1.3 - Project Process

Though the design of my recording process feels primarily intuitive, there is a specific structure to the way in which I engaged with the creative dynamics of this project from start to finish. Below I will reveal the details which map the specific design processes I followed for this project.

Background

Though I began pre-production for my album in January 2015, I didn't begin the recording process for compositions that would actually be on the album until late July of the same year. The pre-production phase mostly consisted of recording rough experimental demo tracks in order to listen to the songs with full-band arrangement (acoustic guitar, drum kit, bass, and vocals all recorded by me) and to get a hang of the new equipment and 'outboard gear' I had acquired through the studio proposal I designed at the end of the previous year. The following sections are based within the timeframe from July onwards, when I began recording the actual compositions which would become integrated into the upcoming album.   

The Studio and Its Components (Space & Equipment)

My recording studio, 'the womb', is located in the lower/ground-level apartment area of my home on Catalina Island. The primary tools which allow it to function as a recording studio are

1. A Macbook Pro computer with Logic X recording software to record and edit the sound which I am crafting.
2. An Apogee Ensemble audio interface which receives the signal from whatever sound source I am recording and translates it into digital binary where the computer can translate the audio into a manipulatable wave-form format.
3. A varied array of (mostly) high quality Microphones each designed in unique ways capture and translate the sound played 'at source'.
4. Outboard Gear consisting in my case primarily of Preamps and Compressors. Preamps (with electron tubes in my case) help amplify and 'warm' the signal being recorded through the microphone. After the sound travels through the preamp, it goes through a compressor, where the signal is then 'compressed' essentially making the quiet sounds louder and louder sounds quieter, while also adding an extra dynamic of subtle 'color' to a sound which might have had less character before becoming compressed.  
5. Studio Monitor Speakers which allow the sound being recorded to be played back at a dynamic range of volumes (depending on the make and model of the product) allowing one to reference a mix. I used Equator Audio's D8 model. 
6. Headphones to hear both playback as well as to hear the song in its entirety while recording vocals or other instruments i.e. recording the drums to a guitar track rather than following a guitar track from memory. I used 770 beyerdynamic headphones for tracking and Sennheiser HD 650 for mixing. 
7. Instruments to record your desired sound. In my case on virtually every track I would record acoustic guitar, drum kit, bass, electric guitar, organ, percussion, and voice. One song featured a churango, which is a small, tightly strung ten string guitar/ukulele/mandolin-like instrument from south america.
8. Amplifiers mostly used to play electric guitar and organ through. My primary amplifiers I used were a Fender Princeton Reverb, Gibson Les Paul GA 40, Gibson Thunder1, and a Gibson Hawk. These amplifiers were all built in the late 60s and early 70s giving the guitar & organ tones that classic feel in the recordings. 
9. Power Conditioner helping to regulate the voltage being sent through power lines into the studio protecting all electric equipment plugged into the wall from being damaged from power surges or other electrical mishaps. 
10. Accessories including microphone cables, microphone stands, speaker cables, instrument cables, headphone cables & extenders, and guitar pedals were all essential elements to my recording process and the proper functioning of the studio.    

Recording Flow - Design Process & Dynamics

Note: In the description below I have created emboldened links embedded in the reference of specific terminologies to direct readers to pages that will expand upon their definition and functions.

My recording process for each song primarily follows a step-by-step system which is approached in more or less the same way each time. The design unfolds as follows:

