Vocals in the studio:
For my practical work, I decided to record vocals to the Demo Tracks that I have made in phase two. For each track, I will need to record some shouted vocals, singing the lyrics I have written. Lyrics are important in a metal song, especially in genres such as Thrash, where lyrics have strong meanings and deep context behind them, lyrics are what makes the song memorable and give the song its expressiveness, as well as give audiences something to relate to, telling some sort of story, bringing the song to life. In metal another important factor, aside from lyrics, is their delivery. The delivery of lyrics is what gives the song its emotion, so the delivery must be related to the music and lyrics, for example in thrash, punk and hardcore, shouting and screaming the lyrics helps to convey the anger, anguish, rage, sadness and pain that the lyrics describe and that the music is trying to convey. Spoken word, or clean passages may help draw the listener in or add suspense, mystique or darkness to the piece. Other metal styles employ different techniques such as death metal, which uses guttural growls, to convey a bestial, inhumane and terrifying atmosphere, or black metal, which uses rasping, and high pitched demonic shrieks, to bring out an infernal and demonic/satanic atmosphere.
In my works, I employed a punk/thrash style shout in a low, almost masculine voice, which uses loads of energy and requires power from the diaphragm, to push air out at force, causing the vocal folds to distort, in a similar way that loads of gain causes the valves in an amp to overdrive. This technique is called glottal compression, and allows the user to shout and sing with power, and drive (​Anon, (2018)). However I still need to practice my glottal compression and vocals much more, as despite achieving the desired effect, I did wear down my voice a little bit, and my throat felt sore later in the day, and I felt tired. In order to improve, I must focus on shouting from my diaphragm, pushing air from there,  and avoiding screaming from my throat (which I was unaware that I did at the time, but presume that my technique slipped, in the heat of the moment).
I recorded my vocals through a SM58 dynamic microphone. This was a good choice of microphone to use for this job, mainly as it is a dynamic mic, meaning that it can handle much higher SPL (Sound Pressure Levels), so me screaming full force down it at close proximity, will not damage it, unlike a condenser mic, which usually has a much more sensitive membrane, and can pick up quieter sounds, however higher SPL will usually overload and clip the mic at best or even cause the membrane to shatter (​SweetCare. (n.d.)).
When recording, I faced the issue of the Demo track being very loud and unmixed, which brought out very loud resonances and clipped the master bus on logic, as unlike my logic project, the template that I have loaded the project into, on the college computer, did not have a limiter on the master bus, which is why it clipped. A limiter is a very heavy type of compressor, that essentially cuts of all audio past a certain volume threshold. This can allow the user to stop the mix from clipping the master fader, whilst still retaining volume, allowing the track to be as loud as a professionally recorded track should be (LedgerNote. (2020)). However when the bounced project is applied back into a new logic template, the master bus will clip, as the project is very loud and there is no limiter on this specific template. The lack of EQ on most of the instruments also caused the mix to sound very unpleasant through the studio monitors, due to many resonances being present. However this issue was temporarily fixed by my teacher who applied some basic compression to my vocals, a master bus limiter, and some basic EQ on the master bus, removing the excess mids and bass, which were causing the mix to sound horrid through speakers. I can fix this problem by mixing the Demos once everything is recorded, however I will do that at home, during the half term.
I am currently facing the prevalent issue of time, which is not on my side, and I have only two days left of this week to get the vocals for all four tracks recorded. This will not be easy, however I WILL try and push forth and get as far as possible.

Redone drums:

I have however decided to not record drum set parts for this project, the reason being that the parts that I have programmed in the demo, were unrealistic and humanly impossible for most drummers, as predicted. This was an issue that I have foreseen, as I am not a drummer, and have little knowledge of how MIDI drums should LOOK like, instead going with what sounds good, which isn't always possible for a drummer to recreate. I have thus came up with the solution that I can use the virtual drummer on logic. I have previously avoided this as it seemed like a massive gimmick, giving me very basic, cliché beats and, and it did not work with my drum sample library. I was however informed of the fact that parts done by the drummer can be then converted to MIDI, and arranged to my liking (for example, the drummer does not use the splash and china cymbals, as the drummers in logic are built around the drum sets in logic, which don't have a china or a splash cymbal, so I could move the power hand to be hitting the china at certain moments). This resolved the problem, and I could easily redo all four tracks, with the drummer to provide a "base", which I could then turn to MIDI, and re-arrange to hit the instruments that I wanted it to hit. The drummer in logic is essentially a glorified drum machine, in the vain of the TRIO pedal, which in theory is supposed to play realistic beats along to the song, making it great for getting down drum patterns on the fly (Apple Support. (n.d.)).  However this will have to suffice as a replacement for real drums as I will not have time to record the drum parts for all the tracks that require them, by the end of this week. If I were to ever do this again, I would definitely start by using the drummer first and getting the drums recorded as soon as possible.











Regarding Re-amping

I have also decided that I will keep the guitars from the demo tracks the way they are, and will not be able to re amp them unfortunately, as neither I nor the college have a re-amp kit. A re amp box essentially send a clean guitar signal, from a pre recorded audio source, in this case the guitar recording on Logic Pro, to an amp, allowing it to be mic'd up and recorded as if it was being played in by a guitarist in real time (DIY Recording Equipment. (n.d.)). This cannot be done with just an audio interface, as there will be feedback and risk of blowing up speakers or amps. Honestly I am not too concerned with being unable to re-amp or not, as I feel that the guitars sound pretty good anyway, with just the Kerry King Amp Sim. 

