TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE09PRACTICALASSIGNMENTNOTES

TheassignmentforModule9isnewandhasreplacedthepreviousassignmentforthismodule.Asyetwe
donothaveverymanysubmissionsfromstudents.Whenwehavereceivedenoughsuitablestudents'
work,itwillbeincludedhere.

Fornow,youcanhearsomeoriginalrecordingssentinbyAudioMasterclassstudents,togetherwithour
comments.Wehavedeliberatelyusedrecordingsthatarelessthanperfect,invaryingdegrees.Ineach
casethemajorpointsforconsiderationwillbeidentified,andsuggestionsgivenforhowtherecordings
couldhavebeenimproved.

Bearinmindthatthereisconsiderableworkandconsiderabletalentintheserecordings.Thefactthatthey
didn'tallturnouttobepolishedgemsshowsjusthowdifficultrecordingcanbe.

Andimagineifyouweretheproduceroftheseacts,appointedbytherecordlabel.Itwouldbeyour
responsibilitytoproduceamarketableproduct.Whatwouldyoudo?

Example1

This(example1.wav)isaliverecordingwherealltheinstrumentsperformedtogetherwiththesinger.

Positives:ExcellentvocalsoundfromaBeyerdynamicribbonmic.Goodsingertoo.

Negatives:Thebasstakesuptoomuchspaceinthemix.ItshouldbeEQedsothatitdoesn'tstraytoomuch
beyonditsmainfrequencyrange.Boththepianoandthedrumscouldbemoreclear.

Overall:Thisisagoodperformanceandagoodrecording.Withattentiontotheabovepointsitcouldbe
excellent.

Example2

This(example2.wav)isfromthesamesessionasExample1.Thelackofclarityinthedrumsismuchmore
evidenthere.Also,thefasterrhythmdoesn'tsuittheacousticambianceoftheroom.Thesuggestionwould
betohaveclosermicsonthedrumsforbetterclarity.Otherwise,quiteagoodrecording.

Example3

This(example3.wav)isasongbyQueen.Queenweresuchagreatbandthatthereisnowayanyonecould
adequatelycoverthistrackunlesstheytotallyrearrangedit.Thisissuchachallengethateventop
professionalmusiciansandproducerswouldbedestinedtofail.

Moral:Takeonchallengesthatareachievable!It'sagreatexercisethough,totryandreproducetrackslike
this.

Positives:Excellentguitarandalotofgoodarrangementandmusicianship.

Negatives:Althoughthesingerisbasicallygood,heneedsmuchmoreproductionadvicetohelphim'raise
hisgame'.Therearemanypointsinthevocalthatdon'treallyworkandshouldhavebeenredone.The
drumsneedtobemuchbigger.Queenarrangementswereoftenverysparse(apartfromthevocaland
guitarharmonies).Thisrequiresahugedrumsound,whichwedon'thavehere.Thebackgroundvocalsare
wellarrangedandmostlywellperformed.However,everydetailofperformanceneedstobeperfect.Also,
thebackgroundvocalsaretoo'big'.Theyneedtobeinthebackgroundwithrespecttotheleadvocal.

Module09PracticalAssignmentNotes
Overall:Toughchallenge,reasonabletry.Manydetailedpointsneedattention.

Example4

Thistrackhaswaytoomuchreverb.Thisisamajordefect.Itisnottheonlyproblemhowever.Apartfrom
thesinger,whoisquitegood,themusiciansareclearlyamateur.'Amateur'doesn'tnecessarilymean'bad',
butprofessionalswouldnotbesatisfiedbythisstandardofperformance.Thedrummershouldbereplaced
whilehetakesfurthertuition.Thebassguitaristjustneedsmoreaccuracylistentotheoddheldnoteat
around19seconds.

Moral:Itisverydifficultforeventhebestengineertomakeagoodrecordingofmusicianswhoarenotofa
fullyprofessionalstandard.

Example5

Onthesurfacethis(example5.wav)seemsverygood.However,ifthisbandwereputinthestudiowithan
experiencedproducer,theimprovementwouldbeconsiderable.Theirperformancehasnotpeakedyet.
Theyareplayingreallywell,butthereisclearlymoreintherethathasnotbeendrawnoutyet.Thisisnota
technicalissue.Itisdowntothepureartofproduction.

It'sasmallpoint,butoneoftheguitarshasanirritatinglittlebuzz.Thisshouldhavebeenattendedto.

Generallygoodworkthough.

Example6

AnotherextraordinarychallengeMerryChristmasEverybody,bySlade.Theproblemisthattheoriginalis
perfectasitis,soanyreplicationisboundtofail.Youcanprobablyfindavideooftheoriginal,from1973,
ontheInternetthroughaGooglesearch.

Themainproblemhereisthatthemusiciansarenotyetofaprofessionalstandard.They'redoingwell,but
thisisnotamarketableperformance.Thereisadifferencebetweenadrummerplayinga'lazy'beatanda
drummerwhosimplydrags.

Althoughtheoriginalmultitrackrecordingisprobablyworkable,themixiscongested.Theinstrumentsare
allfightingeachotherforspaceinthefrequencyspectrum.Eachinstrumentshouldbegivenitsownspace,
andEQedsothatitdoesnotinfringeonotherinstruments'strongfrequencyareas.

Example7

Tofinishwith,anexcellenttrack(example7.wav),wellperformedandrecorded.Itwouldbenitpickingto
saythatthedrumsmighthavebeenalittlestronger,theoccasionalrhythmicinaccuracyshouldhavebeen
corrected,andtheproducershouldhaveconfiscatedtheridecymbal!Theoveralleffectisverygood.

Butturndownthevolumebeforeyoulistenthistrackwillripyourearsoff!Maybejustalittletooharsh?
Whatdoyouthink?

Endofassignmentnotes

Module09PracticalAssignmentNotes