Ella Lever

Production Journal Final Major Recording

Production Journal

Ella Lever

Traits Jessica Jamieson

JUNE 2015

Overview

For my final major recording project, my client is Jessica Jamieson and I will be recording her EP named Traits. The target genre will be Acoustic pop aimed at around 14-30 year olds. The EP will consist of similar material to artists such as; Gabrielle Aplin, Lewis Watson, Ben Howard and Taylor Swift, the sort of singer/songwriter acoustic type musicians. We will be using SoundCloud (soundcloud.com/jessjamiesonmusic), Twitter (twitter.com/JJamiesonMusic), Tumblr (jessjamiesonmusic.tumblr.com) and Facebook (facebook.com/JessJamiesonMusic) to post and promote the finished material.

As a lot of the songs will be acoustic, the aim is for them to be a bit more stripped back and natural so when mixing I dont want to put any extreme effects on anything, just to keep the natural sound there. Although I will probably use EQ, compression, reverb etc. just to improve, brighten and soften guitars and vocals. I will also be mostly using the microphone to record the acoustic guitar as I think it produces a better sound and you can also capture the sound of fingers on the string, which will be good for keeping it natural.

The aim is to record and mix 6 tracks, one being the marketing tool, which is a cover, and 5 original songs. Two of these songs will be a bit more built up, not acoustic. I will add drums, bass, keys and more guitars.

This is the artwork for the EP. Each picture shown in the artwork represents different emotions, which expressed throughout all the songs in the EP. For example the first picture is a shovel, which represents, putting something behind you, which can relate metaphorically to the action of shovelling dirt and throwing it behind you.

THAT NIGHT

This song is quite gentle and relaxing, really fitting the acoustic feel to the EP. The inspirations for this song are; Please Don't Say You Love Me by Gabrielle Aplin, mainly the guitar throughout the song but also lyrically and Castle Street by Lewis Watson, both lyrically and instrumental.

The only thing recorded in this song was vocals and acoustic guitar. I both recorded the guitar through a microphone and DI to try to capture all the sound frequencies from the strings which really worked well on the sing and it is finger picking, it also sounder fuller with the two instead of just one. I also recorded some light backing vocals to double up in the verses at different point and harmonies just too add another layer to the song.

I used quite a bit of compression on this song, as its a bit more of a softer sounding song it needed to be lifted up in volume so compression was a good tool to use during mixing. In the end everything was at a better and more equal level. The only thing that wasnt compressed was the DI guitar as that already had a lot of bass to it, so it was already at a good level. I also used compression on all the other songs, not on everything, but for the same reasons as above mainly.

The chords used in this song are; G5, A7sus4, Csus2, Dsus4, Em7/D and Gm7/B. Which are a bit more familiar chords but still not commonly used in pop songs. The structure is very similar to the structure of Breaking Point; these songs are quite similar in style as they are the more stripped back acoustic songs on the EP.

I think this song ended up being a success; it reached all my aims and came out sounding very acoustic and relaxing as planned. If I could do it again I think I wouldve quite liked to hear what it would sound like with some relaxed drums recorded in it as well, I think I would also record the guitars both through the microphone but with different microphone placements to create a cleaner more natural sound.

ALL I WANNA KNOW

This song is primarily focused around piano rather than the acoustic guitar like all the other tracks on the EP. This track is more of a built up song and not acoustic. Midi piano and strings were recorded in, and then live vocals, backing vocals and drums were also recorded. The inspiration for this song comes from Taylor Swifts song All Too Well (Piano version). Jess listened to this song a lot while writing All I Wanna Know which influenced the piano, and how she lyrically wrote the song. Taylor Swift has said writing her song All Too Well was like writing a letter so Jess decided to try this technique.

I wanted to keep the main piano and vocals the main element throughout the song so I doubled up the tracks, which just gave it a bit more emphasis. String were added just to give the song a bit more depth but they were too prominent in the track so I turned them down until they were subtly it the back ground, but still made a difference. There are quite a few layers of backing vocals in the song, theres some repeat lines and harmonies, and then more layered up harmonies which I think bring out the vocals more and add to the song.

I used EQ a lot throughout mixing the EP, its very good for cutting out the low frequencies of background noise etc. that I dont want, which I did to everything. And its also great for highlighting/cutting out certain amounts of different frequencies of different instruments. In this song I put some high shelf EQ on most vocals to brighten them. And played around with enhancing certain frequencies until I found a good sound, I started off with a preset EQ I liked then changed it slightly to how I wanted it.