Orchestration re-worked, with a mellotron sampler 

I have however decided to re record the orchestral parts, using the mellotron. I decided to use these sounds, as they sound a particular way that I enjoy, with a lo-fi and creepy sound. The sound is much more authentic and more "dirty" than a "modern" sample would sound, and much more realistic than a synth. For each sound I used samples of a sfortzando's Sfortzatron, which is a free mellotron sampler, that allowed me to re-create realisitic sounding mellotron sounds. I decided to avoid using the mel9 pedal for the orchestral sounds of the mellotron, leaving it only to do ambient choirs in the background of the mix. The reason behind this is that the sounds of the mel9 sound very unrealistic, and not as good as a real orchestra or tron. Having read up on the matter further, I realised that the reason behind this is, as stated by Bill Rupert in the official demo video of the pedal, is because the pedal does not trigger/control samples. Upon further research I looked into the pedal's manual leaflet and figured out that the pedal uses DSP modelling, to simulate a mellotron, meaning that the sounds created are not real tron sounds, but in fact a glorified synthesiser. DSP, or Digital Signal Processing, is essentially the process of taking a real world input, such as sound, pressure or temperature, having it digitised, and then mathematically manipulated, to create the desired outcome (​www.analog.com. (n.d.)). in the case of this pedal, the device takes the raw analog input of an instrument, such as a guitar, and digitally manipulates said signal, so to sound as an orchestral instrument. So the reason the sounds sounded fake, was because, they indeed were fake.








A mellotron is a sampler instrument (I have written about it in detail on my blog), that essentially uses pre-recorded orchestral samples on strips of magnetic tape that produce sound when triggered, moving the tape. This means that the sounds of the mellotron are of real instruments, and will sound realistic, with the natural warble (also known as wow) of the worn tapes, compression and saturation of the instruments, giving the samples a different, unsettling, creepy and melancholic sound, that makes the tron have its own, authentic sound and serve as an instrument of its own. The pedal on the other hand does its best to simulate those complicated sounds with a DSP, and some synthesis. While EHX have done a really good job on this pedal, and it is fun to use as an ambient pad for the guitar, in choir mode, it is however unable to realistically replicate the sounds of  other real orchestral instrumentation, such as brass (which arguably sounds the worst on the pedal), or woodwinds, as nailing the sound and making it sound 100% realistic, with just a synth/digital instrumentation, is impossible, in a similar way to how it is impossible to recreate the sound of any other string instruments, such as a guitar, with a synth.
So in order to make the real sound of a tape orchestra, I used a mellotron sample library.

Progress (new tracks and vocals) 30/5/2022:

Having recorded all the vocals for both Upon A Bloodied Earth and The Scars, I decided to not record vocals for Tuath De Dannan, due to the piece being lengthy and advanced, and me having very little time to do this, as I still had to mix the vocals, and the tracks themselves. This means that I have three full songs to work with and also three short instrumental pieces, which should be more than sufficient for an EP, and hopefully sound authentic and keep the audience entertained all the way through. If I could have done anything differently, I probably would have toned down either the length of the lyrics in Tuath De Dannan, or my aspirations, as I have been informed, that four fully produced tracks is a lot, especially in a 1 - 1 1/2 month period. That being said, I have managed to do three with relative ease, with the mixing, arrangement and vocal recording being the main hurdles. 
Performance - wise, I believe that my vocals have improved, as I did not feel any major after effects after the harsh vocals, and got some really powerful screams and shouting done, including some awesome highs/lows. The feedback that  I've received from my peers described the vocals on Upon a Bloodied Earth, as reminiscent to old-school Slayer, such as those seen in the piece Black Magic:










Post Production, Mixing and Mastering:

there were some slight timing issues, on both pieces, but that I easily adjusted by moving the waveform manually, this is called editing and it is a part of post production, which involves time aligning the waveform, and shifting the parts, to achieve the desired effect. Also known as time stretching, this process involves changing the duration of audio "without changing the pitch", as opposed to pitch shifting, which shifts the pitch of the audio, without changing the duration or timing, according to Max McAllister on the Produce like a Pro website (​McAllister, M. (2022)).

Post Production is a phase in film or music production which comes after all the "raw" content has been recorded, as stated by inSync, (inSync. (2005)). In this case, post production is what comes after my work in Phase two, demo phase. This refers to any final recordings, mixing, or mastering.  In this case, it was mainly recording the vocals professionally in the studio, and would also refer to drum recording/mic set ups and re-amping, should I have had the time and resources to do the latter two.

For the vocals, I used the classic SM58 mix by Shure. This one is a specialised vocal microphone, that is a dynamic mic, meaning that it uses electromagnetism to convert sound waves into electrical signals, as stated by the Neumann website (​Neumann.com. (2015)). It  can handle higher SPL (sound pressure levels) as stated by the mynewmicrophone website (Arthur (2018)), thus meaning that loud sounds will not overload its electronics, causing it to be distorted and potentially damaging it, unlike a condenser mic, which is has an onboard amplifier, that requires phantom power to power, and amplifies the input, allowing ot to pickup quieter sounds, but also making it more susceptible to high SPL levels, meaning that very loud sounds, such as me shouting into it, will overload it or even shatter the mic's membrane. 
I thus opted for the classic SM58, used often for vocals due to it's heart shaped polar pattern, known as a cardioid, meaning that the microphone only picks up input from the top, and sides of the capsule, and not the bottom, which helps to eliminate sounds from the background, and only picks up my vocals, which go directly into the mic, from the front.  
                                                                                                     - polar patterns, such as this cardioid pattern refer to the sensitivity of the mic                                                                                                            to inputs depending on where the are in relation the the mic, for example the                                                                                                            aforementioned pattern, will pick up best from the area shown in blue on the                                                                                                            diagram, whereas a figure of eight mic will pick up sounds from the sides of                                                                                                              the mic but not the top or bottom, and is best used for duets, or binaural uses.                                                                                                          The omnidirectional polar pattern, on the other hand, will pick up the sound                                                                                                            equally from all around the microphone, in a spherical pattern around it                                                                                                                    (K.T, T. (2019)).
It also has a proximity peak, which adds warmth and depth to the input, which is very good on vocal performances, especially on brittle/tinny voices such as mine. The proximity effect in a mic essentially causes a boost in lower frequencies the closer the input source (e.g. my mouth) is to the mic, this can be used to advantage when recording vocals, as done by this mic, to add warmth and depth to the voice. The proximity effect can be a potential problem when recording voices that are particularly deep, or instruments that are boomy, such as guitars (especially the low E string), or larger drums, like the floor tom or the bass drum, as evaluated by Neumann (Neumann (2015)), however in this case, I made sure to hold the mic close to my mouth, to boost and add richness to my otherwise brittle and tinny voice, which was doing high screams/falsetto screams and overdrive vocals, which are high in nature, than lower vocal techniques such as death growls, or low screams. 
Another reason this microphone is good for vocals is that it has a built in pop filter. A pop filter is a shield that is put on microphones used to reduce plosives (Voices. (2020)), to stop them from clipping the mic. A plosive refers to "p", "t", "k", "g" and "d" sounds that are made when speaking/singing, which often are pronounced at greater emphasis and cause sharp blasts of air to hit the mic, causing it to clip, due to the wave form in these parts being harsher and bigger, overloading the mic (​dictionary.cambridge.org. (n.d.)). This can often be fixed by a applying a pop filter to the mic, which often looks like a physical shield (made of some sort of fabric material), attached  to the mic, in between the users mouth and the mic. In the case of the SM58 however, the pop filter is already built into the mic, meaning that the mic is good to use, pretty much straight out the box, with no need for the pop filter or and phantom power. In my case I literally picked up the mic out of the draw, plugged it in to Input one, on the studio wall, and was ready to record (Wreglesworth, R. (n.d.)).

