4" because of the many guitar tracks it has) which will be very interesting. Recently I've downloaded Sennheiser's free binaural plugin called AMBEO, which is now my favourite plug-in so far so I'll be definitely getting into that for panning instruments for the 5.1 surround sound task.

Anyway this was basically an intro and update to this major project. I've completed demos and have sent them to the musicians and will be recording them next week. I'd like to get into the Neve studio beforehand to refresh my skills on the desk but yeah, things are running pretty smoothly so far regarding this project. I just need to blog about it more.