Production Session 2!!

It's week 6 and it is most definitely crunch time. This was by far the most daunting part of project one, as I have never produced a track before. At this stage it feels like a farce that this track will be completed, but here goes nothing!

For the second production session, a MIDI was hired from tech and set up in Audient B.

The steps following were undertaken to help create our beat-

• Opened up Logic, added our reference track and also our guitar recording

• Spent time finding a Kick to match our song

• Ended up using a Kick Sample from a DJ Premier Kick Sample Pack

• EQ'd and rolled of the low end, Ultrabeat VST used to raise mid range- thumpier than before

• A Two bar loop was created of the kick and copied in line and in time with the acoustic guitar recording

• Next was to find an 808 clap to replicate a 'Thunder Crash' in the reference song, but put our own twist on it. Some Eq'ing was done and also a delay added to so the clap rings out for longer.

• Next to record was the percussive lead, recorded in the form of a leg clap. It is a rather fast paced clap sound, that when paired with the guitar, gives the song a 'galloping' feel to it. It was recorded with an AKGC414 condenser mic with a Cardioid polar pattern set. The reference track was fed to group member Cody through headphones into the live room to be able to track the rhythm of the leg hits.

• After recording a 2 bar segment of the claps, it was then copied, looped and placed where needed in the track.

• Some EQ and compression was applied to the rhythm clap for some added brightens and clarity to the recording.

Hooray. This session was a large one. 8 hours. Having a very basic idea of what to do, just getting in the studio and getting started was a very big step forward. The session really started to take shape from just being in there. The project has a hell of a lot more shape and sound to it now, leaving much less work to do for the remainder of the project.