This song is probably the most pop sounding song on the EP; it uses more commonly used chords in pop songs (Bm, D, A, G but also Gno35/maj7). Again, it also has a very common pop song structure of intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, chorus.

I think this song was quite successful, I really like how all the vocals and harmonies sound against each other and in the song, I feel they really highlight the tone of Jess vocals but also adds strength to them. I think the song overall sounds good, I had a few problems getting everything in time so had to re-record the vocals a few times but in the end it came out a success. If I were to do it again, I wouldve liked to add some bass guitar to it as I feel that would give the song a subtle effect and maybe make it sound more finished. I also think it suits the pop genre very well as it has a classic pop song structure.

TRAITS

This is another song which was more built up instrumentally, but it was also still quite acoustic as there were still two acoustic guitars recorded, as well as drums, a tambourine, some midi piano and added background vocals. The inspiration for this song came from two other songs, The Best Thing (That Never Happened) by We Are The In Crowd, which inspired the meaning of the song and It Could Be Better by Lewis Watson, which influenced the guitar style and technique, which is used similarly in the verses.

The target for this song was to still have the acoustic style, so I recorded the guitar twice, just to give it a bit more of an emphasis. When recording with the microphone, it was placed roughly in line with the twelfth fret on the guitar, which is good positioning to pick up a good balance of high and low frequency sounds from all the strings. I also wanted the drums to sound very relaxed to suit the more chilled, acoustic style of the song, which I think was really achieved.

The chords used in this song arent very common pop song chords like A, F, C, G etc.. The chords used are; A5add14, E5, C#omit3 and B5, which repeat throughout the whole song and are just rearranged at the bridge. The structure of this song though is a structure very commonly used, its referred to as ABABCBB which is intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle, chorus, chorus out.

I put a noise gate on both recordings of the guitar just to take out the unwanted background noise, as well as EQ. I also used the flex tool in parts of recordings just to move some strums slightly which werent in the time, this was also a good tool to use when the guitars went out of time at some points.

I think this song was successful; it came out with the sound I aimed for. I really like how the two guitars sounded against each other and I like how the vocals sounded very clean and soft, which really suit this song. If I could change anything I would maybe add another layer of vocals to highlight them, and maybe some harmonies in the background.

BREAKING POINT

More like That Night, this song is also mainly just acoustic and not built up. Again only guitar and vocals were recorded but this song has a lot more layering. The song Franklin by Paramore lyrically inspired this song with the meaning and missing home and feeling uncomfortable when being away from home. Also, Keep Your Head Up by Ben Howard inspired the guitar.

The aim for this song was to stay acoustic and build up a little but with layers of just vocals and guitar instead of a variety of instruments. Most of the song stays quite simple but at the end there are two layers of vocals which overlap slightly, then I added a layer which echos the main vocals, and added a bit of reverb, echo and pan to give it an extra dimension to the song. I also recorded the guitar twice again, both through microphones to give it a more natural sound. At the ending where it builds up to a finish there is also another layer of guitar added, which is a melody played in the song but added in with strumming it fitted well and added another layer, the strums eventually fade out right at the end and the song finishes with vocals and the finger picking melody on guitar.

When mixing, I also used a little bit of compression and EQ. I used quite a bit of reverb in the song, I used a little bit of the main vocals line to soften them a bit, used a little bit more on the layered vocals at the end to make them seem more in the background and less prominent and used a bit more than that along with an echo on the echoed vocals as I just wanted them to be a bit more subtly in the background.

This song uses quite uncommon chords; Dm7sus2, A, Eadd4, F#m7/E, E6sus4, G#m7b9#5, F#m7 and F#m9. But again the structure is quite a common one in pop music, in the order of intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge/outro. The lyrics are also very repetitive, which is a technique used to make the song really stick in your head, which is used in a lot of pop songs.

I think this song was very successful, Im happy with the end result. I love the built up ending with the layered guitar and vocals, I think its really effective. The structure of the song really fits into the common pop song structure, and the song was kept very acoustic, which really makes it fit into the acoustic pop style genre. I think the only thing I would add is maybe another layer of vocals to create a harmony.

Marketing Tool KING FOR A DAY (COVER)

I chose to make the marketing tool a cover song. Jess performed a cover of King For A Day by Pierce The Veil. The original song is a pop/punk genre but as my client likes this genre of music, she wanted to do a cover but she changed it into her own style to suit the same genre as the EP. This then shows a taste of what the EP will be like, this also means that this song could create more traffic to the cover/EP, as the band are quite well know within their genre and have a large fan base who may be interested in listening to the cover and then hopefully the EP.