Once I have recorded my vocal parts for each piece (I did each part in one take, so to make the performance as organic and live sounding as possible). I went on to mix the tracks.
Since each track has roughly the same instrumentation/setup, I did similar things to each of the main instruments in the tracks, so I will sum them up as referring to each track:

Guitars:

In order to get the thrash tone, as stated in Phase two, the mid range must be scooped on the guitars to ensure that they sound tight and are not overly boomy, nor tinny. So In order to achieve this, I scooped the mid range, with wide EQ cuts, at the low mids, around 100 to 300 hertz, to remove the mud and boom of the guitars, which were already low end oriented due to the way that they were dialled in on the amp. I then removed the honk and loose frequencies at the mids in 300 - 400 hertz, to add some thickness and tightness to the sound, I dialled down the higher mids, at 500 hertz - two kilohertz, to remove any sharp/tinny or ringing frequencies that did not sound good in a rhythm guitar. I dialled down the high end past two kilohertz slightly to remove any scratchy/fizz frequencies, and added a low pass filter past ten kilohertz, that cut off any excess air frequencies, or mains hum from the guitar. I also added a high pass filter past 80 hertz, allowing for some slight bass frequencies to be present, but mostly reducing them, due to making sonic space for the bass guitar, the low brass/strings/woodwinds and the larger drums.
                                                                                                               - when EQing the guitars, I went for the tactic of                                                                                                                                                                   going for what sounds best to my ears, whilst                                                                                                                                                                    staying within the "classic thrash metal" sound of                                                                                                                                                              scooped mids and tight/thick sound.
 
                                                                                


Making space for the frequencies of other instruments is very important when mixing. I have probably spoken about the concept already in phase two, but the golden rule that I follow here is referring to the "cube theory". The cube theory states that every musical mix is confined within a sonic cube. The top and bottom of the cube refers to the frequencies of the mix, with low instruments, such as bass guitar, being on the bottom, and other instruments being located in an ascending order towards the top based on their frequency, with the highest pitched instruments, like overheads (cymbals) or vocals, being at the very top. The sides of the cube show where each instrument is located in the stereo field. The idea is that for a perfect mix, every instrument must have it's own space within the cube, and that space must not be compromised by any other instrument, which can prove hard, as many instruments have frequencies in the same register, such as the bass guitar and the bass drum, which are both bass oriented instruments. Moreover low frequencies from lower sounding instruments, such as large toms (floor/mid), Brass (Horns, Bass Trombones), Strings (Cello), Woodwinds (Clarinet) or Guitars (low E string, especially if tuned lower than standard tuning, which is common in metal), can all be low enough to potentially clash with the bass instruments (​Music & Audio Envato Tuts+. (n.d.)). This is why I high passed the Guitars, as even in E standard, they sounded very low and heavy, especially with the bass dial cranked up and the mids scooped on the amp, however they would also be clashing with the bass, drums and orchestra. I mixed the rhythm guitars like this in all tracks throughout the EP
For the Lead guitars, I did the same things regarding high passing and low passing, except I focused more on scooping the low mids, around 1kHz, and also scooped the low mids from sixty to 200 hertz, letting the upper low mids pass, as the lead (played using my TC Electronics AEON Guitar sustainer), where mostly tinny as opposed to boomy, so I did not need to scoop the low mids so much. I also ran the guitar through a pedalboard which was in the FX loop of the virtual amp. An FX loop is, as according to Blackstar Amplification, "an insert point in your amplifier circuit, that allows you to insert a piece of gear after your preamp" (9FX Loop vs. Pedals in Front of Your Amp - Blackstar. (n.d.)).


                         - for the monophonic lead parts (monophonic meaning that it was played one note at a time, and did not contain                                                 multiple notes playing together at any point (​www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.))) I used the Wham pedal, dialled in to shift                                                    up the output by a fifth, with the effect being only half present in the mix, as shown on the diagram, with the mix dial being at                                                         twelve o'clock, meaning that the dry signal is left in, equally as loud as the effect, creating a harmony, in a string section style                                                            manner. This help create the illusion of multiple guitars playing in harmony live, where in fact there is only one lead. 

                                                                                                               







                                                                                                                                                         - I then applied a chorus pedal, which I have already spoken about in my phase two, and my research about the chorus' function of making false ensemble soundscapes, really helped me out by allowing me to settle to use the chorus, instead of the Haas effect* to make this ambient metal lead come to life as a whole soundscape, and less like a single lead line. When the phaser was applied, the effect added a zooming sound that caused the lead to sound otherworldly and mysterious. A phaser is an effect that causes the guitar's natural waveform to be cloned against one that is out of phase and slightly delayed, essentially creating the whooshing sound that sounds similar to a flanger (Samplecraze. (n.d.)). 




