Day #3

Today one of Jim’s clients named Alex was mixing multiple songs. The first was a rock song, and the vocals were softer than I expected but still very good. Alex found a place in the song where he wanted to add a piano part. Jim had an opinion about the piano addition but politely reassured Alex that the client speaks first. He went back and forth on the software seeing which editing trick, for lack of a better word, sounded best. I perceived that the client was more talkative than the ones I had seen on Friday. It seemed to me that he knew more about the technology part. He mentioned that he did 90% of the song which included vocals and piano. He only had one other guy perform the guitar solo. The second song was also a rock sounding song. He needed to add vocals to it, however. I was truly happy to find that he was going to be tracking. Alex went into the “vocal room”, and put the headphones on, which I anticipated he would. We could see him through the clear window that connected the control room and vocal room. There was a microphone set up on a stand with some sort of cover on it. I was not completely sure of its purpose or the exact term for it. However, my best guess is that it keeps the singer’s mouth from coming too close to the microphone and it possibly makes it sound clearer. He warmed up his voice before he began to sing. Normally, Jim said, you can’t hear the singer while he warms up because the system is not turned on. But, he was singing very loudly and we could hear him in the other room. Jim asked him how the headphones fit and if he knew when he was supposed to come in on the track. When he sang, it transferred to lines that looked crooked and showed up on the computer screen. This is what Jim taught me the first day, the analog to digital process. The client recorded many times until they were both satisfied with the way it sounded. Then Alex decided to add a harmony to the track as well. I realized that the tracking process is similar and different to the mixing process. Depending on the client, it could take longer to perfect each specific part of a song. From watching Jim, I note that it’s essential that I know how to make the client happy, while also doing what I think sounds good.