Recording Session Plan - Grant

This is the plan for my recording session.

These are my choice of microphones.

4 x Shure SM58 - X4

3 x Shure SM57 - X3

2 x Audix D6 - X2

1 x Sennheiser MD421 - X1

1 x SeElectronics Titan - X1

2 x Rode NT5 - X2

1 x Shure SM7b - X1

4 x DI boxes (passive &/or active) X2

2 x BeyerDynamic DT100 headphones - X2

1 x Jamhub headphone mixer/amp X1

I have 16 channels to choose from and this is how I am going to allocate my channels.

We have 1 hour to set up and 1 hour to record.

We are in studio 2. This means one person will need to be on headphones to communicate to the control room to make sure that everything in the live room is fully set up.

We are recording 

Drums

Bass Guitar

Electric Guitar

4X Female Vocals

This is how we are going to allocate the 16 channels.

1. KICK - Audix D6

This will be placed inside the kick drum pointed at the beater to get the extra attack from the kick drum and to be able to hear it over the rest of the band.

1. KICK INSIDE - Sub Kick

The sub kick is there to pick up the lower bass frequencies that the D6 will not capture inside the drum. This will be possitioned flat against the resonant head of the kick drum with about a 2 or 3 inch gap. 

1. SNR TOP - SM5
2. SNR Bottom - SM57

These microphones on the snare drum are to capture as much of the snare sound as possible over the sound of the band.

The top of the snare drum has the resonance and the tone of the drum shell where as the microphone underneath will have the crack and pop of the snares below. I combination of these two will really make a nice sound that will cut through the mix and hopefully be a clear snare sound.

1. RACK TOM - SM57

I have decided to use the Sm57 on the high tom mainly because of microphones available but also because it doesn't need to have a perfect sound because the whole kit will be captured by the overheads but this is just so if we need to hear a drum fill or solo a little clearer we can turn tho microphone up with out turning anything else up too much. This SM57 being a dynamic microphone will do a great job and its frequency range is good and will capture this drum well.

1. FLR TOM - SENNHEISER MD421

I have saved the MD421 for the floor tom because I think that it will capture the low end of the floor tom perfectly and will also have a nice punch to it. Same goes for this as for the high tom, I can turn this up in need be for a fill is the overheads don't capture it too well. This mic has a great frequency response to low end and will sound great on this drum.

1. OHL - RODE NT5
2. OHR - RODE NT5

I have chosen these microphones for the over heads because I don't have any C414's. Now I think about it I think the 414's would have probably capture too much of the who band and not just the drums. The NT5's will capture the whole kit slightly more directional and give a great tone across the whole kit. I think I will position these microphones fairly low because I don't want to get loads of the other instruments in through this microphone. This will give more problems when mixing.

1. BASS - DI

I have decided to only DI the Bass because It needs to be solid sounding and if it was just to mic'd you would get too much room noise. I need to be sure that I am going to get a full sounding bass signal to fit in my track because if its too weak then it could really spoil the whole track.

1. E.GTR DI
2. E.GTR MIC - Audix D6

I have decided to DI the guitar as well as use a mic because the microphone is going to get the tines that I really want from the guitar where as the DI can give me a clean signal that If i need to turn up the guitar without turning everything else up I can use the DI signal to do so.

1. VOX 1 - SM58
2. VOX 2 - SM58
3. VOX 3 - SM58
4. VOX 4 - SM58

I have decided to use the dynamic Shure SM58 microphones on the vocals because there is going to be so much join on in one go that If i was to use a condenser you would just hear way to much of the other instruments and not enough vocals. These microphones will help to pick up just vocals.

1. ROOM MIC - sE Titan

Finally I have decided to use the sE Titan to capture the room sound and hopefully get a little natural reverb and ambience that I can slip into the mix to give it a live sounding feel. These guys are all playing together, although its a audio recording it would be nice to capture the whole sound together and this condenser is big and perfect for the job. If I don't like it I can always delete it too. 

MONITORING

The 2 pairs if headphones will be worn by the drummer and vocalist if need be. The drummer needs to hear the click and be able to keep everyone in time and tight. If a singer wants to wear a pair of headphones so they can hear the guitar to keep in tune and to help the others keep in tune and in time because they may not to able to hear themselves too well over the rest of the band.

This is my signal flow diagram.

