The project I had endeavoured in trying to achieve was to produce a fully immersive, surround sound, narrative inspired, electronic music production, inspired by theatrical soundtracks.
The whole premise of this project was to do something relating to surround sound, including recording and mixing.
The aesthetic of the piece was to take listeners on a journey by utilising psychoacoustics to create a sense of space and ethereal characteristics. One primary study was into the use of ring modulation and how it affects the listener by introducing elements of this into a surround environment. Essentially moving sound in an environment with harmonics and not panning.
With the entire album being ambient electronic genre influenced, most if not all the elements were produced with the intent of folding it out into theatre format immersive audio.
We will start with one of the most important elements of this production; The drums as these ended up being the focal point of the production.
These were the key element to be put into the environment, as the intention was to go for a rather large sounding kit in reference to sounds like artists like COG, Sigur Ros and Porcupine Tree, but still have the modern punch to synthesise with modern production elements.
Starting with setting up the mic’s up around the kit.
Cog - Resonate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W0uAgbx3Io
Sigur Ros - Olsen Olsen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LeQN249Jqw
Porcupine Tree - Buying a New Soul https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85eq05Cr6U
The first part was to capture each key element of the kit (snare, kick, toms, cymbals). These were all relatively standard however it was what was done to capture the overall image and create ambience as the room I was recording in was rather small to be recording.
Based around two concepts of surround recording (i.e. the fukada tree and the optimised cardioid triangle) an array was set up within the room with great precision to keep phase correlation in check as the whole premise with the setup is the relationship relative the the mic’s being placed in the room.
OCT is an array designed for the three front channels only. The system offers high separation between left-center and right-center. An additional configuration for the surround channels should be chosen carefully.
The Fukada Tree is a Decca Tree array, but with five cardioid microphones and two additional omnidirectional microphones as outriggers to blend in between the front and rear channels. This setup was designed by Akira Fukada in 1997.
This is the primary setup for the Surrounds, the next was the placement of the room mics where the Moscow method was used with the rear of the mic facing the ground in order to keep any out of phase information to a minimum, however having this many microphones in one area
there are bound to be some issues.
The Moscow Method (also known as ‘face the floor’); This technique employs two cardioid mics, which point directly at the floor. I’ve seen a few variations of this technique but they all require you to have some sort of hard reflective floor, so if your room is carpeted, try placing a piece of wood or other reflective material underneath your mics. For this recording I’ve used a pair of AKG 414’s, but it can also be effective with more affordable mics, such as a pair of Shure SM57s.
Having a measured and calculated idea is paramount in order to capture the best sound without and concurrent phase issues, (where the old saying measure twice, cut once comes into account) so having a key point of focus such as the snare or kick drum will make this much easier.
All of the 'Surround' mics were measured from the outermost spot mic for the kick drum where all the 'Spot' mics where relative to the snare. This was partially due to how much quicker high frequencies travel relative to lower ones and also pointing a focus point on to the relative center of the kit as it was the center of the room respectively. Using the fundamentals of the 'Decca Tree' and then elements from the 'Fukada Tree' for placements and measurements were taken into account for the setup which was key to capturing the sound.
With the Binaural mic having DPA4011 capsules using another DPA4011 was chosen as the centre mic to have a similar frequency response to the "surrounds". These were placed at ear level relative the the artists seating position in order to achieve an Artists Perspective with the center mic placed at the same height facing the artist.
U87 pair to be set up using Moscow method with the 4011 central to both at double the distance from the kick drum. Its natural sound and midrange presence makes the U 87 the go to vocal microphone, used by singers and engineers alike, as well as the prime choice for speech applications, such as voice over, dubbing, and audio books. Due to its balanced response in each of its three directional patterns, the U 87 is also a versatile microphone for anything from acoustic guitar to drum overheads. Due to its solid bass response and excellent midrange detail, it is often seen in front of bass and guitar cabinets.
