When recoding and producing a song, it’s the ‘unique personal
identity with which they infuse their productions’ (Burgess, 2013) that ultimately affects the quality of the sound of the
song, making it different than the usual charted pop song. When recording ‘Lost’, I kept this in
mind in trying to set it apart from the mass of generic songs and feel like I
did do this justice, simply by just recording guitar and vocals, the rawest form
of music.
My decision to record both the vocals and guitar separately worked well
because it meant that it was easier to edit when both tracks were done, but
also it meant that I could solely focus on the one task at hand – the main reason as to why it only took me two takes to record the guitar
to a good standard. I feel like if I had recorded them both together, I would’ve either lost the strumming pattern or the strumming would’ve drowned my voice out. When I first played the song through using my fingers
to strum, the sound was quiet and soft (which didn’t work well with
the acoustic rock sound of the song) so instead I used a celluloid 0.88mm pick,
giving a richer sound, producing a more vintage tone. If I could experiment, I’d like to use an acrylic pick with a thinner tip, to create a brighter
and more focused sound. This became a small issue as I am not used to playing
with a plectrum however I feel like I coped well with the challenge and
overcame it, producing a cleaner, more rock-styled sound.
When it came to editing the track, I was interested in the effects that
were used such as reverb to add a bit of warmth to the voice, as the room that
we recorded in wasn’t a proper sound booth. Furthermore EQ ‘Provides mid-frequency
controls in addition to bass and treble’ (Self, 2009)
which meant that the high pitched sliding on the guitar could be cut out as
well as the low breathing and background noise, while the mid range frequencies
that could not be heard as much were brought up. And what impact did it have on
your finished piece? Remember to evaluate your learning.
For next time, I think I’d be more confident,
especially when it comes to recording the vocals. ‘In a state of
flow, there is no room for irrelevant thoughts’ (Kircher, 2011) so by entering this state a flow, it would allow myself
to feel more confident and ultimately feel better about each take, whether I
like it or not. The small recording studio made me more nervous as it meant I
could hear myself back as well as having someone else in the room making it
feel as though they were judging me. Also, I would have liked to play more
around with the effects of the vocals to give it a cleaner sound, instead of
being slight ‘fuzzy’, possibly using less reverb would help to achieve this.
Finally, to develop the song even further, using a program such as
Protools to create a drum beat as well would make the song more substantial as
I feel like ‘Lost’ as an acoustic song works well however turning into something more rock
sounding, being played on electric guitar would also work as well.
Bibliography:
Burgess, J, R. (2013) The Art of Music Production: The Theory and
Practice. New York: OUP USA
Kircher, J, M. (2011) Incorporating flow into practice and
performance. USA: IOS Press
Self, D (2009) Audio Engineering Explained. Massachusetts: Focal
Press
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