Overview
This is a recording project. From a personal point of view the minimum requirement is that I produce a portfolio of my work, showing a range of technical skills and demonstrating the ability to organise larger scale project, comprising several individual recording sessions. Depending on the success of this, and of the number of sessions it is possible to complete in the time available, I can then look at what to do with the recordings.
Considering my initial thoughts, an album or collection of my own compositions provides fewer opportunities to demonstrate my ability to collaborate, which in itself involves an important set of skills. Providing examples of my own compositions does however present an opportunity to demonstrate a different set of skills in such areas as sound design and musicality and gives an idea of my capabilities as a composer.
Overall, I think it would be sensible to include a balance between material I have engineered or produced with other artists and a collection of my own work. Not only are the skills involved different, but also the tools. I would be using a physical studio to record most, if not all of the other artists, with Pro-Tools as the main recording and mixing software. This would involve the use of physical hardware and instruments, microphone selection and positioning, selection of takes and potentially, drop-ins and other smaller scale corrections to takes. Working on my own compositions would be more likely to involve working with Logic as my main software and using virtual instruments and plug-ins. Much of it would be MIDI based and likely to consist of instrumental pieces.
Objectives
The objectives of the project are twofold. Firstly, I aim to produce a portfolio of work to demonstrate to prospective clients and/or employers, my abilities as an engineer, producer and sound designer. Secondly, I aim to release the collection in the form of an LP, which will allow an opportunity to refine my skills in marketing and promotion. Both elements offer an opportunity to demonstrate ‘soft skills’, such as interacting with artists to arrange sessions and to get the best from the artists during recording.
Product
For an LP, my objective should be to record a minimum of 8 tracks at least 6 of which should be by other artists.
I had two bands lined up to record in the studio, but have had to cancel both due to not being able to access the studio on weekends contrary to previous indications.
Consequently, I need 3-4 artists as a minimum and need to get this confirmed as a matter of some urgency. I can produce 2 tracks myself. I feel these should be quite different from each other but still have a recognisable identity. Thinking about my own work, I need to consider what identifies my own compositions. Is it tempo? Is it the use of particular effects/sounds?
I will need to allow time for mixing and mastering. I think it would be helpful to think of these as separate processes to be undertaken after the recording stage has been completed. This will offer an opportunity to concentrate on the intricacies of the process and to attempt to create a collection which is balanced in terms of how the separate tracks interact with each other.
Personal development
I have considered the requirements of my prospective Portfolio. I have thought about what skills I specifically need to demonstrate and how best to do that. In general terms, I need to show competence at recording a variety of different instruments and styles of music to prove my capabilities to the widest possible potential audience. I am approaching the project from the perspective that if potential clients can hear something that they can relate to, i.e., something that has some similarity to what they want to create, then they are more likely to engage me. This is an aspiration, since much depends on what artists I can enlist to record with me in the time available, but I should aim for a variety and include the common elements of a band in terms of instruments, vocals etc.
I will need to develop my Composition skills, particularly in relation to the music I will create myself. I feel like I have a good grasp of song structure and arrangements, but I’m not really a musician, (I’m a drummer), so I need to develop my basic musical theory. I have been working on learning scales and chord structures, but need to do more work on this. I have experimented with writing songs using only minor keys, which has been very interesting and has created a very different feel. Realistically, at my age I think I’m always going to make music which is quite rhythmically based because of my long history playing drums, but it is interesting to try and depart from what comes naturally.
The Engineering skills that I need to develop include those involved in both recording instruments and mixing. I will need to pay particular attention to the recording and processing of vocals, which I have very little experience of.
I need to consider how I will measure success. In some ways this is quite subjective since you might consider success to be whether the music produced is ‘good’ or not, however there are tangible criteria that could be applied. Firstly, completion of the project would indicate success and despite there being an element of subjectivity, if the artists involved are pleased with the finished project, this would indicate success. Since the project is primarily a portfolio, the ultimate measure of success would be if it leads to some form of work.
Along the way, success can be measured by meeting deadlines for completing various elements of the project, so for example, if I can record all the necessary material by the beginning of December, then this will be a success. If I can record 3-4 different artists as planned, this will be a success.
Target Market
Music fans, which will to some extent depend on the genre(s), although the aim is to include a mixture of styles. Arguably, since the artists are going to be based locally, it may be people interested in the Cardiff music scene. I hope to attract a couple of bands who already have a wider profile, which would expand the target market and allow the lesser-known bands some exposure.
Prospective employers/clients are the other major target market, so even if the material is not released as an LP the recordings will act as a portfolio of my work as both an engineer and producer of my own compositions.
Resources
I would anticipate groups will bring their own instruments and other accessories, such as leads, plectrums, sticks etc but there should be spares and alternatives available.
The Studio contains most of what else would be required. There is an Audient ASP4816 desk, Pro Tools running on a Mac Pro, a selection of microphones, including AKG D112, AKG D40, AKG C430, AKG C430, SE Electronics SE1A Condenser Mic, and AKG C414B. This should be able to cope with most recording scenarios likely to arise but anything else required should be revealed by the preliminary conversations with each artist. There may be other items in the college but not in the studio.
USP’s
Undiscovered bands and artists is the theme of the recordings. I’m not sure this qualifies as a ‘unique’ selling point, but it is the major characteristic shared by all the artists currently likely to be recording. I think that when the line-up is established, it might be possible to identify further reatures which might constitute a USP.