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THE SESSION


When I arrived for the session I was the only engineer. None of my team had showed up. This was very annoying since I had to do everything myself. I guess in the industry this could always happen, the more professional you get the more money there is involved so its less likely your main engineers or producers wouldn't turn up because its probably in their interest to be there as well as everyone else's.


When I came to choosing my microphones there were a few changes from what I had originally planned. My original Microphone list looked like this:

4 x Shure SM58

3 x Shure SM57

2 x Audix D6

1 x Sennheiser MD421

1 x SeElectronics Titan
2 x Rode NT5

1 x Shure SM7b

2 x DI boxes (passive &/or active)

But I could only use these microphones on the day:

4 x Shure SM58

3 x Shure SM57

1 x Audix D6

1 x Sennheiser MD421

1 x SeElectronics Titan
2 x Rode NT5

1 x Shure SM7b

2 x DI boxes (passive &/or active)

1 x AKG D12

Once I had completely finished setting up the microphones and all the inputs I was ready to get into the studio just before the band arrived. I was set up ready for drums, electric guitar, bass guitar, 4 female vox.

The band I was supposed to record didn't all show up and this caused major disruption to my set up. I had to think fast and work with what I had already set up in order to record and finish the session on time. If I was to over run in a professional paying studio I would cost record labels a lot of money they didn't plan on spending.

I was confronted with a band that consisted of drums, acoustic guitar and 3 female vocals. My main problem was recording the acoustic guitar with the drums in the same room. There was going to be a lot of bleed. I used the sE titan that I planned to use as a room microphone on the acoustic guitar placed pointing between the sound hole and the 15 fret to maximise the volume from the guitar.
I then used all the drum microphones that I already had set up.
And for the main box and backing box i used shire SM58's because they are a dynamic microphone and will pick up less on the room noise.

This is the microphone set up I actually ending up using:

3 x Shure SM58

2 x Shure SM57

1 x Sennheiser MD421

1 x SeElectronics Titan
2 x Rode NT5

1 x AKG D12

Picture of my set up below...

I found that I still had a lot of bleed from the drums into the sE titan on the acoustic guitar that I had to put a shield over the titan to help eliminate some of the bleed from the drums. I also put the titan in cardioid polar pattern to that it was only picking up in the direction that I needed which helped minimise bleed.




















When I was getting my levels and sound checking I found that all the vocals were popping a little on the 'P' and 'B' sounds. I corrected this by adding pop shields to all of the vocal microphones and the problem went away immediately.

I set up headphone mixes just for the drummer and Fleur who was playing acoustic guitar and singing lead vocals.
This was very easily controlled back in the control room because I could give them the exact mixes that they wanted so they could perform well.

Another change I had to make was to the backing vocals. Although they were dynamic microphones they still picked up loads of the drums because they were originally facing them I had to face them away from the drum to minimise the bleed. This didn't work so well but in the mix you can't tell.

I have learned many things from doing this recording session. Firstly its a lot more difficult to do it by yourself. The second one is the band are not always reliable and you need to have plans and set ups fixed in places and know that everyone is happy with it. I have also learned that the plan will change because of reasons that you can't always plan for so you just need to know your gear and your techniques so you can adapt to whatever you need. I think I have also learned that you need to be professional always and make good judgments on what needs to happen and when and how. Solving problems faster than others create problems will always help as well in the studio environment.

Review of Gig 25-03-14

Performance Review

Todays show consisted of the Level 3 performing students. In particular I am reviewing one  performance that I felt stood out and was a great all round performance and showed great showmanship skill throughout. As a whole the performing has improved massively from the last time we watched the performers in the later part of 2013.

The performances that I am reviewing is 'It's My Life' by Talk Talk. The performers that covered this song did a great job. I know this song very well and it was nice to see it covered with such energy and enthusiasm.  All of the synthesiser and keyboard sounds were very close to the original sound and the groove in which the whole band played together really worked well. The vocal harmonies you could tell were very well rehearsed and performed tightly and accurately on the day. I thought the bass line and the drums were tight together which they should be in any band. This meant the whole songs structure was nice and consistent and held the piece together and kept the groove bouncing along.

The sound mix of the performance wasn't spot on for me. This may have been because I was sitting slightly off centre and more to the right but I felt that the vocals were much too quiet in comparison to the band and the bass more importantly which was quite out of proportion to the rest of the band. The vocals are supposed to be the main focus of the songs that were performed today, not necessarily 'It's My Life' but the other songs were performed were highly vocal and they did not cut through the mix to well as they could have. Having said that I think that the entire mix could have be louder as the PA system is more than capable of producing a large band sound this would have been a little threatening to the ear drums but it would have given the performers and the sonic elements to the show some more life that you can all feed off in the band to really put on a great show.

