The song I have chosen to cover is Hello by Adele. To cover the full 2 minutes I will cover the first verse and chorus, which is 2 minutes exactly. The song itself took over 6 months to complete, it was produced by Greg Kurstin who played bass guitar and piano on the track. Adele is credited herself for providing the drums for the song.
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| Cover art for Adele's song Hello |
Lyrics and Chords
Below are the lyrics and chords for the first 2 minutes of the song. However I decided to take the piece up a semi tone so it would suit the performers voice better.
Em G D C
Hello, it’s me.
Em G D C Em G
I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet, to go over.
D C Em G
Everything, they say that time’s supposed to heal you,
D C
but I ain't done much healing.
Em G D C
Hello, can you hear me?
Em G D C Em G D C
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be when we were younger and free.
Em G D C
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet.
G D Bm C
There’s such a difference between us
G D C
and a million miles.
Em C G D Em C G D Em
Hello from the other side, I must've called a thousand times to tell you
C G D Em C G D
I'm sorry, for everything that I've done, but when I call you never seem to be home.
Em C G D Em C G D Em
Hello from the outside, at least I can say that I've tried to tell you
C G D Em
I'm sorry, for breaking your heart, but it don’t matter,
C G D Em G D C
it clearly doesn't tear you apart any more.
Planning the Recording
Multi – track
Recording
Producer: Andrew O'Brien
Primary Sound Engineer: Emily Gibbard
Name and artist of song chosen: Adele, Hello
Instruments you will use, and how you will mic these (microphone
placement).
Piano
The way I am going to mic up the piano is by having two C1000s condenser microphones placed below the keys of the piano, I am setting the microphones up like this because from previous recordings I have learned that the microphones placed at these positions offer the best capture. I will have one microphone on the right and one on the left side of the piano.
Position/Distance 2 condenser microphones, placed below the keys, one on the left side and one on the right side. Both 10 cm away.
Type of microphone C1000S (Condenser)
Polar Pattern Cardioid
Vocal
To record the vocals I am going to use the Rode NT1 condenser microphone. From previous recordings I have discovered that this is the best type of microphone to use when recording vocals because that are captured are clear and with a pop shield attached there is are no plosives.
Position/Distance Microphone in front of performer, pointing at their mouth, 5cm away
Type of microphone Rode NT1 (Condenser)
Polar Pattern Cardioid
Drums
To record the drum kit I will need two condenser C1000s microphones, each above each cymbal pointing down at them. I have decided to use the AKG D112 (also known as the egg microphone) to record the kick part of the drum kit. Lastly for the snare drum I will use a Shure SM 58.
Bass Guitar
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| Condenser C1000s |
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| C1000s Frequency Response |
Position/Distance 2 condenser microphones, placed below the keys, one on the left side and one on the right side. Both 10 cm away.
Type of microphone C1000S (Condenser)
Polar Pattern Cardioid
 |
| Cardioid polar pattern |
To record the vocals I am going to use the Rode NT1 condenser microphone. From previous recordings I have discovered that this is the best type of microphone to use when recording vocals because that are captured are clear and with a pop shield attached there is are no plosives.
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| Rode NT1, with pop shield |
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| Rode NT1 Frequency Response |
Position/Distance Microphone in front of performer, pointing at their mouth, 5cm away
Type of microphone Rode NT1 (Condenser)
Polar Pattern Cardioid
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| Cardioid polar pattern |
 |
| Cardioid polar pattern |
|
| Condenser C1000s |
|
| C1000s condenser frequency response |
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| AKG D112 |
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| AKG D112 frequency response |
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| Shure SM58 frequency response |
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| Shure SM58 |
Bass Guitar
To record the bass guitar I am going to use the back of the mixing desk instead of a DI box. I will use a Jack lead to connect the bass guitar up to the mixing desk in the studio.
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| DI (Direct Input) Box |
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| Jack Lead |
DI Research
This is the back of the mackie 1640i mixing desk, which I am going to use to DI my bass guitar. The positives of having a DI recording is that there is no chance of having any background noise affecting the recording. Also DI is useful when performing live because it can be inserted between the instrument and the amplifier. Lastly DI is more simple and less time consuming than setting up microphones. However a negative of using a DI is that it may not produce strong enough frequencies compared to a microphone recording.
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Multi-track Recording log
Schedule of all recordings
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Session
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Date
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1
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5/11/15
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2
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12/11/15
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3
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15/11/15
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4
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25/11/15
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Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Andrew O'Brien
Number and length of session: 1 (2 Hours)
Date of session: 5/11/15
Names of engineers: Tom Whitehead
Names of musicians and instruments being
recorded: Emily, Piano
Goals of the session (at least 2):
- To record the piano in full
- To practice the vocals with my vocalist, to make sure they are prepared
Section B (to be completed after the recording
session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not
what reasons were there for this?
Both goals were achieved in this session, as I managed to record the piano part in full and practice the vocals with my vocalist. The only part of the session that was difficult was trying to set the BPM for the recording. I tried searching for the correct BPM on the internet, but after discussing and practicing with Emily we decided that the correct BPM was 79.9.
