Internship Journal: Acoustic Sessions

I was asked to stay after and record acoustic guitar for a project that Neil himself is playing on. Neil picked out a microphone that he has had success with and I set it up/placed it while he practiced. I had him get comfortable in the chair and I aimed the mic where the neck meets the body of the guitar to get an overall balance of the guitar tone. It sounded great on first listen surprisingly and was the warm and full sound that the track needed. This felt like luck, but I did put some thought in when I positioned the mic, so I felt like it was a success.

Neil was extremely happy with the sound and asked me to come back later that week to track some guitar tracks for his next album. I had the idea to use a stereo XY technique this time and placed in the same position as the first session with a third microphone as a room mic. Unfortunately, this sounded thin compared to the sound we were able to get in the previous session. After messing with all variables(mic placement, preamp setting, compression, etc), Neil and I decided to switch back to the original setup with the one mic and try to get back to the full sound. After we set it up the original way, we were not able to reproduce the sound tone. I again messed with all the variables and after about two hours we chalked up the whole night as necessary experimentation.

After some discussion, it was decided that there were two things contributing to the lackluster tone. The first factor was the difference between the actual guitar parts being played. The first night, we recorded with a capo and Neil was finger picking. The second night, we were recording strummed open chords that were much louder and less controlled. The second factor was the physical design of the guitar that had sound holes like (the side hole on) this and (the top hole on) this, which I thought was contributing to the uneven tone.

Neil said we’ll try agin soon with a different guitar. I’m in.

Internship Journal: Progress Two

We started mixing Neil’s previous One Silent Night performances at The Audio Kitchen. This is pretty cool because I get to hear what Neil and Rod have been talking about since day one. Each year is divided into sets and is set up as a full Pro Tools session, complete with a live choir and sequenced synth tracks. It’s all pretty elaborate and a little daunting, but I’m excited to get a turn to mix. Currently I have been hanging out and giving my input while Joe mixes. It’s helpful to watch Joe work because I like to pick up little tricks as he works.

The cool thing about being in this stage of my life is everything is educational and everything is entertaining. So it’s not my first choice to clean up a closet or clear off a desk, but it shows me what it takes to operate and maintain a studio. It’s not as much fun to hang out while somebody else mixes, but I get to see the workflow of somebody else and how they deal with problems that arise. Anything that I get to do that is even mildly related to audio prepares me for anything in the future.

Internship Journal: Progress

We have been mostly cleaning and organizing lately. We moved a lot of useless stuff to a back storage area and separated crates of cables into separate piles based on their function. I would rather be getting to do audio related work, but I know this really helps Neil and Rod and I know that it is part of the reason I am there. I don’t really mind it all that much, I’m just excited to get back to work.

Neil told Joe and I that we are allowed to bring in our own clients/talent to record. He also said that our bands can record for free as a way to practice and get familiar with the studio. So with that, I am excited to announce that my band Cities and Years will be recording our upcoming record at The Audio Kitchen.

This is very cool.

Internship Journal: Day Three

This day I came in to help mix the sessions we had previously recorded and I cleaned up the tracks for Neil to mix. I manually gated some tracks, cut out dead air on vocal tracks/amp buzz on guitar tracks. It’s an essential part of mixing, but it’s not that interesting to blog about. I did enjoy it the experience and I even showed Neil a few helpful Pro Tools shortcuts.

Internship Journal: Day Two

The next session was supposed be both Neil and me tracking vocals for the rest of the record, but Neil called before and said I could just track until he arrived and Rod would be there to let me in. I got there and we tracked all the vocals and harmonies for the record. It was awesome again to be in control of the session and keep the morale of the singers up, even when egos started to get in the way of productivity.

When Neil arrived we were reviewing each track and seeing if we needed to go back and record anything else. After the band decided that everything sounded good, Neil began to work with them by adding some final touches to some of the tracks. We all listened and gave input on where to add little things. It was interesting to watch Neil work and to see creative ideas flow out of him after listening through a track. It was the first time I really saw the difference between a producer and engineer.

This was my longest session to date, lasting about nine hours straight. I felt good about it.

Internship Journal: Off to a Good Start

I was lucky enough to get an internship working at The Audio Kitchen near downtown Akron. The Audio Kitchen is owned and operated by guitar legend Neil Zaza who has recorded a variety of local bands, as well as his own music. In the last couple months, Neil and his head of marketing Rod have been taking steps towards transitioning The Audio Kitchen into a full time commercial studio. Luckily for me, one of those steps was bringing in interns to help clean up, organize gear and eventually run sessions while Neil goes on tour.

I went to a meeting on my first day where Joe (a fellow intern/former Tri-C classmate) and I met Neil and Rod and talked about classes at Tri-C, our backgrounds in recording and what their plan for the studio entailed. Neil and Rod are super nice guys and were very welcoming. After discussing what they had coming up, Neil told us that he had a session scheduled for that night, so if either of us (interns) were available, we could come help out. Fortunately I didn’t have anything planned so I came back a few hours later for my first session.

Neil pretty much let me run things on the first night. He showed me some basic signal flow of how the studio is wired before the band arrived and he got a few things ready. When the band showed up they were super cool with me sitting in and running Pro Tools. We ended up over dubbing about half of the guitars for their record, all of the bass and even a few vocal tracks. The whole time I was interacting with the band, making suggestions on guitar tones and keeping the bass player and singers upbeat while they were having trouble with their parts. It felt real. It was real…

This was my first session where I had never met the band and was forced to kind of steer the ship. It was great and I felt completely comfortable.