Overall I thought that the performance was really really inspiring and that the performers showed a great number of skills while performing to keep the song interesting as well as being accurate with what they are playing. The song was full of energy as it should have been and they performers looked like they were enjoying themselves which I felt lacked in a few of the other songs but none the less a great all round show.

Roles and Contracts - Chloe Herington

The roles in the industry no matter how small are what keeps it working.


ROLES IN LIVE PERFORMANCE


Booking Agent

The booking agent is the person who works closely to the artist booking them shows for a tour or just one off shows. Quite often the booking agent will be in touch with the different promoters in an area and also the venues around as well.They will work as the middle man between the promoters and the artist. The agent will usually be one the one sorts the contracts and all the details for each show for the artist.
They are very much involved in the organising before the shows happen rather than all the work that happens on the day. You will most likely never see a booking agent at the gig itself because their time is much better spent in front of the computer getting in touch with people and booking gigs because that's how they make money. They will be in charge of putting together support acts for the show and working out payments across the whole event. They will usually be in charge of getting the artist accommodate and food supplies. A booking agent will put together contracts for the artists and support acts to make sure that they turn up with the agreed terms like payment. The Agent will be the one who secures information with everyone involved when putting on a show. The agent will be in constant contact with promoters who will be looking to book artist as well at the venue that they work for. They will also have to be in close communication with the promoter so they can discuss when release dates will be and when venues are available. I have played gigs myself where there has been no booking agent involved and just the promoter because I work as a agent for myself. I deal with all the contracts myself where as if I had an agent they would do all that for me. They would also find the gigs for me and let me know where I need to be and when, with what gear.
The booking agent will probably work normal hours from 9-5 but maybe later if there are people who need to contacted later at night. They will normally be available because artists don't work 9-5 so they need to be a available when an artist is so they can get in contact. Their pay is so varied because it really depends on the number of artists they work for and the number of gigs they book and the size of each one. If they work for another company they may get paid for the hours they spend in the day booking the acts but they will also get paid from the shows they get put on.
An agent is going to need a few skills to be successful such as they need to know as many people as possible whether that be other booking agent in case they cant handle an artist they could pass them over, they need to know loads of promoters, artists, venues and tour managers. They need to have a fairy good understand on the basic gear for each of their bands so they can talk to the promoters and the venues so they know their set up.

This job can be satisfactory because if you get to book a large act and book for large acts the satisfaction would be great as you would get paid more. There would also be down points when you cant find many people to book and they shows that they do play are not full and not making money. This is why they need to know lots of promoters so their work is worth it. Better acts will always sell more tickets.
The booking agent will not normally be on a contract if they work for themselves but they will be if they work for another company as a normal employee contracts. They may have contracts between them and the artist that they are working for so the artist doesn't keep booking with another company. They are probably paid hourly during the day if they work for another company as well as making money from the shows that they have booked.
There are a few risks that they have to take which are if they sign a band then they are devoted to selling that band at concerts. That band might not be very good and have a poor fan base and could always potentially split up or not practise or stop selling tickets at shows which would loose the booking money.

A booking agent has a hard job because they could have several artists all at the same time and they need to be on the ball always. They need to know there stuff when it comes to venues and promoters because they will be the people that make their job possible. Artist can work without them but they can only get so far so this section of the industry is very going to end because artist are always going to need someone to help them out when booking shows when they are at high demand.


FoH Engineer

The front of house engineer (FoH) is the person or people in charge of the live sound at a gig. This completely changes depending on the size of gig. The FoH will usually be told by the promoter who would have been told by the booking agent what the set up for the bands are so during the day of the gig he can prepare microphones and get everything ready for when the band arrive for the load in. When the bands load in he will be in charge of getting them on stage and ready for a sound check. The order of sound check usually runs backwards starting with the last band sound checking first. This is because the band that are on first can sound check last and they can leave their set on stage while the door open to the public. Normally he will do a line check before the band goes on stage just to check that everything is working and that they are ready to go.
The FoH is also in charge of getting levels for each band for their performance and when there are 3 or 4 + bands on the bill in one night things can get quite stressful for him so it really helps when a band nows exactly what they want and he can get through quickly. Fussy bands are the one thing they hate.
He is also in charge of the monitoring for the show and making sure that everyone can be heard on stage. He will be the first one to the venue and the last to leave.