For this first session I had to set up a new Cubase file, which involved creating 7 mono tracks. I also imported the orignal song and set the BPM, which I found out by researching on the internet. I then asked my engineer to set up two condenser C1000s microphones, each one pointing up towards the keys of the piano. I checked and set the gain by asking my performer to play through the piece as practice. I did a few recordings of the piano and afterwards picked the one that sounded the most clear and professional.
For this first session I had to set up a new Cubase file, which involved creating 7 mono tracks. I also imported the orignal song and set the BPM, which I found out by researching on the internet. I then asked my engineer to set up two condenser C1000s microphones, each one pointing up towards the keys of the piano. I checked and set the gain by asking my performer to play through the piece as practice. I did a few recordings of the piano and afterwards picked the one that sounded the most clear and professional.
What are your plans for the next session in the
studio?
- To record the drums
- To organise a time with Hayden to record the bass guitar
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Andrew O'Brien
Number and length of session: 2 (2 Hours)
Date of session: 12/11/15
Names of engineers: Emily Gibbard
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: Drums, Tom
Goals of the session (at least 2):
- To record the drums
- To organise a time with Hayden to record the bass guitar
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Both of the goals were achieved in this session because I managed to record the drums. Before I started the recording I played Tom the song and explained how I wanted the drums to be played. I explained that I wanted a slow simple beat throughout the verse of the song, then when it got to the chorus I asked him to use the full kit. My engineer Emily then set up all of the microphones that were required for the recording, I then set all of the gain levels. After a practice run through I recorded the drums, then organised a date to record the bass guitar with Ben.
Both of the goals were achieved in this session because I managed to record the drums. Before I started the recording I played Tom the song and explained how I wanted the drums to be played. I explained that I wanted a slow simple beat throughout the verse of the song, then when it got to the chorus I asked him to use the full kit. My engineer Emily then set up all of the microphones that were required for the recording, I then set all of the gain levels. After a practice run through I recorded the drums, then organised a date to record the bass guitar with Ben.
What are your plans for the next session in the studio?
- To record the bass guitar
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Andrew O'Brien
Number and length of session: 3 (2 Hours)
Date of session: 15/11/15
Names of engineers: Emily Gibbard
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: Hayden, Bass Guitar
Goals of the session (at least 2):
- To record the bass guitar in full for the recording
- To organise a time with Kate to record the vocals
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
Unfortunately all of the goals were not achieved in this session because the performer was unfortunately unavailable to record. However instead of letting the studio time and session go to waste I got my vocalist Kate into the studio and we recorded the first verse of the song. We did a few practice run throughs and when I felt Kate had the emotion of the song, I recorded. I have organised another time to add the bass guitar to my recording, and also finish the main vocals.
What are your plans for the next session in the studio?
- To record the bass guitar
- To finish the main vocals
Section A (to be completed before the recording session)
Name: Andrew O'Brien
Number and length of session: 4 (2 Hours)
Date of session: 25/11/15
Names of engineers: Emily Gibbard
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: kate, Vocals and Bass guitar, Hayden
Goals of the session (at least 2):
- To record the bass guitar
- To record the rest of the main vocals
Section B (to be completed after the recording session)
Were all goals achieved during session? If not what reasons were there for this?
All of the goals were achieved for this studio session as the recording is now complete. For this last session I recorded the bass guitar first, I did this by getting my engineer to plug a Jack lead into the back of the mixing desk and connecting it to the bass guitar. I could have used a DI box to connect the bass guitar, however I have found through my research on DI that connecting the bass guitar straight to the mixing desk is easier and provides a better signal. Once the bass guitar was set up, I asked the performer to run through the track a couple of times so I could set the gain and so the performer felt they were ready. After a couple of takes I finished recording the bass guitar, the performer also had a input on what recordings they preferred and which they thought was the best quality. After this I asked my engineer to set up the Rode NT1 microphone for my singer so I could record the chorus. Since my performer was used to the singing this song from the previous session all I had to do was set the gain. I recorded the chorus three times and picked the best quality recording out of those three.
Evaluation
I will now evaluate each one of my tracks that I recorded for this cover. Topics I will cover in this evaluation are the levels of the recorded tracks and whether the gain was set correctly. I will also evaluate whether the capture was appropriate and I used the correct microphones. Lastly I see if there is any background noise present on any of my recorded tracks.
Piano (Left and Right)
I recorded the piano by using two C1000s condenser microphones, one at each end of the piano, pointing up at the keys. Each microphone was placed approximately 5cm away. Listening back to the piano part separately I believe that the capture was successful as there is no background noise or clipping that can be heard. From this I can conclude that the gain was set at the right level for this recording. The piano part can also be heard clearly in the mix, which shows that it was balanced appropriately. The piano tracks can be heard on tracks 1 and 2 on the playlist.