As the EP is acoustic pop, we really wanted to show this with the marketing tool. The aim was for it to be very simple and natural, to suit the acoustic genre. I recorded the guitar twice, one through DI and once through a microphone; this helped to capture the lower frequencies from the DI and the higher frequency sounds of the higher strings through the microphone. This really worked well together to get a fuller sound from the guitar. Although this did cause a problem as at the end of the song the rhythm was played differently, so I picked which guitar track sounded better overall, then cut up the other track so it left just the simple strums of the guitar to the beat of the song, which created more emphasis and more of a build up towards the ending of the song. I then took out the extra strums at the bride to highlight the vocals before coming back in stronger at the end.

I added a little bit of EQ to cut out the low unwanted frequencies on everything recorded and added a little high shelf EQ on the vocals to highlight Jess vocals, as she has quite a soft tone which was highlighted. I added high shelf EQ to the microphone guitar just to brighten the higher frequencies captured. I compressed the guitars and vocals to raise the volume of both, a little bit but not too much as I didnt want it to sound harshly loud. Then to finish off I added a slight bit of reverb to the vocals to soften them slightly and used melody to correct the pitch of some notes etc.

We will be posting the marketing tool on soundcloud, tumblr, twitter and facebook. If we tag the posts with appropriate tags like the bands name, the song name, the genre of music etc. hopefully that will create traffic. Jess also regularly uploads videos on youtube so that will be another way of sharing and promoting the EP.

I think the final result of the marketing tool was quite successful. I achieved the aim of the simple and natural acoustic sound and it does represent the genre and feel of the EP. I think if I were to do it again I would I think I would rerecord one of the guitars and make sure it was played in exactly the same way so it always sounds in time and fits smoothly with the other guitar or I couldve come up with an alternate rhythm which could fit into the song to add another layer. I think I would also maybe add some light backing vocals to emphasise certain parts of the song, and also I think I wouldve added an intro just to make the song start slightly less abruptly.

OVERALL EVALUATION

Overall, I think the EP has turned out very well and has been a success. All the songs fit well into the Acoustic Pop genre and style. Even though I think there could be improvements made and various things, which couldve been fixed if I had more time. I think all the songs were well recorded and performed. I think the songs that turned out the best are Breaking Point and Traits because they were the more acoustic songs, I think there was less recorded to focus on mixing so I made sure everything that was recorded sounded to my satisfaction, apart from a few parts of some songs. I think if I had some extra time I wouldve re recorded some guitars and vocals because of little mistakes but they are subtle so it doesnt bring the focus away from the whole song.

I think technically I couldve used experimented with using more tools on logic to give some songs more of an effect, but I stuck to most of the basic tools like, EQ, compression, reverb etc. A reason why I like Breaking Point is because at the end of the song I experimented a bit with echo, filters and pan which I think was very effective and turned out well.

I think some songs (possibly King For A Day & Breaking Point) could sound competitive with other acoustic pop style music in the marketplace, especially with music from people who make their own music at home etc. and post it online. Some of the other songs I dont think they would really sound that competitive because I think I couldve used tools in logic more appropriately and effectively to give the songs more of a clean and professional sound.

If the musical and technical considerations were left aside I think the idea of this EP would work very successfully, all the songs are well written both musically and lyrically. A lot of people, in a wide age range like acoustic music and acoustic pop music, so I think the EP has the ability to gain a lot of listens/views on various sites. The artwork is appropriate and fits well with the EP, the pictures of the front of the EP all represent different emotions, which are expressed in the songs. Also the tone of the colours fit well, as the songs are all acoustic and more relaxed, the colours on the artwork are also quite relaxed tones, which enforces the chilled/relaxed acoustic style of music.

The marketing tool, which was the cover, worked well as a marketing tool as the genre was changed to acoustic styling which did represent the style of the EP, but I think the traffic from fans of the original song and band are more fans of pop/punk music so its less likely they will be interested in acoustic pop music. I think if a cover was done of an artist who are originally acoustic pop music such as, Gabrielle Aplin, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard etc. the whole EP would generate more traffic as well as the cover, as people who are already interested in acoustic pop music will be more likely to listen to the whole EP.

The EP could be put onto iTunes as a means of generating an income for the artist, with enough advertising on various social media sites aimed at the appropriate audience and age range. Events could promote the EP, thing like gigs where the music will performed live; this could generate more of an income from ticket sales to the events. Another way to bring in some money would be to offer some sort of limited time deal/offer such as; if you buy the EP in the first week of release you unlock some sort of extra content, which could be another song or a music video as well as a song.

Here is a link to the whole playlist on Soundcloud: Traits EP

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