University of Adelaide

Recording Documentation
Your Name
Barbara Karageorgos

Date/s of Production
13 November 19 November

Song Title
You May Be Right

Format
Sampling Rate: 48kHz
Bit Depth: 24 bit
Duration: 3:52

Total Time Spent on Recording

4 Hours 30 Minutes

Notes/Issues/Commentary on Production (Maximum 200 words)

Head phone vs studio
EQ
Volume of vocal inconsistencies
Kick drum
Placement becays

Track Information
Track
#1

Instrument
Performer Name
Kick
Production Techniques applied (EQ, dynamics processing, colouration etc, reasoning for
application and reference to reading and lecture.) (Maximum 100 words per entry)
In an attempt to rectify the sound dulled by the dropped microphone, I experimented with increasing
the low end and removing mid range frequencies but with no success. I decided the kick could not
be rectified so I researched how to replace the kick on youtube. I accessed Recording Revolutions
video Drum Replacement Made Easy <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g41AuA8xrto>. I found a
suitable kick sound from Abeltons sample racks and replaced each beat using the tab to transient
tool. I also rendered all the samples using the normalise tool to reduce the excessive waveform
gain. The Ableton sample was quite resonant so I applied the following EQ shape to create a more
punchy and pillowy sound. I also added some compression using bus 3-4 to prevent any peaking.

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University of Adelaide

Tra
ck
#2

Instrument

Performer Name

Snare
Production Techniques applied
I boosted the mid high to high frequency range to enhance the brightness/shine of the snare. I also
removed the unwanted 978Hz resonant frequency, as discussed in the studio workshops, which
helped to clean up the sound. I also added a gate after the EQ with a threshold 27.9dB and a hold of
240.5ms. I adjusted the parameters until the snare was isolated from the background sounds without
being cut off. Adjusting the hold was crucial as isolating the snare from the background sound allowed
for a more pure less muddy reverb, as suggested in the drum processing tutorial slides and readings. I
found that the reverb helped to give the impression of a larger room space and helped to emphasise
the metallic rattle of the snares.

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University of Adelaide

Track
#3

Instrument
Hi Hat
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

No gate was used for the high hat since it was played consistently throughout the song as was
much louder than the spill on that track as suggested in the week 7 lecture. However to clean the
track as suggested in the drums processing tutorial slides, I off the low end to reduce low frequency
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University of Adelaide

spill, whilst also enhancing the top end by boosting the mid high to high frequencies to make the
cymbals sound crisper.

Tra
ck
#4

Instrument

Performer Name

Tom 1
Production Techniques applied
I applied an EQ which rolled of the low end, and removed unwanted mid range frequency at about
770Hz, whilst also slightly boosting the high and mid-high frequencies as suggested in the drum
processing slides and ____ in the workshop videos. Since the spill was not very noticeable a gate was
applied rather than deleting sections in between hits. I started with the parameters suggested in the
drum processing tutorial slides. After carefully adjusting the parameters, I found that a threshold of
-24Hz, a ratio of 3:1 and a hold for 50ms sufficiently removed spill just as the tom sound wave ended.

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University of Adelaide

Tra
ck
#5

Instrument

Performer Name

Tom 2
Production Techniques applied
A similar approach was taken for Tom 2, however a slight resonant frequency was found at about
680Hz which I lessened by reducing the Q value and gain for this undesirable mid frequency. After
adjusting the EQ in solo mode, I then listened to how the sound sat in the mix. I found that it needed
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University of Adelaide

slight more high end than Tom 1, whilst the other parameters were similar. However I increased the
ratio for the gate to 4.7:1 as there was slightly more spill.

Track
#6

Instrument
Tom 3
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

Again, a similar approach was taken with Tom 3, however, the parameters were changed slightly to
improve its position in the mix. Unlike the other toms, tom 3 had a rather low pitch sound.
Consequently, I found that an extra high frequency boost helped brighten the sound in the mix. I
also reduced a slight resonant frequency of about 600Hz in the unwanted mid frequency range.
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University of Adelaide

With tom 3 possessing a longer decay time, the hold was increased to 1.2s and a threshold of
-18.6Hz. Due to the high amount of bleed, a ratio of 17:1 was used.

