Artefact 1 – Recording Project – Starburster Fontaines D.C

Why i picked the song:

For this project ''Starburster'' by Fontaines D,C was chosen. Me and my group chose this song for my recording project as its a song i genuinely love. And using it for this project would give me the chance to learn about how it was made and replicate some of the elements from the song whilst adding my own artistic touches into it. Before starting the project i was already massively aware of Fontaines D,C and the equipment they use and how they record. I knew this from watching numerous interviews of the band detailing their song writing process and guitar rigs. This was extremely helpful to know when producing this track as i could pick out certain guitars and amps to use to get close to their really unique and incredible sound.

The Recording Process:

The first thing we did was pick our studios that we were going to use within the college and start planning out how we were going to the use the weeks we had. This was extremely important as i am in class of around 15 students so planning time and using meaningfully was essential as everyone is needing to use the kit.  We decided to use SSL1 which has the largest live room in the college. This was done for the massive boomy sound of the drums in the track. The large room was vital to achieve this due to the natural reverb and dynamics of the room.  The drums were recorded using an AUDIX kit with lewitts for overheads and a rode NT5 sat way back in the room as a room mic. The hi hats were recorded separately to the rest of the kit, this allowed me to process the hats differently without the rest of the kit being impacted in the mix.  The bass was D.I straight into the console as this way it is easy to manipulate and add all of the effects post rather than relying on finding an amp with the right sound i was looking for. The vocals were recorded in the EMS by myself. The EMS was chosen because we had it booked for the day to complete the synths in the song but had gotten them finished earlier than expected. The EMS also has a really dry room which was good for the vocals as they are gritty and snappy in the song and all of the effects would go best onto dry vocals with no roominess. a AKG c414 was used here. Also for the vocals my groupmate Dylan recorded the backing vocals for the song both the ones that linger throughout the song and the ones that are there to emphasise certain words and phrases.  The guitar was recorded in SSL1 just like the drums. We used a Roland jazz chorus amplifier as this had built in reverb, vibrato and chorus which are vital effects for the guitar in the track. The amp was close miked with an electro voice RE-20 right in middle of the speaker touching the amp grill. The Mellotron for the song was created in Ableton using a sampler and then exported and dragged into pro tools for processing.

The mixing process: -  All screenshots will be below of each plugin i used

Vocals - All screenshots will be below of each plugin i used

For the vocals i had to capture the claustrophobic gritty nature whilst also letting them be large enough and forward enough in the mix. Starting off i used the BF-76 compressor in Pro Tools i had the compressor set with a very fast attack to shave off the transients and a moderate release to allow for a punchy sound whilst still letting the vocal breathe. With a 20:1 ratio it makes it extremely compressed and adds some harmonic aggression which is vital for the song.  This compressor was used to make the vocals stand out in the mix and make them feel intense. Next on the chain for the vocals is the black ops distortion. I have the distortion dial at around 2. This adds quite alot of distortion allowing the vocal to feel 'explosive' and add some edge to it. The cut knob is left at 12 to keep the vocals clear and intelligible without making them hard to listen to.  I have the dry/wet mix at around 70% so i am still letting the dry signal come through so the vocals arent completely drenched in distortion. This was added for further grit and aggression and to boost the midrange which makes it feel closer to you in the mix which is important for the vocals. I also felt it just matched the tone of the song nicely. That 'manic' and claustrophobic sort of feel. Next up on the chain is Fabfilter's Pro Q. I have a low cut applied to remove the unnecessary low end that vocals don't really need. A slight cut at around 250hz to reduce some of the boxyness from the vocal which was important to have since i have this on my effects chain AFTER the distortion.  I have a boost around 2.5-3k hz as this helps the vocals cut through the mix just a little bit more and adds presence. And finally on my vocal chain there is a slap back delay. The backing vocals that play along with the main vocal have all of the same plugins apart from a saturator with 100% wet mix applied. This was done to give the adlibs a different feel to the main vocals allowing them to stick out a little bit more in the mix. The adlibs are double tracked and hard panned left and right to add space and depth to the key lyrics. 

Bass:

The bass only has a compressor and a sub booster on it as i felt as though it didn't really need anything else. The D.I bass has enough clarity and punch on its own. but theres a BF-76 compressor there just to bring it into the mix more. It has a low ratio with both a fast attack and release. This again is just to add even more punchiness and bring it into the mix. With the sub booster plugin just giving it a really nice low end rumble without being too overpowering.

Piano/Synth:

The piano part that plays during the intro into the verses was recorded on a Roland synth in the EMS. For processing there is the D-Verb reverb plugin. It has a dramatic hall reverb to really capture the 'ethereal' vibe that the original has. There is a really long decay with with a 64% wet setting. This reverb is to make the piano sit far back in the mix. It sounds really ambient and lush which is totally the vibe i was trying to achieve here. Next on the chain is a high boost. This is to just make the piano super bright and twinkly. Again this adds to the lush, ethereal sound which contradicts the vibe of the rest of the track. Making it sound super cool.

Mellotron:

The mellotron is arguably the most vital part of the song along with the drums. So it was important that i had processed it in a way that sounded full and proper. Starting off the signal chain is a large dip at 2k. This is to remove harsh frequencies from the sound. Next on the chain is a compressor. The gain is set to 45 to really push the signal to kind of produce some analog warmth that i believe a mellotron should have. I've put a moderate amount of gain reduction to smooth out the transients. 

Guitar Rhythm and Lead:

The guitar was double tracked and panned hard left and right for both the rhythm section and lead. There isn't any mixing processing done on pro tools as i feel as though it didn't need it and the sound straight out of the amp was enough, with the vibrato and chorus dialled at 7 on the amp.

Drums:

The drums are such a large part of this song and it was vital to capture them correctly and get a sound i love. The drums are extremely compressed using multiple compressers that are working really hard to add the boominess and aggression that the drums have. The snare and kick drum were sent through and outboard compressor called 'distressor' that has an extremely intense ratio. I believe the ratio setting was on ''nuke'' the attack was quick and the release moderate with the output cranked just a little bit to make them louder. In pro tools i duplicated the kick and added a low cut eq to remove all of the bass. This was to add the click of the kick that i felt was lacking in the mix. as well as adding another compressor so that this new kick click was brought up in the mix to go alongside everything else. The hi hats were sent through an outboard saturator. The original track has a really distorted snappy hi hat that i really liked so i tried to emulate this and put myself out of my comfort zone and use the outboard kit which i had never previously used. 

Difficulties I Had During Recording:

During recording we had come across many different problems that we had to problem solve. Such as broken mics and faulty cables. One week we were tracking the drums and had a perfect take only to realise that one of the channel strips on the desk wasn't working that we were not aware of. But this never discouraged me and we always got straight back to it and kept recording.