1. Choose what song I am going to record and make sure the structure is clearly established from start to finish.
2. Open a 'Project Session' in Logic X and decide what tempo to set the 'click track' aka metronome to so that a) when recording, the rhythm of the song is in synch between all the instrumentation and b) the song is easily mapped within the 'time-grid' of the Logic session, making it easier to move and edit selected waveforms. 
3. Set up the microphone placement for the first acoustic guitar track (I build virtually all of my recordings from the ground up beginning with an acoustic guitar track) always using two microphones consisting of one at the body of the guitar angled a few inches from the sound-hole capturing the low-end (bass) frequencies of the performance and one angled toward the 12th fret, picking up the more hi-end (treble) frequencies and string articulation of the performance. Having both of these tracks to mix within a session allows me more overall control and dynamic range of guitar tone for a given recording composition.
4. Confirm that the signal path from the microphone, to the preamp, to the compressor, to the audio interface is seamless and unhindered.
5. Set levels, adjusting the input pads of the preamps and fine tuning the compressors so that I am getting the clearest 'sound at source' possible.
6. Create the guitar tracks in the Logic session, make sure the proper inputs are selected, put on my headphones, hit record, feel the click/metronome, and play.
7. I then proceed to prepare the drums by re-stabilizing mic-placement if necessary (I set up a signal path for the drums when I first organized the studio so that I wouldn't have to re-situate microphones and cables every time I switched from recording one instrument to the drums or visa versa). I used four microphones for every drum recording on this record. one on the snare drum, one in the kick, and two 'overheads' placed a few feet above the symbols and overall body of the drum kit.
8. I set levels on the preamps and compressors and then play the kit loud to make sure the signal meters look good on the audio interface i.e. no sound is 'clipping' the meters or causing the sound to distort.
9. I create the four drum tracks in Logic and then a loop bar in the session which allows the recording to begin again after the song has ended so I don't need to get up from the kick to press record again when I want to do the take again.
10. I create a pre-roll so I have time to walk to my drum kit before recording begins, put on my headphones, pick up my drum sticks, listen, and play.
11. Next I move to Bass, plugging in my Fender Precision into the quarter-inch input on one of my outboard preamps and switching it to D/I (Direct Input). I again adjust whatever is necessary on the preamps and compressors to get the cleanest, yet warmest bass tone possible. I create the bass track, listen to the playback either through headphones or monitor speakers, hit record, and play.
12. I then either record electric guitar or organ depending on my mood and/or the feel of the song. The process for set-up with both of these instruments is relatively the same. I again use two microphones (like the original acoustic guitar track) only this time I place them in two different configurations aiming towards the desired amp I am playing through. I place one mic up close, right on the grill, very near the amp speaker to get a thick precise sound, and the other about five feet away from the amp but still pointed directly toward the speaker, capturing more of a 'room' sound of the given instrument.
13. I plug in the instrument of choice (guitar or organ in this case), tune it, adjust the levels accordingly, adjust the volume and detail settings on the amp of choice, configure preamps/compressors, create tracks, make sure the signal sounds/looks clean going into the interface, put on my headphones, press record, and play.
14. At this point, after all primary instrumentation has been recorded, I will usually track vocals, adding percussion (tambourine, shakers, bongos, djembe, cajon) at the very end. Here I set up one microphone placed usually in a corner of the room (stays in one place since initial set up of the studio), set all necessary levels on outboard gear, create a vocal track, press record, and sing. My process with this album has been to sing the primary lines of the song, add doubles where they benefit the track, then sing harmonies in their appropriate spots, later brining in the other live-band mates to sing their specific harmonies within the track.
15. Usually using the same vocal mic, adjusting the settings on the outboard gear where necessary, I record track by track percussion (instruments noted in step 14).
16. Listen to the track as a whole, make basic volume leveling adjustments, take note of anything that needs to be added or re-recorded, enjoy and rest.    

Technical Difficulties (Equipment Repair & Disgruntled Neighbors)

One of the challenges in working with recording equipment, and what I found to be the case with outboard gear specifically, is that because of the sensitivity in the parts and internal wirings of much of the equipment, a given unit will most likely have to be repaired or tended to in some way either early on or later in its life cycle. The repairs I had to attend to which slowed down my recording process waiting for gear to be worked on and sent back to me (or waiting for a part to be shipped my way) were compressors, preamps, monitor speakers, and a tube-powered microphone. These were all essential pieces of gear to my recording process and so a feeling of debilitation almost always ensued when I found something to be malfunctioning with one of them. Though arduous at times, learning about what was broken and how to fix it greatly improved my knowledge and understanding of the equipment, while forcing me to form relationships with well-educated designers, builders, and craftsmen in the field of audio engineering. Many of these people have become valuable mentors and allies in my process of experimentation and inquiry ever since.

At around half way to completion of my recording process, new neighbors moved in to the apartment floor of the building next to my studio. There is only about 10ft of space between my studio door and the window of their bedroom so after a few unpleasant encounters with them expressing their dissatisfaction with my recording process (particularly while recording drums) I learned to play at more appropriate times of the day i.e. after 9:00am and before 10:00pm. 

Another bump in the road was when the ceiling in the (old) womb studio fell through because of a leak from the bathtub located on the floor above. Luckily a whole crew of friends/roommates were at the house when it happened so we were able to clean up and relocate the studio to its new home in the room next to it in no time.

The Songs & Album Design

Here I detail the design process for how I constructed the architecture, flow, and lyrical content for the individual songs on the album. I also describe my track-list arrangement design and how my organization process evolved around it.

The general design process of the way I construct songs from start to finish is as follows:

1. Inspiration - In the case of songs on this album, most began with channeling my inspiration and/or emotions of the moment either through my guitar, voice, or both simultaneously, expressing spontaneous melodies and designing a structure around the evolving dynamics of rhythm, melody, and harmony which were developing within the song.
2. Structure - After the key points of reference (verse,chorus,bridge, etc) were established rhythmically and melodically I would consolidate the structure of the whole song from beginning to end usually dividing it between three of four distinct sections of unfoldment.
3. Lyrics - I write lyrics to a song with no distinct formula but rather enter a state of meditative receptivity where my subconscious can more easily communicate with my conscious mind to bring through imagery, emotion, energy, and words which reflect my inner landscape as well as the outer world that the externalized manifestation of the song is brining forth into being. I do however, tend to intentionally focus the themes of my music on nature, beauty, love, transformation, interconnectivity, wholeness, archetypes, sensuality, communion, togetherness, reverence, mysticism, regeneration, paradox, and goodwill. 
4. Refine - Once the lyrics are written the song is complete, though I do leave room for reconsideration of details, structurally or lyrically, if necessary.