                                                                                                                                                         - As shown on this diagram, this is how a waveform looks like once it comes through a phaser. The wave is cloned, however its copy is inverted (switched phase).

 * The haas effect essentially that I mentioned previously, essentially involves replicating the same sound (in this case the waveform of the lead), however delaying it by less than forty milliseconds. This phenomenon, discovered by doctor Helmut Haas in 1949 essentially occurs due to the fact that the human brain perceives these two sounds, as one sound, due to how close the both sound, whilst still creating the illusion of double tracking. 

However, I prefer to use real double tracking when necessary, having tracked each of the guitars (Rhythm and Lead) two or three times (two on Upon A Bloodied Earth, three on the other ones), with each part played in separately, and two panned in stereo (one left, one right), and the third would at this point stay in the centre, to add tightness and depth. For the leads I also did the aforementioned harmonizer effect, and chorus to make them seem like huge background soundscapes, almost like a distorted string section.









          -The tracking for the Rhythm guitars on all tracks except the title track. I honestly don't know why I did not track the centre track in the title track, however it doesn't seem to make a big difference in the final mix. All three tracks were sent to a single bus, which was panned to the center of the mix, so to make the guitars the focal instruments.











          -The tracking for the leads. The waveforms are less transient heavy, as they leads were played with a guitar sustainer, as announced in my Phase two, to increase the atmospheric sound, by creating a string like drone. The chorus pedals and harmonisers were applied to each track separately, to create the sound of a gargantuan guitar ensemble.
Double, triple and even quadruple tracking is prevalent in metal, as it allows the guitar parts to sound huge, and wide, with each part played separately causing the illusion of two guitars playing one part, and adding the the width and weight of the mix. This is achieved not only by using two of the same part, but it must also be two different takes of the same parts, NOT copied over (unless using the Haas effect, as said earlier, which normally has slightly weaker results), as copying and pasting the same track will make it seem like one guitar, just louder. Whereas taking two separate takes of the same part, and changing them up (i.e. changing amp settings, as shown on my phase two, changing pickups (couldn't do that because I only have one humbucker in my axe), or just using two different guitars) will yield the results of both separate takes sounding different slightly, due to the nuances of the player's playing, and the guitar(s)' intonation, while still making one huge riff together, creating a wide stereo image, as if a wall of guitars has been chucked at the listener (​www.uaudio.com. (n.d.)).







The fourth track was a solo track, which is were the solos were recorded, and no other lead sounds played at the time of the solo, to make sonic space for the craziness of the solos, which are very intricate, and boast technical prowess, as I have noted in my phase two. The solos and the rest of the leads also had their own separate EQs, and the pedalboard was different on the solo than the rest of the leads:







- This was is EQ for all the solos. They mostly focused on getting rid of the ringy/harsh midrange, and stopping excess treble, as the Solos were very shrieky and treble orientated, which differs from the rest of the more midrange orientated leads, as the high end needed tending to more on the solos, so that it doesn't sound too harsh as it may clip the mix and overpower the other instruments.









- The Equalizer for the rest of the leads, on the other hand, was mostly focused on removing the mids entirely, as they were tinny and ringy, and that was also were the buzz of the strings lived, which was caused by the strings occasionally hitting the body of the sustainer, when it was used. The leads were also more midrange orientated and needed to be given space in the upper low mids and the high mids. I also applied a high pass to remove any excess bass, and took away some mud on the 80-200 hertz mark.

Bass:
For the bass guitar, I used my Ibanez five string bass, which mostly played a "simplified" version of the main rhythm guitar parts, as is often seen in thrash, for example in the piece Angel of Death by Slayer, where the bass is pretty much playing the same parts as the rhythm axe, adding thickness, weight and fatness to the guitars and to the mix, controlling the low end.



                    




                  



As stated in the recording, the Bass for all tracks on the EP was recorded on one track, which was then split to two busses, which contained a pedalboard (with an octave pedal for the sub bass) and a SHB-1 Bass Amplifier, by Ignite Amps, as well as a bass cab from logic's default bass amp designer. The difference between the busses was, as stated in the recording, that they both had varying levels of drive (distortion) applied to them. The dirty bus had the SHB-1 (with the same EQ settings as the clean bus), but with the ignition turned on, which boosted the gain, and the dirty bus also had a fuzz pedal in the pedalboard, before the octave and the amp. By doing this set up, I could control how much clean signal and how much distortion I want with the bass, allowing me to blend both tones.

Bussing is a technique in music production and recording that essentially involves the player sending the output of an audio source, to another input, for example, if I had a load of separate solo cello recordings (I wish), I could send these all to the same auxiliary track, which is a separate track that would contain all the outputs from each of the solo cello sounds, going into it's input. On this track I could apply some reverb, such as a space designer, or other effects such as an equaliser or compressor, and it would affect each individual instrument track the same, as if they were one track. Another thing that can be done, is set how much of an instrument's sound you want in a given bus, using volume dials, to assign input volume to each bus, as seen here, where the single (dry) bass track is sent to two auxiliary tracks, which both have their own effects, except the input (how much of said track is sent to each aux track), is controlled so that less of the sound goes to the dirty bus, which has the fuzz, in order to get more clarity from the bass, while still retaining a gnarly sound (Dixon, D. (2019)). 













    The pedalboard used for the bass. The Dr Octave pedal created octaves below the already deep five string bass, which enabled it to ender very low, and heavy sub bass range. The fuzz pedal, that can be seen in the diagram, only existed on the dirty bus' pedalboard. Fuzz bass is a technique used in metal, that essentially involves distorting/adding fuzz to the bass guitar (Audified. (n.d.)) - This in turn gives it a gnarly and heavy sound, as well as allow it to cut through better, due to the natural compression of fuzz/distortion, which causes the wave form to get more squared off and takes away from some of the sound's dynamic range (Gateway, M. (2019)).