121’s to be equal distance from snare double the distance between snare and highest crash cymbal (if allowable). Ribbon microphones excel on drums. They have an extremely natural sounding pickup, capturing the power, tone and nuance of all components of the kit. One Royer stereo ribbon mic on drum overhead gives an amazing image of the kit, with fast transient response and the added advantage of handling EQ beautifully.
PZM as close to beater skin as possible and check phase relationship of other kick mics.
Its plate measures 5×6 inches. In the absence of a larger boundary surface, this mic effectively has a shelf filter of -6dB below 2200Hz, because the wavelength of a 2.2kHz tone is about 6 inches. This is perfect for capturing the attack of the beater.
AKG-D112 as the main kick mic, in line with the beater contact patch.
The D112 MkII can handle more than 160 dB SPL without distortion. Its large diaphragm has a very low resonance frequency that delivers a solid and powerful response below 100 Hz. Its authoritative low end is complemented by a narrow-band presence boost at 4 kHz that punches through even dense mixes and loud stage volumes with forceful impact.
Shure Beta-52a as an auxiliary kick drum mic placed behind a tom tuned as close to the fundamental of the kick.
This was used during the post process as the sample mic to add bottom end and fullness to the kick and creating a fuller tone while still being able to access the internal kick mics. The Shure BETA-52A is a high output dynamic microphone with a tailored frequency response designed specifically for kick drums and other bass instruments. It provides superb attack and "punch", and delivers studio quality sound even at extremely high sound pressure levels.
3DIO mic to be same distance as U87 pair.
The 3Dio FS, FS XLR and FS Pro II are stereo binaural microphones. The literal translation of the word "binaural" means ‘Of, relating to, or used with both ears’. How it works is that there are microphone capsules inside the two prosthetic ears. When listening to the microphone through headphones, it mimics the way humans hear the natural world. In other words, it picks up sounds the way that your ears pick up sound. These also have the same capsules as the DPA4011 used as the centre which is why it was chosen for the rears.
421’s to be pointed at middle of toms and one inch away from batter skins.
The Sennheiser MD421 has been an industry standard according to many different sources, the reason why this mic was chosen over say a Shure SM57 was a personal preference of the artist. When comparing the two microphones together, the 57 has a greater mid and low frequency response whereas the 421’s are much flatter and have greater attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXTpna_7ro4 (comparison video)
98H and 451B Pointing at each other one inch away from skin (CHECK PHASE).
The 98H is an Instrument microphone provides high gain-before-feedback and rejection of unwanted noise. It features preamplifier circuitry for linearity across the frequency range, tailored frequency response for studio quality, and a wide dynamic range for high-SPL.
This was also used as it is easier to mount on the kit and less prone to noise as past experience from using 57’s have the capsules rattling.
Tonally, the C451B is a bright-sounding mic, with a good 4dB frequency boost in the 10-15kHz area as well as a very gentle low-end roll-off from 200Hz, and it's no surprise to find Joe Barresi, Bob Clearmountain, Dave Eringa, Butch Vig, and Toby Wright all using it alongside an SM57, thereby compensating for the latter mic's HF roll-off.
The DPA-4011 Cardioid Mic was chosen as the centre mic because is its directional quality and attention to detail. This mic makes everything sound like the original. The first-order cardioid pickup pattern provides superb separation between sound sources. It is equally suitable for close-up work on acoustic guitar, grand piano, overheads, percussion, wind instruments and vocals as it is for spot-miking symphonies. It has a very clean directional pattern with excellent rejection from the rear and Max. SPL of 159 dB before clipping.
This was a practice into more advanced recording techniques and production methods that could be done during recording. The whole idea behind this was to further my understanding and to experiment with creative recording techniques instead of relying on an array of plugins to do the work that could be achieved during the process. For example, creating ambience for a kit that would eventually be edited to suit an electronic track. In doing this process much of what was set out to do was lost in the editing process due to keeping phase relationships between all mics which creates a sense of space.