The songs unfold within the track listing of the album as follows:

1. Ancient Eyes
2. Pimu Child
3. Illuminator
4. In the Middle of the Night
5. Lets Go Dancing
6. Muse of Color
7. Tall Grass
8. Beautiful Darkness
9. Sight of View
10. Lantern Heart
11. Burn like a Sun
12. Lady Dance

The Intentional sequencing and design of an album track list can dramatically improve the listeners experience and relationship to a record. My intention is to press this album to vinyl (which has 2 sides, A and B) so I designed the track list in a way that would energetically distinguish one side from the other while maintaining consistency and flow throughout the entirety of the record. Side A, reflecting the yang principle, is driving, captivating, and awakening. Side B, yin side, is introspective, emotionally reflective, and intimate. The overall energetic quality of this album is more yang compared to my first album, SunDog, which is definitely more yin. 

Mixing

The next phase of work on an album after all the recording is complete is mixing. Generally, mixing means editing a song by balancing volume levels, panning tracks, using tools like EQ and compression, and whatever other creative devices are desired to balance the mix and bring the song to life. In our case, the first thing we would do, and what virtually every track has on it, are the mixing tools of EQ and compression. Given that I described what compression was above, here I will briefly explain EQ.

EQ - Short for 'Equalization', is an adjusting (through filtering and amplification) of the various frequency components of the given sound. In our case we would refer to this as 'boosting' or 'cutting' either Hi, Low, or Midrange frequencies.

In total, it took Paul and I around two full weeks to mix the album. Our process of mixing each song proceeded as follows:

1. Organize Tracks - Name all tracks according to whatever instruments/sounds they contained. Adding instrument icons and color coordinated tracks arrangements for easy navigation while mixing. We would sometimes be working with up to 40 or more tracks so basic navigation was very important to maintain.
2. Mix from the bottom up - We started by mixing the drums & percussion, which began with 'phase correction', making sure that no frequencies were being cancelled out due to mic placement i.e. if sounds are hitting different microphones set at various distances/locations (like mic-ing a drum kit), certain sounds may be recorded with millisecond differences, allowing for certain frequencies to cancel each other out by creating dissonant waves (phasing) rather than synchronized waves. After phase correction was complete, we would mix the drums using EQ and compression to achieve maximum aliveness and appropriate balance for the overall song. Once the drums & percussion were complete, we would tackle bass, making sure it and the kick drum weren't competing for low-end space in the frequency spectrum, again utilizing EQ and compression. We would then move to guitars, first acoustic, then electric, applying the same basic format of editing tools mentioned above, then to keyboards, any additional instrumentation, and finally vocals.
3. Refine & Enhance - Once the overall mix was balanced and leveled in volume (meaning nothing is clipping or distorting) and the performance sounded unified, we would add in whatever creative flavors we felt would enhance the dynamic, texture, and feel of the track. These basic tools and techniques most commonly consisted of reverb, delay, phaser, distortion, overdrive, auto-pan, and stereo spread.

Mastering

The final phase for album generation is to master the songs. This is when all the tracks of a given song are consolidated into one single track which is then edited using the basic tools of EQ, compression, and leveling dynamics to increase volume, give space and individuality to each instrument, and bring the song to its fullest expression. This is the phase of the album I am undergoing at present though I am not taking on the task myself. Instead, I have commissioned an engineer who specializes in mastering to do the job for me. This is generally beneficial for any producer/artist to do because it allows another perspective and set of ears to enter the dynamic, give offer feedback, and recognize aspects that may have gone previously unnoticed. This process is planned to be finalized by mid-May. 

Below are the key un/learnings from my recording and mixing process

• Through consistent experimental use of the recording equipment utilized for my process, I learned how to professionally engineer and produce my own music in a way that I can confidently replicate and evolve for myself and others in service to their projects as well as my own, flexing my skills and expanding my portfolio of professional project experience. 
• I learned that with well placed microphones, a basic interface, decent instruments, some solid outboard gear, a committed performance, and passion for the craft, great recordings that feel alive and organic are simple to design and manifest.
• I found that I generally work best by starting my process early in the day (ideally after an efficient exercise practice) and working consistently with no distractions, imbibing mostly liquids until the evening, taking a break and then continuing into the night for as long as it takes for me to feel satisfied or for the song to be complete in relation to my given goals for the day.  
• Through my work with Paul, I learned the basics of how to effectively organize and efficiently mix a song in Logic X from start to finish. I now have a better understanding of the function and use of key tools such as EQ, compression, phase correction, and panning to mix a song well and bring it to life.