Day #18

The band Ten Times Gravity had been in the studio to work on their album. Typically Jim is the engineer, however, Jim allowed Chase to gain experience as an engineer during the session since Jim was hired to play drums. The bass guitar player, Brian, was playing in the control room. He played different notes and measures because they were trying to figure out the bass part to the song. Throughout this time, Jim stopped him when he noticed that the bass was off key. Therefore, Brian tuned his bass and checked if it was on pitch again. Hearing many notes that are out of tune can actually de-train someone's ear, I learned. I believe that there are many reasons for guitars to go out of pitch. For example, if the player uses the guitar for a long time or if the player strums too aggressively on the strings, the strings could loosen and change the sound. Jim listened back to the song to "punch in" a few parts. In order to get the sound that you want, it takes a lot of playing and listening back to recorded pieces of the song. I wasn't aware of this, but there are several ways you could hit a note on the guitar. It might sound different than what you desire if you hit it too hard or too soft. Brian hit a note in a way that was different than what Jim wanted so, Brian cut his nails. I thought that this was kind of funny, but I understand now that it could make a difference in the way he played a note. It was interesting to me to see that if Jim couldn't find the notes he wanted to hear, he would sing them. In return, Brian would play the note Jim was looking for on the bass.

Chase spent hours adjusting and adding microphones to the drum kit that they used the previous day when the entire band was in the studio. He also made files, which means he named all of the instruments that they would use in the session into the appropriate computer program. In addition, he made the mix for one song, and copied it as a template into all of the others. Chase also was the engineer for that day while they recorded. He explained to me that it can get frustrating because there were guests in the studio talking and observing the session, so sometimes it was difficult to hear Jim when he spoke behind the kit.

Jim clarified to Chase that in order to save time editing later, now Chase could be very precise with the "punch ins." The bass player continued to play and even when he messed up Jim allowed him to keep on playing to get the feel of what he wanted. Sometimes the musician will play parts that he thinks of on his own. Other times, he does things over until he gets the "right" sound. As I have mentioned before, in order to succeed here, you must be creative and unafraid of failure. A musician will never be able to please everyone, but you have to be persistent. In addition, I observed that you have to be responsible and aware while in a session, no matter if you are the musician, engineer, or producer. All through the session, Jim was alert of the constant key of the bass, it was "off" to him. In my opinion, he is very observant and notices small things that could ultimately affect the song in a negative way and tries to fix them immediately. However, it seemed that there was nothing they could do as of that moment that could fix the issue with the bass. Jim wouldn't add tuning and noise reduction to the song, because he doesn't like how it sounds and said it "doesn't sound right." Since there was a recurring problem with the bass, Jim and Brian decided not to continue on with the bass part, after working on it for many hours. Jim says all the time that the bass is the most important part of the song, so he wants it to be perfect. They both wanted to continue but they preferred a five string guitar and not a four string, which is what Brian was using for the session. It appears to be an exhausting process but the outcome is the significant reward! I enjoy watching the process, honestly. It truly makes me appreciate a song more just knowing how much dedication, hard work, and passion goes into it. I always knew that before coming to the studio. However, being able to view it in front of me gives me a whole different perception. I was expecting the part of the process where the artist writes the lyrics, comes up with the instrumental parts, including guitar, drums, vocals, back-up vocals and more. Yet, I knew very little about the actual recording process and how much work goes into that!

Day #17

Instead of recording in the studio like bands usually do, Jim recorded a mariachi band at a church. It was a completely different experience for me, but I thought it was so incredible! Even before arriving on the location, Jim, Joe, and Chase had to pack things they needed from the studio into their car to bring to the church. They packed microphone stands, chords, a laptop that has the recording programs on it, and headphones. First, everything was taken out and set up. I got to set up microphone stands and plug in the chords that connected them to the computer. Jim and Joe set up the laptop and made sure the microphones set up in front of them corresponded to the placement on the computer. There were specific placements for all of the microphones. They had to be positioned in a way that would be best to hear the sound of the specific instrument. Each section of instruments either had their own microphone or a shared one. For example, the violins in the band shared a pair of microphones, while the three types of guitars each had their own. It was so interesting to see them warm up and practice! They were an extremely talented band. Sometimes one person sang lead vocals, and sometimes they would all sing together. There were about ten people in the band altogether. While they readied themselves, Jim was doing a sound check. I stood at one microphone and said “check, 1, 2, 3, 4” over and over until he was satisfied with the sound levels. I wondered if they had to be the same for each microphone. Jim also set up two microphones toward the back of the room. The band wanted to record here in the first place because they like the sound they hear when they play in the church. It was such an exciting thing for me to see! I loved every part of that experience!

Day #16

A band that I had observed before, Mercury Transit, was in the studio. Jim was having them listen to the song to see if there was anything they wanted to fix or add. At the same time he put in effects and delays. He mentioned that there were two lead vocals and that she, the lead singer, must have sang it twice. Jim asked her what vocal she wanted. Her voice sounded distorted and she liked the way it sounded. Jim explained that he thought it was too loud because it “cuts through” easily. She loved the setting of her voice; however, she was concerned with the fact that maybe she only liked it. I wondered if this came up with many artists. Did they make a decision simply because they liked it and didn’t care about how it truly sounded? Maybe sometimes you have to make a decision like that because you like it and hope others do too. Jim brought some of her original voice back in and the decision was that they liked the way that sounded better. She was concerned that when she sings this song live, if it would not go with the rest of the album. This made me curious as to how artists sing their songs live when the songs have effects on them. How does the audience hear it? I have noticed at concerts and performances on television that the effects are played on the speakers so the audience can hear. And the artist usually sings lead vocals, however they might play with their band as well.

Once Jim archived the virtual instruments, he rendered the song. For the second song, Jim and Mercury Transit went through the song and made more changes. He put a setting on the drums and a delay on the guitar. Also, she wanted to hear a warm sound with the reverb, so Jim brought up the bass. At one point in the song, there was a certain effect that sounded too much like the other parts. I realized that you have to pay attention to the entire song, as well as focus on smaller, more specific parts. I wonder if it is ever hard, as the engineer and producer, to stray away from doing something that you like. I believe that Jim doesn’t do something just because he likes the way it sounds. I know that he expresses his opinion but wants his clients to produce their own sound. After they finished editing, Jim had them listen to the song. When they were happy with it, he rendered it and made a CD.