Track
#7

Instrument
Overhead L/R
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

Bus 3-4 was used to send some compression to both the left and right overheads. This
compression insert was applied to the entire drum kick in order to prevent peaking, whilst
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University of Adelaide

increasing the volume of the quieter sections. I used the settings as suggested in the drum
processing tutorial slide with an input:output ratio of ____,
As suggested by ____ in _____, I also slightly boosted the high frequency range to add some extra
brightness to the cymbals.

Track
#8

Instrument
Bass Di
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

I rolled of the high frequency range as suggested by _____ inorder to _______. The DI already
sounded clean, warm and quite bassy alon and also in the mix, so I only boosted the low end by a
fraction, so as to not create an over powering murmur. Compression was also added through bus 34 as suggested in the drum processing tutorial, which helped to_________

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University of Adelaide

Track
#9

Instrument
Performer Name
Bass Mic
Production Techniques applied
Similar EQ and compression was applied to the miked Bass. However the

Track
#10

Instrument
Electric Guitar
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

As mentioned by _____ in the workshop videos, I balanced the low frequency proximity effect from
close miking the electric guitar, I increased the mid-high and high frequency range until the riff solos
sounded clear, but not too overbearing in the mix. I also found that a slight boost in the low-mid
frequency range helped to balance the sound. I also added compression in bus 3-4 and adjusted
the level until peaks were limited and the quieter sections were suitably increased, as suggested
by____ in the workshop videos.

Track
#11

Instrument
Vocal
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

The vocal processing was the most tedious due to combining sections from different takes with
slightly different gains and with variations in the vocalists distance from the microphone. Initially I
tried using compression to level out the louder and softer sections, however it could not be rectified.
So I normalised sections by a certain percentage until the waveform looked consistent. Then I
applied compression in bus 4-5 (different from the drum compression) with a threshold of 32.1dB,
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University of Adelaide

ratio of 5.6:1, knee of 13dB to make the compression not sound noticeable in the louder sections. I
increased the overall gain in the compression bus by 2.8dB, as well as the main faders, since the
vocals were quite soft compared with the other instruments. I adjusted the vocal EQ as shown
below as I found this configuration sat best in the mix. Some reverb was also added in bus 1-2 as
suggested by _____ in the workshop videos which helped to________

Track
#12

Instrument
Keyboard

Performer Name

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University of Adelaide

Production Techniques applied

Since a DI was used to record the keyboard, the sound was very pure and clean sounding. I
wanted to preserve this sound as it sounded fine in the mix. I didnt want to unnecessarily change
EQ, reverb or compression settings so I simply listened to it in the mix and carefully adjusted the
fader. Upon muting the keyboard, I realised that the synthesiser sound contributed greatly to the
overall feel of the track. However, too high levels would drown out the guitar and vocals. As
mentioned in the week 11 mixing tutorial readings, I tried to achieve a balance where the keyboard
was not lost or too overpowering, but could be heard without effort from the listener.

Track
#13

Instrument
Alto Saxophone
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

I treated the saxophone in a similar way to the vocal recording. As with the vocalist, the saxophonist
did not maintain a consistent distance with the microphone throughout, causing considerable
amplitude differences which I could not rectify with a compression insert. So I manually normalised
certain sections by a certain percentage until the waveform amplitude looked consistent throughout.
I then added compression to limit peaks and increase the overall level, which was originally very
quiet like the vocal recording. To help the saxophone blend nicely in the mix I added reverb through
bus 1-2 and adjusted the level so as to blur the pure saxophone tone too much. I slightly boosted
the low frequency band to balance the prominent, bright high end in the solo. The natural recording
already sat well in the mix, so I wanted to avoid excessive and unnecessary equalising.

Track
#14

Instrument
Master Track
Production Techniques applied

Performer Name

As suggested in the week 12 tutorial reading by ________, I applied an overall compression and
adjusted the levels whilst looking at how they affected the master level.

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University of Adelaide

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University of Adelaide

Version: 37 | Created: 20/11/16 | Saved: 21/11/16 | Printed: 21/4/06