The SHB-1, which I used with the bass for all my tracks. This is a free bass amp, that is suited specifically for metal playing and gets some heavy tones. This diagrams shows the amp on the dirty bus, with Ignition set to on, which causes the gain to be boosted. The clean bus had the same settings, except the Ignition was turned off.







The cool thing about busses, is that they can be ran through other buses. In the case of the bass, each aux track, was then ran through to a single aux track, with this EQ applied, which is mentioned in the recording above. The compressor below was also applied on said bus after the EQ.








Drums:
 
For drums, I used Steven Slate 5.5 Drum sampler. as stated above, I decided to keep the sampled drums, done by Logic Pro's Drummer, Anders, who is specially used for heavy rock beats. I then changed the parts to MIDI and edited them, doing minor things, such as adding in China/splash cymbal parts, faux double bass fills using the floor tom and cymbal chokes, which are techniques that involve the drummer hitting a cymbal with their stick, then catching the resonating cymbal with either the striking hand or their other spare hand, resulting in the cymbal being dampened, creating a shorter sound (​inSync. (2010)).












Orchestra/Choir/Percussion:



Unfortunately I couldn't hire a real orchestra, as that is expensive, so instead I did the Arrangement, mentioned in the recording:
                                            A real orchestra would sound best, however It costs over £1000, per song. So I had to use the best                                                                        options I had available. I wanted something organic, but also lo-fi sounding, so I used a mellotron, as                                                                  stated in recording (​McAulay, J. (2018)) .











the violins play the melodic lines, while the strings and the brass, and woodwinds (not shown), play the rhythm parts, such as the thirds of the power chords. As stated in the recording, power chords are dyad chords that contain only the root and the fifth of the chord, and sound ver large and full when distorted and when played by a guitar. Power chords are used very often in metal, as seen in the iconic metal riff from the piece Iron Man, by Black Sabbath, which is literally composed solely of power chords. The power chords' two note harmony allows the rest of the band to build onto the riff, with the bassist traditionally playing the root notes, the lead guitar either doubling the riff, harmonizing with the riff or improvising over the riff OR playing the missing thirds. The orchestra can then also add to those chords, playing the thirds, sevenths and even octaves of the chords, building a huge composition (​reddit. (2018)). 










 - My go to research source for metal orchestration. This may or may not have been included in my Phase two, however this research source has really helped me when it came to recording the mellotron parts.










- An example of an iconic riff made from power chords, Black Sabbath's Iron Man.


The symphonic choir samples. by Sound Iron, used for maracatos in the interval, Injustice:















As stated in the recording, I used the Requiem Light Sample Library only once in this EP, since I did not really find the need for non-mellotron/synth choirs in the EP, apart from in Injustice, which was solely an orchestral instrumental piece. Both sections of the choir were set with similar settings, and ran through the same reverb bus that the other orchestral instruments went through. The only difference, as shown on the diagram, is that the sections ranged in frequency/singer vocal range.




















I multi-tracked the mellotron choir pad, since I also did the same for guitars, I decided to multi track the choirs too, in the same way the guitars were tracked, and at the same time as they were recorded. I mostly used the low choir setting (number eight on the mel9 dial), to achieve a darker sound, that was more ominous and cryptic, to accompany the rhythm section. The high choirs, as seen on the diagram, only come in when lead parts are playing, adding a dramatic and intense sound to the sustained guitar leads (done with the Aeon). Since the ambient lead sustains were also multi-tracked, the choirs that accompanied them also were multi-tracked, adding width and depth to the mix.















- The percussion arrangements. I mostly kept these pretty sparse and refrained from doing any major "percussion section" style beats with them, SlipKnot/Sepultura style, to not overcrowd the mix, and to keep the drum set at the heart of the rhythm/beat, making it easier to sing and play along to. Instead I used the percussion for accents, to add drama and weight to the piece. Here you can see most of the percussion instruments that were used. For the Outro, Stellar Eclipse, I also used a glockenspiel, which added a cryptic "music box" like sound, that had a sparkly/metallic sort of sound that suited the dark and slow outro. The tracks that inspired me to consider using percussion are Beowulf by Aknew, who used cinematic Taikos for their piece, as well as the SepticFlesh piece Order of Dracul, which is full of dramatic crashes, and heavy fortissimo bass drum accents, fortissimo here meaning "full velocity", in musical terminology, and essentially states that the drums were pounded with the drummers entire might, as loudly as possible, getting plenty of transient and attack, as well as being very loud (​www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.)), as opposed to being hit gently, which would sound lower, have less transient and would also be very quiet and ominous (the term that describes this is called piano) (www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.)).









- A good example of cinematic taiko in metal








- Concert bass drum accents and good use of percussion used by SepticFlesh in Order Of Dracul










- This is the sound that I had in mind when using tubular bells. It helps add a really dark atmosphere to this piece, which is main theme for the necropolis town in Heroes III. I decided to use this sound to build a sense of darkness and dread, as you can hear in the buildup after the solo in Upon Bloodied Earth.

Regarding the usage of the mellotron samples, instead of other orchestral samples or synths, I chose to use the mellotron because I liked the organic sound it creates, and how realistic it sounds, while also sounding strange, creepy and authentic. It has a lo-fi sound caused by the natural wear of the tapes, thanks to the Wow and Flutter, which essentially occur when the tape wears down, as well as tape saturation. The mellotron makes realistic orchestral sounds, that sound way better and more believable than a synth, but also have a nasty edge to them that makes them sound unique and more creepy and disturbing than contemporary orchestral samples, which also happen to be expensive. Many metal songs use the tron for symphonic sounds, such as the piece that i have mentioned in the recording by Enslaved; As Fire Swept clean the Earth:









- The sample used on the tron here is most probably the three violins sample, which is a sample of a violin section recorded on tape. However the way this sounds - Shrill, creepy and warbly, before the guitars hit, really serves to create a sense of dread and drama. Another band known for successfully using samples from the mellotron, this time in Death Metal, is the band Opeth. Who mix symphonic sounds of the mellotron, with death metal and prog metal.










