I've recently completed a couple of recordings for Blues Connection - a fantastic four-piece band who gig regularly around the South West. Their recent work has been alongside a six-piece brass band; this makes for a magnificently grand sound and enhances an already tight and accomplished band.
For the recording of their album we revisited Sancreed Village Hall (the rock and roll capital of Kernow). Their original album was recorded here and the additional brass sections were to be recorded and added by me. The set-up involved dragging along my faithful PC so that I could use Cubase as a playback device for the players and also for recording. I set-up each project track in advance so that the mixing process was made easier down the line. Seven pairs of headphones were supplied to the brass boys and girls but, alas, no click track as the original recording was made live.
Mark Wilkin, world-class drummer and creator of the project, introduced me to a new friend, Mike:
Never ask a drummer to take a photograph!Mike is a binaural head; this basically means that he has a microphone in each of his ears. Binaural recording is a technique that tries to reproduce sound as we would hear it. In theory the sound waves reach the head, pass around it, and behave as they would do around a human head; the shape of Mike's ears also replicate our own external ear flaps and lobes.
The recorded brass sections needed very little tinkering - I added a little compression on some tracks and a very small amount of EQ. The rest of the mix was tidying up room noises and 'riding the faders' through each track to, hopefully, make the brass sound as if they were always there. I am really pleased with the results and they sound particularly magnificent through headphones.
On Saturday (31st Jan) we took the whole show on the road for a live performance. The results from the recording are a work in progress but I'm pleased to announce that Mike came along and lent me his ears for the evening... that's right, the whole gig was captured on just 2 channels. 'Mixing' the recording was a case of adjusting Mike's position and orientation. Preliminary listening back sounds good so far - hopefully a successful experiment!
Now, it would be a real tease not to add a sample of this fine production for your own listening pleasure. In fact I've gone one better and added an entire track for you to download. This is 'Cheap Sunglasses' from the album 'A Lighter Shade of Blues' - available via the Blues Connection website. Get it quick before my wrists are slapped!
Click the album cover below to download the mp3.
Luke
The recorded brass sections needed very little tinkering - I added a little compression on some tracks and a very small amount of EQ. The rest of the mix was tidying up room noises and 'riding the faders' through each track to, hopefully, make the brass sound as if they were always there. I am really pleased with the results and they sound particularly magnificent through headphones.
On Saturday (31st Jan) we took the whole show on the road for a live performance. The results from the recording are a work in progress but I'm pleased to announce that Mike came along and lent me his ears for the evening... that's right, the whole gig was captured on just 2 channels. 'Mixing' the recording was a case of adjusting Mike's position and orientation. Preliminary listening back sounds good so far - hopefully a successful experiment!
Now, it would be a real tease not to add a sample of this fine production for your own listening pleasure. In fact I've gone one better and added an entire track for you to download. This is 'Cheap Sunglasses' from the album 'A Lighter Shade of Blues' - available via the Blues Connection website. Get it quick before my wrists are slapped!
Click the album cover below to download the mp3.
Luke
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