A FoH engineer will be paid depending on how and where he works. If he is just a local FoH engineer for one venue then he might be paid per show or a percentage of the money the bar takes that night.
If its a large band who may be touring then he will be with them through out the whole tour and will get paid a daily rate as a freelancer. The hours that they will work really depends on the gig size. For a average venue they will probably arrive at about 14:00 to get the stage ready for when the bands arrive at 4:30/5:00 ready to set up and have sound check. They will then be there until the gig ends which in a lot of places there is a curfew at 11:00PM to they have to stop but it wont be until about 12:30 before they have packed up and put all the equipment away. If its a big gig then they will most likely be there the day before or at least the whole day doing the sound checks as there is so much to prepare. Their working environment will be anywhere that the gig is. A venue a pub, a stadium, a festival field or a garden or a garage. They honestly can work anywhere. Unless they are very professional a lot of sound engineers will probably have a day job or another line of work because they don't have to be a sound engineer every night and also during the mornings. They are more likely to work on weekends because this is when the events usually are.
A sound engineer will need a great knowledge on sounds, gear such as microphones, cables, speakers, mixing desks. They will need to know the different instruments that they will have to work with. The better you know the band the better you will be able to control their sound.
The job satisfaction for a sound engineer after the stress of getting through sound check is hearing the bands playing especially in a larger venue and knowing you have the control of everything thats going on. You can get very creative with sound and you can make great sound instruments that the satisfaction is creating that although its hard work learning the techniques that make you better. This is what I am working at and so far things are good but I need to make sure I know everything I can to be the best I can be.
The contract that a sound engineer is going to have if any will be for if they are going on tour with a band and they need to have a contract that the sound engineer will be there for each show and not prevent the tour from happening.
A live sound engineer isn't really going to have a contract if he works for a venue as they will probably have more than one and they will have set nights that they have turned up for. They may have a contract to secure payment agreements. The only risk that you may have is that if you get asked to go on tour with a band then they might be taking you away from a contract that you have with a venue.


CONTRACTS

Contracts are a huge part of the music they gel the whole thing together and you will find them in every corner of the industry.

When confronted with a contract it is important to know what the primary agreement is as well as the different more in depth part that can help you get out of trouble further down the line.
Many people in the past have just signed off the contract thinking this must be great and thats that. Further into the contracted years they will find out that they have no royalties to their music and the record has complete control over everything. This is why its important to understand the main parts to a music contract so that you don't get yourself into trouble.

________________________________________________________________________________

HERE IS A CONTRACT WE WERE GIVEN TO ANALYSE.


Dear Band Members:

This letter, when signed by you, shall constitute your and our deal memorandum agreement

(it being understood that this agreement shall be binding upon you and us until a more

formal long form agreement is prepared and signed by you and us), with respect to the

recording services of band member A, band member B and band member C, individually

and collectively, professionally known as the group "BAND 2", whose primary contact and

street address is:________________ (and whose e-mail address is: ) under the following

terms and conditions as of this 1st day of December, 2013:

TERRITORY:

Worldwide

TERM: A record contract will usually have what is called a 'term'. This states what included and or how long the contract is valid for. Information such as how many albums are included would be stated in this section. This contract only allows for 1 album and no options. An option is where they leave a set amount of albums up for discussion depending on how the prior ones go. This is where an artist may want to compromise and see if they can push another album because only being signed for one could be an inefficient use of time when they may have other labels calling for them too.

TERM:

1 Album + 0 options

(an album consists of 30+ minutes of original compositions + minimum of 1 releasable

single)

TYPE OF DEAL:

We shall own the copyright in the Master Recordings and shall have the right to exploit all

rights conveyed hereunder in for 5 years after the release date.

ADVANCE (“all in”) :

LP1: £2.000.

All albums to be released within 180 days of delivery of Masters to us.

Advances to be paid: 50% upon entering the studio; 50% upon complete delivery of such LP.

Note: 25% of the advances for LP1 shall be withheld until a more formal longform agreement

is signed by you.

ARTIST ROYALTIES:

30% (“Base Rate”)

Royalties are based on our net receipts (the amount actually received by the label)

Digital royalty rate: 100% of above rate

All sales Subject to 15% packaging deduction for jewel-case CDs and 25% on special

packaging CDs, vinyl, video and all other physical exploitation

No packaging deduction on downloads, electronic transmissions and non-physical sales.

