Vaguely Human are a Brisbane-based band who believe in strong community concepts and the use of positive power and action. Uplifting, frenetic, catchy and palatable original music is what to expect from a live show, with material ranging from full-dancing-shoes funk power to chilled Sunday-back-deck grooves. Now, they hope to capture this attitude in the studio and have asked me to produce a 4-track EP. Check out how I take the project from recording to mastering phase, as they seamlessly blend hip-hop, funk, rock, roots, and soul, spreading a positive message to relate on a global scale...
Brisbane-based and full of positive beans! Vaguely Human consists of six members:
B-Grade - MC
Loz - Vocal | Guitar
Guy - Drums
Vegas - Bass
Aaron - Trumpet
Swanny - Sax
They have previously released one EP, in 2016. Check out the title track below:
When asked for any references they had in mind for this EP, they suggested "think The Herd, James Brown, Rage Against The Machine and The Lion King Soundtrack". My initial thoughts are these are all quite loud, radio-style songs. Ideally I'd like to bring out the vocals, since their message is the dominant feature, perhaps layer them, make them really forward and present in the mix. I also want to bring out the funk a little more than in their previous EP, emphasise the bass groove. If the vocals are clear and playful, bass is drawn out, and some subtle production polishes / advanced mixing techniques are employed, it might hit the ball-park of the aforementioned sounds.
After some communication with the band, I designed a project plan, and booked in some studio time.
RECORDING
SESSION 1
On game day the band thought they would get the best result by playing all together, so I did my best to isolate each member. I did this by splitting them between the two live rooms, and placed the horns in the control room with me. My planned input list looked a little something like this:
Live Room A
1 Kick in - RE20
2 Kick out - SM7B
3 Snare i - SM57
4 Snare ii - 451B
6 Tom rack - MD421
6 Tom floor - MD421
7 Hats - 451B
8 Bass - DI
9 / 10 OHs - DPA4011As
11 / 12 Rooms - C414s
Live Room B
13 Vox - U87
14 MC - U87
15 Gat body - KM184
16 Gat neck - KM184
17 Gat - DI (out of pedal board)
Control Room
23 Sax - 121
24 Trumpet - 121
Guy mentioned prior to recording that his kick hole is very narrow, so I opted for the RE20 so that it would fit inside; this microphone has also provided me a nice snappy kick in the past, which I thought would be suitable for this playful group's sound. Similarly, I chose to use an extra input and double mic the snare for a crisp snare that would compliment the kick. I wanted to try something different for OH miking than I have previously tried, so I opted for the 4011a's in XY, which have a lovely flat response with a beautiful nudge around 10k. This way I could use the C414's for the room mics, which I have found can be too harsh on cymbals.
Pairing the bass and drummer in the same room made sense, locking in the groove for the low end of the tracks. Similarly, pairing vocalists together with the acoustic guitar was the closest to ideal I could get to mitigate bleed; also a DI acoustic track provides more options later in the mixing phase. Thankfully, Laurie (Loz) and Brenton (B-Grade) were happy to overdub their vocal part, allowing the guitar to be recorded in isolation. I suggested this to Loz to help him focus on one thing at a time, drawing out a better performance.
I also suggested after the first two takes to try a take without a click. I noticed that they were all playing very stiff and regimented, and consequently the music lost its soul. When I have watched them perform live previously they are incredibly engaging and cohesive, and bounce off each other playfully. Guy also usually holds down a very tight groove (with some controlled wandering), and I hoped that with that as the foundation it would be a more successful approach. This did solve most of the problem, VH crew all start listening to each other a little more for a better matched groove and improved intonation, particularly the horns.
I would also suggest that contributing to their playing, was their headphone mixes. With only two possible headphone sends, it seemed like there was always somebody unhappy with their mix. To make the situation more difficult, I also had to monitor everything through headphones, which was a new situation for me, and not even on my own cans: I had to swap mine out for Vegas' during his performance because the hired ones could not get enough level to battle the drum sound from the same room. Consequently, I wasn't quite sure of what I was listening to.
Since the horns had to be placed in the control room with me, I was also constantly conscious of creating a feedback loop which really tested my confidence with signal flow. Overall it was quite a stressful session that seemed like a never-ending game of "now solve this problem". With a lot to think about whilst trying some new approaches, perhaps I, too, just by my exuded vibe, brought down the level of playing a little. Communicating with so many people at once really worked my brain, and I remember when the session was finally over I'd never needed a cigarette more in my life (all while I wiped the sweat from my head and pretended I was relaxed).
In hindsight, after listening to the recorded files, I have noticed a few complications with the takes that are a product of not being able to monitor properly. At times it seems the vocalists move around the microphone a little too much, creating quite a roomy voice - exacerbated when compressed. The drums also don't sound up to the quality I would have liked, so I would really like to bring Guy back in to the Neve room next time. If doing so it would be with the intention to overdub each of their components, using the first recording as a scratch track. I personally feel this will produce a much more polished EP, by including the lovely Neve pres and a better sounding live room. It will also enable each artist to focus more on their component, since they are not seasoned recording musicians. Finally, it will really help me to also focus on what I'm doing, in an environment that I would be more comfortable in.
If this does go ahead, I will take the opportunity to double mic the toms adding a 57, as well as to move the 451b microphone to underneath the snare drum. I would also like to include options for creative room mics for the horns, perhaps even an amp for the bass. Finally, I would like to double mic both vocalists, creating options in the mixing phase for advanced production tricks on the vox.
MIXING
SUSPENDED
MASTERING
SUSPENDED
So COVID has happened, which has really messed up this project. We have a member of the band (Vegas, obviously) who has had to return to his home country, another who has returned to their country home. Another two artists are staying inside with their young families and don't want to risk heading into a studio. Furthermore, none of them have the capabilities to do any recording at home - so this project has had to be placed on pause for the forseeable future.
In the meantime I have been speaking with Guy (who seems to be acting manager) who has requested bounces of the two songs we tracked. I sent them to him, but he was unimpressed with their performance. Aiming higher and believing they could do much better, he agrees with me that they need to come back in, and is happy to give the overdub approach a try. Otherwise I would like to try and capture everyone in the Neve live room, reducing inputs to a minimum, and strategically positioning mics so that the bleed works in favour of the track. Would be a new approach for me and one that very much interests me.
Stay Safe
Stay Tuned
- TA
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