While setting up this array I had the help of some fellow students that weren’t as confident in using the studio so having a highly detailed session plan was important in order to make sure that everyone was on the same page. Due to the nature of the techniques however, there was still a lot that had to be clarified in terms of measurements and placings around the kit.
Gain staging was its own challenge in that in order to get the most out of the equipment as it was intended to record raw with no processing to leave room for any creative decisions to be done in post production. This meant that everything would need to be set to a level relative to the dynamics of each piece which the other students had a bit of trouble with setting up. After a quick discussion and a quick run-through of some signal flow basics (send level to pro tools, correct gain staging for the console) a healthy level and overall tonality was achieved.
One of the main reasons why the neve was chosen to record drums for the album is that the tonality is synonymous with many of the popular rock driven songs of the past generation and even leading up to today. Perhaps one of the most famous studios for this is Sound City.
Although it is a different console from what I had access to; similar circuitry is contained within the Custom 75.
Based on the documentary, the two things that gave Sound City its name are, the desk and the ambience of the room, specifically the way the drums sounded.
The desk was built by Rupert Neve, an English electronics engineer, for $75,175 One of only four in the world.
In an article by Fast Company, Sound City producer and veteran recording engineer James A. Rota. “There are no circuit boards, no processing, nothing. It’s one of the cleanest, purest signals between a microphone and a recording device that you can ever, ever, ever, experience.”
Having this many microphones proved to be a challenge during the editing process in terms of keeping things sounding consistent, especially with having an emphasis on the room sound. During the editing process the sound of the room was compromised to get the sound of the kit tighter for the sake of getting more onto the grid because of the electronic elements. Aspect of the kit and specific delays where set up to move things like the snare around in the mix without it distracting the audience from the song as a whole. In saying this the drums still have some groove and are able to move around in timing throughout the pieces to maintain the human performance element.
A similar approach was desired when recording vocals by utilising a setup that allowed the performer to move freely with their performance (utilising the surround field) but still capture the best performance with the key mic being a U87 run through an Avalon channel with minimal compression to give a bright yet warm sound that supported the nature of the vocal.
In an article by Sweetwater (May 29, 2018) we can see the placement of mics against reflective surfaces in what is referred to by them as ‘The Blair Witch Technique’. This creates a unique slap reverb/delay by utilising reflective surfaces in an otherwise dead sounding room. This sound is created by intentionally creating reflections that cause comb filtering. This would have been great to have as part of the surround mix to add to the ethereal nature of the vocals but due to time constraints this wasn’t able to be implemented as part of the final deliverable.
The main issue that was encountered during the post production stage of their was the performer was fairly quiet which raised the noise floor of the recordings due to the high gain nature of the room and the fact that they hadn’t practised meant that there was a lot of performance corrections that occurred that eventually took away from what was envisioned for the pieces and pushed the vocal to become nothing more than just another instrument.
Speaking of instruments, most if not all of the instruments chosen for the tracks fit a specific feeling that was intended to be portrayed for each specific song. The way that each element would work together harmonically was the next challenge due to that i wanted to experiment with using the natural modulation of each instrument to interact with each other to create movement by adding and removing harmonies to create depth and to create phase relationships that would be perceived as if they were moving around the room. This can often be referred to as ring modulation. One example of this is in the solo from Paranoid by Black Sabbath.
Each instrument was compressed pretty heavily with an analogue based plugin that would not only warm up the tone but also exaggerate fundamental harmonics to create more depth of sound but also to give each one an element that would tie each song together sonically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk_wUT1CvWM (paranoid)
On the topic of getting things together sonically, perhaps the most crucial thing to get everything together was creating space for the instruments and yet still being able to create a full and dynamic sound to keep listeners interested through the different sonic states of each piece.