Here the sample of strings helps create a really dramatic, cinematic and unsettling atmosphere, sounding like some sort of film score, before moving to quiet whispered vocals, that lure the audience in before melting their face with Death Metal roars. 
The Mellotron, as stated in the recording, has a range limited to that of the orchestral instruments, meaning I can't go overboard with what I play, and also the tape strips last for exactly eight seconds, before running out. This meant I had to keep my orchestrations relatively simple and also not make the notes too long. This is explained in detail in this video:









The inspiration for using lo-fi orchestration, provided by mellotron, was given to me from the OST (Original Soundtrack) of Poppy Playtime, Chapter Two, where the track Game On plays whilst the player is chased by a huge toy caterpillar/pug, and helps add to the intense, strange and unsettling nature of the situation, creating a creepy and dramatic atmosphere.











I further exploited this sort of atmosphere, by using ProjectSAM's free orchestra, which had "Ghostly Cluster" samples, that essentially provided recordings of unsettling noises made by the orchestra, that are often seen in horror scores and video game tracks. To make that sound more disturbing and lo-fi, I applied Caelum Audio's tape cassette emulator, onto the sounds. These sounds are essentially sound effects that play occasionally, in certain places in the album, to add a sense of dread. They can be heard in the first few bars of the intro track, Interstellar Oceans, as well as in Upon Bloodied Earth, before the first verse.










The Tape Cassette Emulation. I have Saturation Set to almost past half way and a bit of low pass too, as well as some Wow, to add some warble, and a tiny amount of noise, to add static hiss, adding some ambience.






-the EQ that was put on the main bus of the orchestra, which affected all orchestral sounds, except choir and percussions.







- the compressor used on the aforementioned sounds










- Spring Reverb Pedal, used on the orchestral sounds (Apart from choir/percussion), that helped make it sound bigger and more cinematic, as well as more old sounding. The style dial was set to vintage to achieve this. I took the tone all the way down, to remove the harshness and retain a darker sound, as tone controls the low pass in guitars and pedals, essentially controlling how much treble (high frequency) is put out (stuart (2019)). I struggled to find information on mixing mellotron orchestration, so I looked on the web, and found out that spring reverb helps give the mellotron character and depth, as mentioned by a guy on a forum named tzujan (duc.avid.com. (n.d.)). Spring reverb is a type of synthetic reverb that "uses a coiled up piece of metal, instead of a flat sheet." according to Max Mcallister on the Produce Like A Pro website (McAllister, M. (2019)). The way it works essentially involves a transducer attached to one end of a coild piece of metal (spring) and a pickup attached on the other end, which picks up the reverberating sound. A transducer is a device that converts energy sources, such as an input transducer, which refers to those seen in a microphone, that takes an energy source, such as sound, and converts it to electrical signal. In the case of Spring Reverb, an output transducer is used, which does the opposite; it takes the electrical input of an instrument, such as an electric guitar, or microphone, and converts them to kinetic energy (vibration) and sends them up the spring, into the pickup, where they're converted back to electrical signals, however with the spring's reverb, (www.variohm.com. (n.d.)).







- High Choir Pad (number nine on the Mel9) EQ









- Low Choir EQ (Number eight on the Mel9)







- This is the EQ I applied on the main bus for all the choir pads done by the Mel9. They were very difficult to get to sound the way I want them to, so I had to add another "general" EQ, on the output bus for all the choirs. This helped tame their harsh sounds.







- The compressor which was placed after the EQ on the main Choir bus. The Mel9 is very velocity sensitive, which meant I needed quite a lot of compression, however I let some of the dry through using parallel compression. 

Vocals:

For Vocals, I needed some angry, dark and shouty vocals, present in thrash metal and hardcore punk. I wrote down some heavy lyrics, that ranged topically, covering things like past personal trauma/experiences, philosophy, nihilism, rebellion, criticism of the current state of the world, politics and current matters. Then I got down to the studio, picked up an SM58, and screamed these lyrics into said Sm58, using glottal compression and overdrive, techniques that I have mentioned and researched in phase two, to add power and rasp to my furious vocals. In other areas of the songs, such as in the buildup of Upon Bloodied Earth, where the guitars fade out and the orchestra becomes dominant, accompanied by cryptic tubular bells, I change my vocal technique to a dark spoken/whispered sort of vocal used by MCR's Gerard Way in the piece Helena, as well as to an extend by Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath in the piece Council of Wolves and Snakes. This cryptic, speech/murmur helps draw the audience in and set tension for the coming breakdown, where my vocals return to the shouting style.















- Angry Shout vocals, using overdrive technique, done on the piece Critical Mass, by Nuclear Assault, a Crossover Thrash Band. The lyrics of Critical Mass also helped influence the lyrics of Upon Bloodied Earth, with similar themes of our world being in danger and us being the cause as a species.








- Helena by the post punk/hardcore band MCR is a good example of whispered/murmured/spoken vocals, used to lure the audience in and set a gloomy mood, as seen done by Gerard Way at the star of the song and the breakdown. I have used this technique, for a similar effect in the breakdown of Upon Bloodied Earth. 










- A good example of the dark, lower hardcore style vocals, that I have used in moments in choruses, namely in Upon A Blooded Earth and The Scars, done in the piece Fucking Hostile, by the Thrash/Groove/Hardcore band Pantera.









- Painkiller, by the Traditional Heavy Metal band Judas Priest, is an example of the falsetto scream. This is a higher pitched scream, called a falsetto scream, using the overdrive technique and the players head voice, to achieve a falsetto tone, with rasp, in a similar way to Judas Priest's Rob Halford. Falsetto is a very high register of singing second only to mezzo, alto and soprano. Falsetto refers to a voice that is much higher than a regular talking voice, and is strictly part of the head voice. Head voice refers to higher vocal tones, that are felt more prominently in the singer's head, as opposed to the chest voice, which is felt more in the chest and refers to lower and warmer tones. Very often head voice is used interchangebly with falsetto, however falsetto is part of the head voice, but is strictly a higher, more airier part of said head voice, as stated by AIMM, "Head Voice is not a term interchangeable with falsetto. Falsetto has an airier quality, and not quite as your head or chest voice." (Team, A. (2018)).










