Day 3 Recording - Wednesday 27th March 2019 - Acoustic and Vocals
Gear
- SM58 x1 - placed above the vocal
- Rode NT5 (pair) - spaced pair to record the guitar
- AKG C214 x1 - Room microphone
- AKG C314 x1 - Vocal Microphone
- DI x1 - for acoustic guitar
- Headphone Kit
- Alex McGleave - vocals and guitar and emotions
Alex was finishing work so Chris and I had time to set up the Microphones before he arrived. We decided to use a couple of Rode NT5’s for the guitar, spacing them would capture the rich sound of the body, with the sharper sound of the neck. Utilising a DI on the guitar would also provide a full sound that we could pan straight down the middle (with the Rodes being in the left and right monitor respectively).
We set up a AKG C314 with pop filter and shock mount for the main vocal with a SM58 sitting above it, so we could get a nice raw live sound combined with the depth and fullness of the AKG. A further AKG C214 was set up in the room behind the vocals. I’m a big believer in room microphones. I think they can add a lot of character to a record, and they are great to use as a foundation when mixing, you can then bring up the separate channels to fill out the sound.
After Alex had done a few warm up takes and we decided to try and record it all live. My initial thoughts were we could get an intimate feeling without overdubs, have it sounding more natural (kind of like someone playing guitar by a campfire). After a few run throughs it wasn't working, we realised that it would be better for him to focus on his singing rather than trying to remember chord changes at the same time. This would allow Alex to pour more emotion into the song.
We recorded a backing track in 2 takes and after that he was off. He did it in four takes (beautiful voice btw) and even though he was done, its always good to do one for luck. Fifth take was amazing and we called it a day.
Thoughts and musings
Again working with a professional makes your life much easier. Alex was very receptive to feedback and easy to work with. Having said that Chris and I made sure he was well taken care of, with any technical issues sorted, the room set up with lights dimmed and water available before he arrived.
All in all it was great.
I did a rough mix of the track, hope you enjoy it.
https://soundcloud.com/user-74592038/cc-feels-vocal/s-QGMN6
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