Main Vocal
The way I recorded the main vocal was by using a Rode NT1 microphone and have the performer stand about 4-6cm away. I made this decision because the song is a ballad and there are many powerful high notes that the performer has to hit in the song. Listening back to the vocals on there own it is made quite clear that I recorded the verse and chorus on separate occasions. So because I recorded the main vocals on two separate occasions that is why they sound different. However the overall capture of the main vocals was good in my opinion because there is no background noise or clipping present. The gain levels would have been different for both recordings of the vocals, however they can clearly be heard in the mix. The main vocals can be heard on track 3 of the playlist.
Drums
I recorded the drums by using two condenser C1000s condenser microphones for the hi-hat and crash. I used a AKG D112 microphone for the kick drum and lastly for the snare I used a Shure SM58. I believe that the capture of the drums was also successful because like the previous tracks there is no background noise or clipping. I found it difficult at first to set the gain to the appropriate level because I wanted the signal to be clear, but at the same time I didn't want the drums to overpower the mix. However on the separate tracks there is 'spill' because for example on the kick track the other parts of the drum can be heard, it does not effect the overall quality of the recording. To improve I could change the position of the microphones or I could have installation pads around the kit to stop anything from spilling onto other tracks. Listening to the separate parts of the drum I can clearly hear each one clearly, however in the overall mix I could have moved the drums down a bit more in the mix. But I still believe they fit in the mix fine. The drum parts can be heard from tracks 4-8 on the playlist.
Bass Guitar
The method I used to record the bass guitar was to connect the bass up to the mixing desk using a Jack lead. I chose this method because I found it easier to connect the bass straight to the mixing desk over using a DI box. Since I used DI for this recording, there is no chance of any background noise occurring. I believe that the capture of the bass guitar was successful because I adjusted the level of the gain to an appropriate level. In the overall mix I do believe that the bass guiar could have been brought forward a bit more, however it can still be clearly heard. The bass guitar can be heard on track 9.
Overall Mix
The overall mix has been balanced appropriately, as there are no tracks that overpower any of the others. If I could redo anything from recording this cover I would have tried to record the main vocals in one session. The overall mix can be heard on track 10.
Evaluation
I will now evaluate each one of my tracks that I recorded for this cover. Topics I will cover in this evaluation are the levels of the recorded tracks and whether the gain was set correctly. I will also evaluate whether the capture was appropriate and I used the correct microphones. Lastly I see if there is any background noise present on any of my recorded tracks.
Piano (Left and Right)
I recorded the piano by using two C1000s condenser microphones, one at each end of the piano, pointing up at the keys. Each microphone was placed approximately 5cm away. Listening back to the piano part separately I believe that the capture was successful as there is no background noise or clipping that can be heard. From this I can conclude that the gain was set at the right level for this recording. The piano part can also be heard clearly in the mix, which shows that it was balanced appropriately. The piano tracks can be heard on tracks 1 and 2 on the playlist.
Main Vocal
The way I recorded the main vocal was by using a Rode NT1 microphone and have the performer stand about 4-6cm away. I made this decision because the song is a ballad and there are many powerful high notes that the performer has to hit in the song. Listening back to the vocals on there own it is made quite clear that I recorded the verse and chorus on separate occasions. So because I recorded the main vocals on two separate occasions that is why they sound different. However the overall capture of the main vocals was good in my opinion because there is no background noise or clipping present. The gain levels would have been different for both recordings of the vocals, however they can clearly be heard in the mix. The main vocals can be heard on track 3 of the playlist.
Drums
I recorded the drums by using two condenser C1000s condenser microphones for the hi-hat and crash. I used a AKG D112 microphone for the kick drum and lastly for the snare I used a Shure SM58. I believe that the capture of the drums was also successful because like the previous tracks there is no background noise or clipping. I found it difficult at first to set the gain to the appropriate level because I wanted the signal to be clear, but at the same time I didn't want the drums to overpower the mix. However on the separate tracks there is 'spill' because for example on the kick track the other parts of the drum can be heard, it does not effect the overall quality of the recording. To improve I could change the position of the microphones or I could have installation pads around the kit to stop anything from spilling onto other tracks. Listening to the separate parts of the drum I can clearly hear each one clearly, however in the overall mix I could have moved the drums down a bit more in the mix. But I still believe they fit in the mix fine. The drum parts can be heard from tracks 4-8 on the playlist.
Bass Guitar
The method I used to record the bass guitar was to connect the bass up to the mixing desk using a Jack lead. I chose this method because I found it easier to connect the bass straight to the mixing desk over using a DI box. Since I used DI for this recording, there is no chance of any background noise occurring. I believe that the capture of the bass guitar was successful because I adjusted the level of the gain to an appropriate level. In the overall mix I do believe that the bass guiar could have been brought forward a bit more, however it can still be clearly heard. The bass guitar can be heard on track 9.
Overall Mix
The overall mix has been balanced appropriately, as there are no tracks that overpower any of the others. If I could redo anything from recording this cover I would have tried to record the main vocals in one session. The overall mix can be heard on track 10.
The links are below.
Separate Tracks
https://soundcloud.com/user-886671367/sets/hello-adele-cover/s-VLZok
Separate Tracks
https://soundcloud.com/user-886671367/sets/hello-adele-cover/s-VLZok
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