This week my objectives are to reassess my FMP plan, research into recommended DAWs and continue my topic research.
Monday 23rd March 2020
PROBLEM SOLVING
Due to new circumstances, college is being suspended. As a class we are having to reevaluate our FMP plans to ajdust to these new conditions. As of right now my plan with my ‘How to convey moods and emotions into your songs ?’ research will be continued as planned. However, the EP/songs idea will change slightly. This is due to me not having Logic Pro X at home.
I managed to get the audio files for ‘Happy Steph’ last week though I am going to have to re-record parts, as in some places audio is lost. As for the other two demos I wanted to finish, I’m not going to be able to since I didn’t download their audio files like I did ‘Happy Steph’. Therefore, I’m going to produce two new songs from home. I could try to recreate my demos but I already have a sad melody I came up with in WEEK 2 that I could use. This allows me to gain more experience with my home set up.
Summarised project objectives:
Look into recommended DAWs
Fix ‘Happy Steph’
Record, mix and master sad song
Record, mix and master angry song
Continue and expand on topic research
My key requirements:
Audio recording - I have a Condenser microphone and SM57 here at home. So I can do amp recording and acoustic guitar recording.
Collaboration if possible and easy to. This could be me just sending a bounce of what I’ve done to my classmates for feedback. After having a video call with the class we have the option to put our work in the classroom for our class to see and give input on.
RESEARCH
We were given a very useful list of DAWs that we could use at home. From the list two stood out: Reaper and Soundation.
https://www.reaper.fm/ - I had already had a conversation prior to this list about Reaper; our technician and lecturer highly recommended Reaper as a home DAW. My thoughts after installing it is that the interface is not very user friendly compared to Logic or Ableton. However, Reaper is definitely less constricting compared to my version of Ableton Live.
https://chrome.soundation.com/ The reason Soundation caught my attention is because of how user friendly the site is. Not only that but it runs in a chrome browser and doesn’t require an install. However, Soundation has limitations unless you pay for a subscription which is not what I want.
From looking and experimenting with recommended DAWs. I have decided to install and learn how to use Reaper. It seems to not be as limiting as my version of Ableton Live and I’ll be able to properly mix a song and not be limited to 8 tracks. I aim to get myself familiar with Reaper as soon as possible so I can start recording new songs. I don’t want to fall too far behind my plan than I already am.
Since I’ve decided that I want to use Reaper. I spent the morning familiarising myself with the DAW.
This video was very useful and clear into helping me teach myself how to use Reaper. It made the process of learning and using Reaper a lot quicker. I’ve found out it’s not so hard to use. However, I’m still not a big fan of the interface compared to Soundation and Ableton. Another downside is that I’m going to have to hunt for VSTs so I can record MIDI instruments as they don't provide MIDI instruments or amps.
Tuesday 24th March 2020
PRACTICAL SKILL
Today I sat down and fixed ‘Happy Steph’. I thought I would have to re-record some parts but I didn’t. By deleting the clipped/no audio part and replacing it with the same part elsewhere in the song. I managed to make it sound the same, as if I have bounced down the track. This means that I don’t have to re-record and only need to mix and master.
PROBLEM SOLVING
I'm not a big fan on how you snip and cut audio in Reaper. If you want to cut an audio clip you get prompted to give an exact time signature. This is complex and time consuming, not as simple as Logic.
As the audio only clipped at the begining of some tracks. As you can see for the piano and 'Clean Echoes_2' (which is a guitar track) I had to find the same part that wasn't clipped. Once I had a perfect loop I snipped the loop out and slot it in where the audio cut. It was quite a headache to do but I did it and know how to do it for next time.
Thursday 26th March 2020
Today I am going to attempt recording using Reaper. From the video I watched Monday. I feel confident enough to try and make a start.
RESEARCH
Going to have to look into recording acoustic guitar at home.
This video demonstrates how to record with Condenser and Dynamic microphones. Both of which I have at home.
I may add a section to my Recording Techniques page and write about home recording techniques and my experiences.
From previous knowledge I know that the more isolated a room is there will be less reverb and unnecessary sound there will be. So I closed all my windows and doors. I have a carpet floor.
PRACTICAL SKILL
Started new sad song.
Used my condenser mic - plugged into an audio interface to record
Experimented with a few placements first.
Found a limited/noise gate
Recorded my a new bass
PROBLEM SOLVING
I have birds. My condenser microphone picks them up quite well because they have high pitched squawks. I thought the noise gate/limiter would remove them but the sound passes through two closed doors.
So to conquer this I do multiple takes of what I’m doing not only to prevent bird noises but to get the perfect take. So far so good.
‘Sad Steph’ Bounce - Side note I do not like the way REAPER bounces down tracks. It's way more complex than it needs to be.
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