Sound Effects:




I used different sound effects in places in the EP, to build an atmosphere, and sense of dread, or darkness. In a similar way to the creepy samples in the orchestra, the sound effects were tailor made by me on the ESP synth engine and on other synths and samplers. These aren't made to be a main part of the composition, instead just being sound effects that add a flavour. An example of this used in metal is by the band SlipKnot, who have a full time, samples player and a DJ as part of the band, whose sole role is to playback strange sound effects, synths and Vinyl Scratches off their instruments, in the background of the mix. Samples, while by no means mandatory, help give a mix a cinematic and immersive feel, that otherwise would just be a bit dry and perhaps not as immersive, in a similar style to how Foley helps bring immersiveness in films and video games. 










- Craig Jones uses samples in these songs when playing with SlipKnot, to add some creepy, weird and chaotic flavours to the pieces, which helps both make them more memorable, as well as helps them sound more authentic and more absurd.

                                               For the organs, as stated on the video, I sent their outputs partially to a separate bus, with a fully                                                                          cranked Kerry King amp, which distorts them, however most of the Dry signal is left in, meaning that                                                                  they sound, clear, yet gnarly, at the same time, as stated in the recording.























- the synth used for the morse code in Interstellar Oceans, and Stellar Eclipse. In The Scars, a sped up recording of morse code (using time stretch), is played back in the background of the beginning of the piece:





- As seen on the diagram, the waves (due to being Sine waves) were literally the same tone, and dynamic all the way through, to the point where they look like a single straight line. 
I included the morse code and ciphers in the EP, to create a sense of mystery and crypticness. It also helps add to the lo-fi, dark ambience of the tracks. The inspiration came from the show Gravity Falls, where Alex Hirsch (the creator) frequently uses ciphers and other codes, to create a sense of mysticism and eccentricity for the audience to decipher.











 - The Settings on the ESP for the Explosion at the very end. The idea was to get a huge Boom Sound, that was low and massive sounding, and then distort it to the max with the pedal mentioned in the recording.










- The ESP Synth set on the Interval (Injustice), which simulates the whistling sounds of winds, adding a really ambient and cryptic sound to the intro of the interval. The sound is drenched in Space designer reverb, with an open ambience IR to create the effect of a huge outdoor space, such as a desert or the woods. The attack for this is really slow, in the same manner that winds gradually pickup and start emitting sound, with the decay at mid-way and the sustain almost all the way down, and a long release. This creates the feeliong of ghostly winds that echo in the distance.












- The setting on the ESII synth engine, for the dark pad, as mentioned in the recording.










- In certain moments of the EP, such as Interstellar Oceans, and Stellar Eclipse, there are build ups made to add suspence with white noise. These made with a simple white noise oscillator, and everything set to slow, but release, meaning that it comes in slowly, building up and adding suspense, then stops abruptly.



- This is another type of buildup I made, using a trick I learned in Level two. It essentially involves taking a sample of an instrument with a long sustain, such as a cymbal, bass drum, tam tam or gong and reversing the sample so instead the instrument swells in slowly into the transient. In this scenario I used the sample of the Tam Tam, and reversed it and put it on Logic's Sampler, the distorted it to make it seem more rough and harsh sounding. This buildup can be heard slowly dominating the mix in the Interval (Injustice), where it gets louder and louder, dominating the mix, until it cuts off to the breakdown, where the distorted guitars hit.





This the EQ used on the Celeste, as mentioned in the recording.

                                                              - the vibrato pedal used on the celeste to make it sound warbly and strange. As stated in                                                                                         the recording, Vibrato refers to the fluctuations in pitch, as opposed to tremolo, which                                                                                           refers to fluctuations in volume. (Srcset, 2021))














Mastering:

Mastering is the process of making a finished mix sound professional on every listening medium, be it phones, speakers, headphones, earplugs or car stereos, preparing it for distribution. (​Dixon, D. (2019))







Anon, (2018). How To Sing With Power (Glottal Compression) - Bohemian Vocal Studio. [online] Available at: https://bohemianvocalstudio.com/how-to-sing-with-power-glottal-compression#:~:text=It.

Apple Support. (n.d.). Get started with Drummer in Logic Pro. [online] Available at: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/logicpro/lgcpa4324884/mac#:~:text=Using%20Drummer%2C%20you%20can%20add [Accessed 25 May 2022].

Arthur (2018). What Does A Microphone’s Maximum Sound Pressure Level Actually... [online] Mynewmicrophone.com. Available at: https://mynewmicrophone.com/maximum-sound-pressure-level/.

Audified. (n.d.). Distortion on bass? - Five reasons why you need it, too. [online] Available at: https://shop.audified.com/blogs/people/distortion-on-bass-why-it-is-great [Accessed 9 Jun. 2022].

dictionary.cambridge.org. (n.d.). PLOSIVE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/plosive.

Dixon, D. (2019). Mix Bus 101: Why, When, and How to Group Tracks into a Bus. [online] iZotope. Available at: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/mix-buses-101.html.

Dixon, D. (2019). What Is the Difference Between Mixing and Mastering? [online] iZotope. Available at: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/what-is-the-difference-between-mixing-and-mastering.html.

DIY Recording Equipment. (n.d.). ‘Explain Like I’m 5’: Why do I need a reamp box? [online] Available at: https://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/blogs/news/86235652-explain-like-im-5-why-do-i-need-a-reamp-box.

duc.avid.com. (n.d.). Mellotron recording/mixing? - Avid Pro Audio Community. [online] Available at: https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=8871 [Accessed 9 Jun. 2022].

