unit 48:brief 3- Recording a pop cover

Pop song cover

task:
record a cover of an already existing pop song.

my track-

I chose to do a pop song cover of "somewhere only we know" originally by Keane. my track will mostly focus on a solo vocul track and a solo piano

https://soundcloud.com/user-318712867/somewhere-only-we-know-piano

Pre-Recording-

Run through
during the run through i checked that everything was set up and working, ready for me to record.
this also involved making sure my musicians knew exactly what they were doing and were comfortable with what i had presented them with.

Rehearsal
before recording we needed to set up at least one rehearsal to make sure everyone was playing at the same pace. This also allowed me to make sure all instruments i had choose sounded good when they were put together.

Level and sound check
when recording it is always important to do a sound check, this will allow you to make sure you are happy with the amount of a specific sound that is being allowed into your track.
if levels are set to high it can create unpleasant sounds such as a buzzing sound.

Gain
the gain controls how much sound is allowed through the sound system, this is controlled trough dials on a mixing desk.

stereo recording
this is controlling how much is going in and out of a speaker

multitrack recording
multitrack recording is when you have more than one track needed for a sound project
in my project i had three tracks. one track was used for recording vocals, another one was used for recording from the right hand side of the piano, the third track was used for recording the left-hand side of the piano.


Electronic equipment that can be used

Direct injection
a DI is when a song is directly recorded into a track on a computer, this can be done when an instrument is connected directly to a mixing desk, this can be done using a jack lead and it can be inserted into the back of a mixing desk. DI is used to prevent an background sounds from being picked up, ensuring a song can focus 100% on the instrument, it also  makes a track have a higher quality and seem more professional.


synthesiser
a synthesiser can be used to make the sound of any instalment that has ever existed this can be used when you do not have access to the actual instrument or if you don't want a studio sound on a track, for example violins can be simulated on a synth.

electric drum kit
this can give a track a beat, in some tracks this would set the tempo for the rest of the track.
Recording

Monitors/levels
while recording it is important to monitor how mush sound is coming through each speaker as it is important the overall song is balanced. if the song is lenient towards one side it can effect the overall experience of the track.

headphones
sometime while recoding you will need to use headphones so that you can fully focus on what you are recording,

checking playback
once a track is recorded, before confirming that is ready to be put into the overall production, it is important to listen back on the track and check for any mistakes that may have happened while the artist was recording, or if the timing may have been off beat for a second. Its the final step before confirming that you are happy with a track and are satisfied  for it to be part of the overall production.

Final recording
the track appear to be semi-professional until mid-way through the vocals track when the artist forgot the lyrics, due to restricted time I was unable to re-record the vocals track. however I am still satisfied with how the track turned out.