All royalties subject to a reserve against returns of 25% to be liquidated 4 periods after such

reserve is established.

1st Territory: UK, Eire, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands,

Luxembourg: 100% Base Rate

2nd Territory: USA; 70% Base Rate

Rest of World: 50% Base Rate

50% of net income on 3rd party license

ARTWORK /PHOTOGRAPHY BUDGET: ARTWORK /PHOTOGRAPHY BUDGET:

£100 for Artwork per LP and £100 for Photography per LP, 100% recoupable

MERCHANDISING:

Rights for two (2) designs per LP, including LP cover artwork. Band is free to create and sell

as many additional designs as they wish.

20% royalty of wholesale price paid to band on each design, or 50/50 split for 3rd party sales

Merch sales are cross-recoupable with record royalties.

PR

The label shall pay for a PR company of their choice to promote the release. This will cost

£2500 and is 100% recoupable

RECOUPABLE COST:

Recording (studio, producer, mixing, mastering, artwork, travel, per diems) – 100%

Tour Support – 100%; Independent Promotion – 50%; Video – 100%;

CONTROLLED COMPOSITIONS:

USA and Canada: 75% of minimum statutory rate at time of recording of Masters (without

regard to any playing time formula); 10 song cap on LPs, 4 song cap on EPs, 2 song cap on

Singles

EXCLUSIVITY:

This deal is only for the band “Band 2”. Band members are free to perform in outside

projects.

FREE GOODS:

5 free finished copies of each LP released by label on the CD format, delivered at label’s

expense (Additional copies available for purchase at shows at royalty-free price of the then-
current PPD minus 30%)

________________________________________________________________

When getting offered a contract from a record company it's easy to think that this is it and you've 'made it' but in actual fact thats where the hard work begins. Once you have a lot more off your hand you will have a lot more on your plate and up against a lot more pressure and competition. It's important to look over a contract and find out how flexible you can make it. This could include doing collaborations with other artist or getting released on

If you ever wanted to get out of a contract you would have to contact a lawyer. Depending on the contract in question and the size of the company that you are dealing with depends on wether you could get out of it and how easily. if you wanted to try and get out of a contract you would have to have great reasoning and you could only really do it if the record company was in breech of the contract. Another way that you might be able to get out it to buy your way out. Record companies are expecting to make money from you if you want to leave before the contract is up they are going to want money to make up what they were expecting to earn from you.

• Will it protect me?

The contract is there to secure agreements. It will only protect you as far as the agreement stated. This could mean that things benefit you but sometimes they wont.

• What guarantees will it offer?

• How will I be paid?

• Pros/Cons etc

Record Contracts

We looked at how to understand the clauses in record contracts last week.

When a record company offers you a contract, they will often send a 'deal memorandum (deal memo)' which outlines the main features of the deal.  You will then examine this and negotiate on any points you are unhappy with until you come to a mutual agreement. This will then be drawn up into the long-winded full contract.

TYPE OF DEAL: Who will own the rights and for how long?

ADVANCE: is this enough to cover recording costs? have you already recorded any of it and, if so, would a distribution deal be more appropriate? Do you need to take time off from work to complete the album and, if so, will the advance allow you to pay bills? Do you intend to make a profit from sales after paying back the advance?  [NB: see 'recoupable costs' as there may be more to the advance than you think... the advance is given in advance but they may add things to your bill during the process.]

ROYALTIES: is this a fair rate?

ARTWORK: have they budgeted for this and is it realistic?  Do you need a budget for this or are you doing it yourselves/know someone who will do you a favour?  Remember that the artwork is super important and get quotes if you need to.

PR: Have they budgeted for this?  Do they allow you to choose who you use? Is the budget realistic?

RECOUPABLE COSTS: What else are they claiming back from you?  Recording costs,, mastering, manufacturing, tour support, PR, artwork etc.  Remember that any money they put forward, even if it is just for a bit of lunch in the studio, will need to be paid back by someone - you need to know if that is you, by it begin added to your advance.

EXCLUSIVITY: Does the contract allow you to work on other projects?  Do you have any plans to re-release anything?  Might you be offered a 'featured artist' role at some point? If you are in a band, do any of you work together on anything else outside this project?

Record Contract key Words:

• In perpetuity – forever
• Term – how long it is for
• ‘Rights’ – ownership of songs
• Recoupable – to be paid back to the label from the band out of royalties
• Exclusivity – how much they label ‘own’ you, or how free you are to be involved in other projects.