FX Loop vs. Pedals in Front of Your Amp - Blackstar. (n.d.). Blackstar. [online] Available at: https://blackstaramps.com/lessons/fx-loop-vs-pedals-in-front-of-your-amp/#:~:text=An%20FX%20Loop%20is%20essential.

Gateway, M. (2019). Distortion Pedals | Using A Distortion Pedal | Мusic Gateway. Music Gateway. [online] 22 Aug. Available at: https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/how-to/your-guide-to-distortion-pedals#:~:text=Distortion%20occurs%20when%20gain%20is [Accessed 9 Jun. 2022].

inSync. (2005). Post Production. [online] Available at: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/post-production/#:~:text=The%20general%20term%20for%20the [Accessed 30 May 2022].

inSync. (2010). Cymbal Choke. [online] Available at: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/cymbal-choke/ [Accessed 9 Jun. 2022].

K.T, T. (2019). Microphone polar patterns. [online] Lewitt Audio. Available at: https://www.lewitt-audio.com/blog/polar-patterns.

LedgerNote. (2020). What is a Limiter & How Do I Use Them for Audio & Music? [online] Available at: https://ledgernote.com/columns/mixing-mastering/what-is-a-limiter/.

McAllister, M. (2018). Haas Effect: What It Is and How It’s Used - Produce Like A Pro. [online] Produce Like A Pro. Available at: https://producelikeapro.com/blog/haas-effect/.

McAllister, M. (2019). What is Spring Reverb? [online] Produce Like A Pro. Available at: https://producelikeapro.com/blog/spring-reverb/.

McAllister, M. (2022). What Is Time Stretching and When Would You Use It? [online] Produce Like A Pro. Available at: https://producelikeapro.com/blog/time-stretch-explained/#:~:text=Time%20stretching%20enables%20us%20to [Accessed 30 May 2022].

McAulay, J. (2018). Hire An Orchestra Guide – 2020 Prices, Advice and FAQs. [online] Encore Blog. Available at: https://encoremusicians.com/blog/how-to-hire-orchestra-for-event/.

Music & Audio Envato Tuts+. (n.d.). How to Use the Sound Cube to Plan Your Recording. [online] Available at: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-use-the-sound-cube-to-plan-your-recording--audio-518.

Neumann.com. (2015). Microphone Basics: What’s a Dynamic Microphone? [online] Available at: https://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/what-is-a-dynamic-microphone.

Neumann (2015). Microphone Basics: What Is the Proximity Effect? [online] Neumann.com. Available at: https://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/what-is-the-proximity-effect.

reddit. (2018). r/PowerMetal - How do you Write/Arrange your Orchestral Parts? [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/9ezg3g/how_do_you_writearrange_your_orchestral_parts/ [Accessed 9 Jun. 2022].

Samplecraze. (n.d.). Phaser Effect - what it is and how it works. [online] Available at: https://samplecraze.com/tutorials/phaser-effect-what-it-is-and-how-it-works/.

Srcset="https://Guitarspace.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2021/11/Guitar-Playing-2-300x300.jpg 300w, img W.H.S. org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2021/11/Guitar-Playing-2-300x300 jpg" C.A.-2.P.A.L., Https://Guitarspace.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2021/11/Guitar-Playing-2-150x150.jpg 150w, Https://Guitarspace.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2021/11/Guitar-Playing-2-24x24.jpg 24w, Https://Guitarspace.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2021/11/Guitar-Playing-2-48x48.jpg 48w, Sizes="calc, H. org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2021/11/Guitar-Playing-2-96x96 jpg 96w, playing, 720px"> G.S.T.G.S.T. is a hodgepodge of guitar aficionados that can’t stop, talking, writing, vast, thinking about all things guitar T. collective expertise is as, Experience, D. as T., backgrounds and Choices, F.F. (2017). Tremolo vs Vibrato- What’s the Difference on These Two Techniques? [online] Guitar Space. Available at: https://guitarspace.org/tips/tremolo-vs-vibrato-whats-the-difference/#:~:text=Tremolo%20deals%20with%20change%20in.

stuart (2019). The Secret To Great Guitar Tone - Volume and Tone Knobs. [online] Available at: https://guitarclubhq.com/the-secret-to-great-guitar-tone-volume-and-tone-knobs/#:~:text=Tone%20knobs%20on%20electric%20guitars.

SweetCare. (n.d.). What is the Difference Between Dynamic and Condenser Microphones? | Sweetwater. [online] Available at: https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/what-difference-between-dynamic-condenser-microphones/.

Team, A. (2018). Head Voice vs. Chest Voice - Getting Rid of Vocal Strain For Good. [online] www.aimm.edu. Available at: https://www.aimm.edu/blog/head-voice-vs-chest-voice.

Voices. (2020). Pop Filters - What Is A Pop Filter And Do You Need One? [online] Available at: https://www.voices.com/blog/pop_filters/.

Wreglesworth, R. (n.d.). Can you use a Shure SM58 microphone for recording vocals? [online] Musician’s HQ. Available at: https://musicianshq.com/can-you-use-a-shure-sm58-microphone-for-recording-vocals/#:~:text=The%20vocal%20recording%20advantages%20of.

www.analog.com. (n.d.). A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Signal Processing (DSP) | Design Center | Analog Devices. [online] Available at: https://www.analog.com/en/design-center/landing-pages/001/beginners-guide-to-dsp.html.

www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.). Definition of FORTISSIMO. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortissimo [Accessed 9 Jun. 2022].

www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.). Definition of MONOPHONIC. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monophonic.

www.merriam-webster.com. (n.d.). Definition of PIANO. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piano.

www.variohm.com. (n.d.). What is a Transducer? An Explanation. [online] Available at: https://www.variohm.com/news-media/technical-blog-archive/what-is-a-transducer-an-explanation.

www.uaudio.com. (n.d.). Layering Guitars for Maximum Impact | Universal Audio. [online] Available at: https://www.uaudio.com/blog/studio-basics-layering-guitars/.