Opportunities for future monetisation
The artists will automatically own the ‘composition copyright’ but who owns the recordings or ‘master copyright’? This needs to be determined because it will impact on the opportunities for monetisation.
The default position is that the master copyright is owned by whoever paid for the recording, but in this case, no-one is strictly paying for it. Therefore, I would propose some form of publishing arrangement whereby the artist owns the master and I would take a percentage of the master, perhaps 5-10%. This will need to be agreed in writing prior to recording.
Potential avenues for monetisation once copyright is settled, might include the following;
Streaming – Owner of the recording will normally get the bulk of the royalties for each stream, something like 80-85%, so I could earn 5-10% of that.
Adverts – Royalties are generated via synchronisation rights. Equally, music played as part of a film or TV production would generate royalties via these rights.
Physical sales – Again, the owner of the recording copyright would earn royalties via reproduction rights or mechanical royalties
Merch – I would not anticipate that having an interest in the sound recording copyright would generate any royalties for me, but it is worth mentioning to the artist that they could benefit from increased merch sales if the rcoding is widely distributed.
Radio Play – The holder of an interest in the sound recording would not normally receive any royalty payments from terrestrial radio stations but should from online stations.
Increase in Live bookings – This is a factor for the artists to consider, similarly, to increased merch sales.
From the perspective of the recordings acting as a portfolio, there is a longer term opportunity, which is to secure clients and/or paid employment, using the recordings as a portfolio. This is potentially the most significant revenue opportunity.
Project timeline
Various different activities will need to be carried out, and these activities need to be split into:
- Studio Recording
- Home Recording
- Mixing
- Mastering
- practice routines and techniques to support skill development and refinement, and
- review points /milestones (deadlines).
Studio Recording
- Timetable sessions – this is complicated to an extent by the fact that a couple of the bands (at least) are not in college. This means that I will need to arrange evening sessions, which will need to be arranged through Theo.
The remainder of the sessions can probably be scheduled in college hours – ideally in Tues 9-12 slot or Friday 9-1 slot which are pre booked. Other times would need to be scheduled with Theo.
2. Pre–recording planning meeting – it will be necessary to have a session with each band to plan the recording. This will need to cover the following:
- What instrument/voice is being recorded?
- What equipment will be needed?
- Musical Equipment required
- Musical Equipment Accessories required
- Recording Equipment required
- What microphones/Number of microphones?
- Position/Technique/Polar pattern (Think about the characteristics of the sound source and chose a microphone technique that will be most appropriate for capturing a recording.)
- Recording Equipment Accessories –
- Does the band have a reference track?
- How will they want to record?
- Individual tracks?
- Do any of the band want to play together?
Home Recording
This is probably easier to organise, as it does not involve so much co-ordination with others. I would like to include some ‘guest’ musicians so that will take some arranging, but I will be able to be more flexible.
The main issue is being able to apportion sufficient time to complete a minimum of two songs and get them mixed and mastered.
Mixing
In terms of the self-produced tracks, the mixing can take place almost simultaneously with the recording, since it will be heavily reliant on virtual instruments and loops, which will need to be ‘mixed’ to an extent as I go along.
I would like to mix the tracks from other artists ‘out-of-the-box’, i.e., using the full capabilities of the mixing desk and monitoring available in the studio. This would involve scheduling some sessions for this.
My mixing currently consists of mixing my own tracks, which are pre-dominantly virtual instrument based and have a quite an electronic sound. I have done some mixing of ‘real’ instruments, but I would hope to be doing more of this and seeing what results I can get with ‘out-of-the-box’ mixing.
Mastering
This should not be a long process, but it needs to be scheduled for the end of the project timetable, so that all tracks can be mastered together and be matched to create a unified finish to the whole recording
Practice routines and techniques to support skill development and refinement
I should make time for this, particularly early on before I do any recording, so that I have reached a basic level of proficiency to record with the other artists.
I will be having only one chance with each artist to get the tracking right, so I need to be in a position to use the studio confidently before I have to record a session.
I have scheduled some sessions in the studio to refresh my memory of the desk and technical aspects of the studio. I will also try to use these sessions to experiment with techniques such as mic placement and selection. In terms of mic selection, there are established ‘best practice’ guidelines to follow, so will mainly be trying to implement these to get an idea of how they will influence the sound being recorded.
Skills
Skills such as mic placement and mic selection need to be developed. I can do this in the studio in some preliminary sessions.
More detailed plans for mic selection can be formulated when the individual artists are booked, and we have an idea of what instruments and other sound sources are going to be used.
Working the desk – I need to have some practice on using the desk. I know the principles but need to have a refresher. I can do this in the studio in some preliminary sessions.
At the time of writing, I have been able to schedule a session which allowed me to refresh my memory of routing tracks, re-patching in the patch bay and some limited practice of mic placement and selection. This was with vocals only so it would be useful to expand this to at least a drum set-up.
Pro-Tools – I need to brush up on this but I have a good grasp of the fundamentals. I can do this in the studio in some preliminary sessions but I also have Pro-Tools at home so can practice there.
It may be possible as an alternative or at least as supplementary to mixing ‘out-of-the-box’ in the studio, to do some mixing at home on Pro Tools. This would mean being able to open sessions in both locations, so some sort of cloud storage may be worth considering.
Phil Wakely Audio 