Neil was satisfied and we made plans to knock out the rest of the vocals and finishing touches the next Wednesday.

Colin Morris: Capstone EP (Tentative Track List)

1. Quiet Confidence
2. Lucy
3. Piece of Me
4. Ohio
5. One More Secret
6. Beeswax On You Pillow

Mixing and Final Thoughts

After I finished tracking, I felt confident that Colin and I had recorded some really great tracks. I don’t think that we got lucky, I know that we earned it and I can’t think of a single thing that I would want to re-record.

These successful tracking sessions made mixing the project a ridiculously daunting task. After I was deep in, I realized that the hardest part of mixing (for me) is getting the vocals to sit right in the mix. It was even harder of a task when I had to start carving out the tones that we worked so hard for while tracking.

Specifics: general attacked for each mix: 

• Cleaned up tom tracks. (Manual gating.) 
• Raise OH mics to good level and bring in the kick, snare and tom tracks to the right volume.
• Edit full drum kit using faders, panning, gates, EQ and compression.
  
• Align bass guitar DI track by delaying the signal.
• Bring in bass guitar: Blend the DI/amp sound using using faders, EQ and compression. (special attention to bass guitar and kick drum masking.)
  
• After rhythm is solid, bring in vocals.
• EQ and compress vocals to shape sound and control dynamics.
• Slowly bring in guitars and other instruments and carve any part that muddied/ interfered with the vocals. 
• Always going back and tweaking. EQing guitar tracks so they compliment each other and EQ other instruments to fit the mix and blend together.
• Write automation for vocals and other things.

This was my basic attack for each song except Beeswax on Your Pillow. For Beeswax, I spent time selecting a complimentary reverb first to make the piano sound as airy as the vocals. Then I dumbed down the quality of the piano by using Sans Amp and found a low-fi kind of sound that maintains the quality of the instrument. Then I just carved soace for the vocals in the piano and mixed with faders. (I may or may not get more detailed later on with what I did for each track, but for now I think I’ll leave the specifics at that.)

This was such an amazing opportunity to work with a good friend and dedicated/talented musician like Colin. Fortunately for both of us, we were able to share this very formative experience and hone our skills/learn different techniques on opposite sides of the mixing board. Going into these studios (that I have started taking for granted) is something that we only dreamed about when we started a band back in high school. Colin was great talent and he couldn’t have made this experience any easier for me.

Overall, I’m very happy with the end results. I was able to track, drums, guitar, acoustic guitar. bass, piano, rhodes piano, aux percussion and vocals (almost) all in a professional studio with professional gear. I did location sessions at Colin and my houses and mixed in studio/at home and was able to practice with how mixes translate on different sets of speakers.. As an engineer, the gear that I got to use and become familiar with during the course of this project made this an absolutely unforgettable experience that I will be able to utilize in my everyday work/home studio sessions.

I’m excited to soon post samples of the final tracks and will post links to officially purchase/download the EP when Colin has it in his possession and releasees it.

Piano/Vocal Sessions: Colin’s Living Room

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Colin and I have been planning to record Beeswax on Your Pillow since the very beginning of this project. The original plan was to record Colin’s classical guitar version of the song and get a very tight sounding track with very little room noise. It seemed fitting to record the classical guitar parts in his house while we were there tracking piano. While I was setting up, Colin realized that his classical guitar needed new strings and we were running out of time. So we improvised (another reason Colin is the best talent I could ask for) and Colin recorded a piano version of the song.

Unfortunately, once I got home and listened to the piano, I was pretty underwhelmed with the sound I achieved in his living room. Overall, I felt it lacked the fullness a track with just vocals and piano really calls for, so I decided that if we were going to keep it, we were going to have to give it a purpose. We had to give it personality.  So when I went back to track the vocals, I had the idea of Colin singing into the piano and picking up the resonating sound of the strings. The results were very cool, and after recording some other things, (you’ll have to wait until I’m done to hear) we came up with a unique sounding song that will have a place on the final EP.

Raw Piano Sample

Raw Vocal Sample

(6.5 hours) <-Including vocals for Beeswax and all piano tracks.

Vocal Sessions One and Two: My Room

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I decided to cover my closet with as many blankets as I could in an attempt to make a vocal “booth.” It works well enough and it looks hilarious in the pictures, so I’m happy.

Colin and I started tracking vocals on Tuesday and then recorded again on Thursday night. We started with tracking Lucy and unfortunately, it didn’t go so well on the technical side. Colin’s voice is more dynamic than other artists I have recorded, so I was trying to compress to tape and control with compression in general. This was just smashing the peaks and sucking all of the life out of his voice, so I knew something was off. On Wednesday I got some advice from my teacher and he told me not to compress to tape and instead just get the loudest part at a good volume (loud but not clipping) and then when mixing just automate the volume to fit the mix. This made a lot of sense to me and after trying it Thursday evening, I was more happy with the results.

Vocal Progress:

• Beeswax on Your Pillow: Not Done
• Lucy: Done
• Ohio: Not Done
• One More Secret: Not Done
• Piece of Me: Not Done
• Quiet Confidence: Not Done

I’m still not sure that the vocals are sounding as good as possible, so I am going to reassess the situation after I rough mix Lucy this weekend. I won’t post any raw vocal samples unless I’m sure they sound as good as possible.

(6 hours)