The first thing to notice is the amount of sub bass frequencies and what it does in the context of translating onto smaller speakers, this is where saturation by introducing more complex frequencies throughout the spectrum can help and seeing as though most of the time bass frequencies remain mono due to the width of the waveforms this gave a bed for most of the information in the centre and gave a voice to the tracks that would have otherwise been filled with been left bare do to the lack of vocal content that was originally intended. When speaking in terms of surround to stereo a lot of the concepts had to be transferable and gave the lister regardless of what format they were listening to or system they are listening on (theatre, car, headphones, consumer surround system etc).
The same goes with the elements pushed out to the sides and surround (depending on format) each element needed its own space sonically and spatially. This provided its on challenges especially seeing as though instruments needed to complement each other to induce the ring modulation effects intended for certain phrases to keep the listeners actively engaging with the content. Through in some surround panning and things can get very messy real quick. Partly due to the nature of the content and what is possible in surround sound only basic panning was done to get listeners immersed into the environment, but also this is because the intent wasn’t for the listeners to become disoriented or distracted by what they were listening to. With the main references for the album being based around that of the bad called Sigur Ros; there is almost a cinematic approach to the way that they write most of their compositions with huge dynamic range but also they utilise a lot of saturation from compression and harmonic generation.
Sigur Rós - Sæglópur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmD-9_ZifB8
The biggest challenge was getting every element to sit sonically in a 7.1 surround environment, because unlike 5.1 (fundamentally only having front and rear immersion) more is gained in the 7.1 format and direction can be lost having that amount of freedom to move things through the space. Having a clear direction of what needed to go where when and how it affected the lister came down to a lot of trial and error.
It’s hard to source media that is a good reference to what is set out to be accomplished for the album, however there are many film references and from past experience listening in theaters and then with what has been taught through the degree in terms of studio production that steered me into doing three distinct mixes.
Once the formula was found for the aesthetic I was seeking the rest of the album became easier to do because many of the songs share similar elements due to the linear narrative.
Saying this, you can also listen to each song out of context without the previous and still get somewhat of an idea of what is happening. This was going to be expressed through the visuals that were being planned as part of the deliverable; however due to other commitments from respective parties it was taken into my own hands to create something that would support the narrative of each piece. Seeing as though there are plans to create actual videos for each piece; this helped construct a mood board for the cinematographer that has offered to create the media. While there are still going to be videos produced in future for the album, based upon feedback given there will be some assets put in as place holders until the the videos have been produced and released.
There are very few artists that produce specifically for this format and that's mainly down to the accessibility of the content, this is why it was so important for the media to transfer across multiple formats (SMPTE, 5.1, Stereo and consumer devices). The only person I have found that has been producing content consistently in the surround format is the work of Steven Wilson (lead singer - Porcupine Tree) who was a big influence as part of the creative process. Sourcing content to reference was difficult again due to the nature of the format, instead having to rely on reviews from external sources and other artists who have written about their processes. It was hard to grasp an idea of the concepts because the only constant format I could reference back to was in stereo format; however the information was still there to be able to implement into my own practise.
The original mixing was done in a stereo format to be able to easily switch into mono to check the relationships of the content texturally and then folded out to stereo to to check that the sonic and imaging would still have the desired effects.
Once this was done then came the time to fold this all out into a surround mix. Where as 5.1 has the option of creating an auxiliary and audio track to print information and process content operate to that of the master fader; 7.1 didn’t allow this which explains why a lot of sound stages you see for film studios have such large format consoles in them because there is no way to route things to auxiliaries in order to do sub mixes before the master track.
This still did not stop me to set out what I wanted to accomplish sonically, specifically for the environment that the media would be released. the same concepts were used for the 5.1 mix and even the stereo equivalent to a certain extent. By utilising the multi-mono function on plugins and linking relative speakers together I was able to do all of the processing I wanted on specific channels whilst still conforming to loudness standards for the format which is entered around ITU BS.1770-3.
There are three distinct mixes depending on what format you are listening in. Be it 7.1 will sound slightly different to the 5.1 relative to speaker placement and the information that has been folded down into the rears and as is the same with the stereo which has all of the information spread into two speakers.
While the showcased format will be in 7.1 the 5.1 has more of a consumer ready mix (due to the availability of the format) and was the one that perhaps the most time was spent getting to sound best as a reference point that the stereo and 7.1 would be mixed to.
I didn’t want each version to be different in terms of how they are perceived, and still carry the same content across equally. This proved to be the most challenging in terms of creative freedom, but was a good experience to have because not only have I learned more about the importance of mixes being able to transfer well in different environments; I have also only just touched the tip of an iceberg that is mixing and utilising surround sound formats.
Upon review of my work and comparing it to something that could be considered ‘Industry Standard’. It is hard to source with my budget a reference in terms of what would be considered creative reference material so I would listen to score from films composed by people such as Hans Zimmer (Interstellar) and John Williams (Star Wars) and even Van Gellis (Blade Runner) and Tom Holkenborg (Alita: Battle Angel).
Blade Runner - Vangelis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKuPk6niKOg
There is a format that has been slowly on the rise over the past decade or so, which is DVD-Audio. These are different than regular DVD’s or CD’s in that they are dedicated audio disks that can support
Stereo Audio Dolby Digital (AC-3) OR Uncompressed: PCM Sample rates from 44.1 (CD standard) to 192 kHz and.
Multichannel Surround Audio Options 5.1 Dolby Digital (AC-3) and / or DTS data compression 6-channel surround, uncompressed,
at resolution up to 24 bits and sample rate of 96 kHz. However there are formats that have the same features of DVD-Video which are DVD-Audio formats. Both formats are capable of rendering stereo audio at fidelity higher than that of CD.
For multi-channel surround, DVD-Video requires data compression - Dolby Digital (AC-3) or DTS - while DVD-Audio can render up to six channels of uncompressed audio at high bit depth and sample-rates.
The only artists I have found that have released in this format so far are Aerosmith, Beethoven, Deep Purple, Eagles, Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd , R.E.M., The Who, Neil Young , Frank Zappa. There are even fewer record companies that release on this format with the biggest being Universal Music, EMI and Warner Bros. Records. This isn’t to say that it is not a growing market. With the rise of HDTV and everyone wanting better quality consumer devices (Audiophiles) it will only be a matter of time before the formats really start taking off.
Even in Japan there is a rise of ‘Underground’ listening bars, where the acoustics and speakers have been meticulously scrutinised by the owners and optimised for the best listening experience. These are specifically designed for the consumption of music.
Japan's Hidden Listening Bars: SHeLTeR | Resident Advisor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe5W7zvw10I
This is a project I have become very attached to in terms of my creative process as it encompasses many aspects of where I would like to be in my professional career.
It summed up for me what I would like to be doing in the future in terms of, concepting a project and seeing it through from start to finish, seeking artists, recording and editing, sound design, sound to picture and the most important one, Working in surround format and having content that transfers between different devices and formats.
However, there are many aspects I would revisit. The first and probably most important is to have artists dedicated to the project or even sourcing session musicians, (having a budget as part of the production), this would have saved a lot of time and headache as far as communicating the creative intent and aesthetic, and also mean that (hopefully) the project would have been taken more seriously by the artists.
Experimented more with creative panning, instead of just relying on basic elements to react with each other to create the desired effect. Although what I learned about how using frequencies to move sonic elements around a room was invaluable, this would have allowed for more creative sound design elements, to greater enhance the immersive nature and auditory storytelling.
Having a deeper theoretical knowledge of music composition to make the pieces more progressive in nature instead of being minimalist. In saying this, the minimalist approach made room for experimentation with other concepts such as ring modulation and surround recording.
Utilising visual software to create assets to support the work and attaining a level of competency with them to be able to use them creatively to enhance the overall aesthetic and narrative. (Because everyone wants visuals, and it's an endeavour of mine to provide complete media solutions for artists and my own personal portfolio.