Cover Song Recording - Yellow, Coldplay
Information on the song
Yellow is a an alternative rock song, written and recorded by the British band Coldplay. It was released in 2000 as a single from their debut album, Parachutes, and was produced by the band and Ken Nelson, an English record producer best known for work with other indie artists such as Snow Patrol and Paolo Nutini.
Whilst recording the song, the band had a problem picking a suitable tempo for the song to record at. This problem was eventually rectified, but Nelson felt that the song sounded 'wrong' on tape, so Pro Tools was used to fix timings before it was recorded onto 2 inch tape.
Lyrics
Yellow is a an alternative rock song, written and recorded by the British band Coldplay. It was released in 2000 as a single from their debut album, Parachutes, and was produced by the band and Ken Nelson, an English record producer best known for work with other indie artists such as Snow Patrol and Paolo Nutini.
Whilst recording the song, the band had a problem picking a suitable tempo for the song to record at. This problem was eventually rectified, but Nelson felt that the song sounded 'wrong' on tape, so Pro Tools was used to fix timings before it was recorded onto 2 inch tape.
Lyrics
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.
I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called "Yellow".
So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have done,
And it was all yellow.
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into
Something beautiful,
Do you know,
You know I love you so,
You know I love you so.
I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
'Cause you were all yellow,
I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all yellow.
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into
Something beautiful,
Do you know,
For you I'd bleed myself dry,
For you I'd bleed myself dry.
It's true,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.
I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called "Yellow".
So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have done,
And it was all yellow.
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into
Something beautiful,
Do you know,
You know I love you so,
You know I love you so.
I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
'Cause you were all yellow,
I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all yellow.
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into
Something beautiful,
Do you know,
For you I'd bleed myself dry,
For you I'd bleed myself dry.
It's true,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.
Tab
Guitar - https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/c/coldplay/yellow_ver3_tab.htm
Bass - https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/c/coldplay/yellow_ver8_btab.htm
Guitar - https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/c/coldplay/yellow_ver3_tab.htm
Bass - https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/c/coldplay/yellow_ver8_btab.htm
Initial Recording Schedule
· Session 1 – Acoustic Guitar and Vocals
· Session 2 – Drums
· Session 3 – Bass and Clean Guitar
· Session 4 – Distorted Guitars
· Session 5 - Piano
· Session 2 – Drums
· Session 3 – Bass and Clean Guitar
· Session 4 – Distorted Guitars
· Session 5 - Piano
Draft Plan
Producer: Myself
Primary Sound Engineer:
Jon Wells
Name and artist of song
chosen: Yellow - Coldplay
Instruments you will
use, and how you will mic these (microphone placement).
Vocals will be miced with a Rode NT1A, protected with a pop shield to prevent unwanted noise and a sound reflector to capture more of the acoustic surrounding the vocalist. I will choose to also add vocal harmonies, which will thicken the texture of the vocals and make them sound more professional. Both the lead vocal line and harmonies will be double tracked.
Guitars will be split up into acoustic and electric guitars. For acoustic, I will only use one take, but will use two microphones; one placed close to the neck, the other by the sound hole, creating a stereo recording that will sound much wider. In addition, I will choose to use two different microphones; an AKG C1000S will be placed over the sound hole as it is more suited to capturing the higher frequencies closer to the bridge, but will use a Shure SM57 close to the neck as its lower frequency response will be more suited to capturing lower overtones closer to the nut.
For electric guitar, I will take several different takes using a direct input through the desk into Guitar Rig. Direct input (or DI) is when an electric instrument is plugged straight into the mixing desk. Previously, a piece of equipment called a DI box would have to be used, as the instrument level signal from the instrument would be too quiet, and a DI box would be used to convert this into microphone level to be picked up by the mixing board. However, the new mixing board at the college (a Mackie Onyx Firewire 1640I) includes this built in, allowing electric guitars to be plugged in without using a DI box.
Advantages of using DI include that there will be no background noise as the signal is coming directly from the instrument. In addition, this will also result in no feedback, which is especially important when recording high gain electric guitar. However, a significant disadvantage of DI is that the recording will lack reverb and/or acoustic reflection as a result of this. This issue may be able to be solved using reverb plugins in the DAW when mixing in the next assignment, using artificial echo to give the impression the recordings were done in a open space.
As this is a mellow song, I will avoid using the heavier amp simulations such as the Marshall, Peavey 5150 and Soldano. For the heavier parts of the song, I will play the same part twice. The first take will feature a Vox AC30 simulation and I will “boost” this track using a overdrive preset. As the AC30 would typically feature brighter sounding speakers, namely the Celestion Greenback, I will choose to virtually mic this take with a Shure SM57 simulation, to capture a more rounded tone. For the second track, I will use a simulation of the Fender Twin Reverb. However, as this amp is best known for producing clean tones due to a large headroom, I will “boost” this track using a overdrive preset. I will mic this take with a Shure SM57 as well. For the third and final take, which is the clean backup guitar behind the acoustic line, I will again the AC30, set at a lower volume and miced up the exactly same way as before.
For bass, I will again use a direct input, similar to how most producers track bass today. Thankfully, Guitar Rig includes a bass cabinet and head simulation (similar to a professional Ampeg SVT rig), helping to emulate a professional bass tone. Due to its low frequency response, this will be miced using a Shure SM7.
For the piano, I will choose to use a DI, reducing the time taken to actually mic and set up an actual electronic piano.
As I am using electric guitars with distortion, I will back this up by recording a drum kit, using a Samson Drum Mic kit for particular parts of the kit. To help capture the low end from the bass drum, I will mic using an AKG D112, which has a very low frequency response that is perfectly suited to recording the bass drum.
Vocals will be miced with a Rode NT1A, protected with a pop shield to prevent unwanted noise and a sound reflector to capture more of the acoustic surrounding the vocalist. I will choose to also add vocal harmonies, which will thicken the texture of the vocals and make them sound more professional. Both the lead vocal line and harmonies will be double tracked.
Guitars will be split up into acoustic and electric guitars. For acoustic, I will only use one take, but will use two microphones; one placed close to the neck, the other by the sound hole, creating a stereo recording that will sound much wider. In addition, I will choose to use two different microphones; an AKG C1000S will be placed over the sound hole as it is more suited to capturing the higher frequencies closer to the bridge, but will use a Shure SM57 close to the neck as its lower frequency response will be more suited to capturing lower overtones closer to the nut.
For electric guitar, I will take several different takes using a direct input through the desk into Guitar Rig. Direct input (or DI) is when an electric instrument is plugged straight into the mixing desk. Previously, a piece of equipment called a DI box would have to be used, as the instrument level signal from the instrument would be too quiet, and a DI box would be used to convert this into microphone level to be picked up by the mixing board. However, the new mixing board at the college (a Mackie Onyx Firewire 1640I) includes this built in, allowing electric guitars to be plugged in without using a DI box.
As this is a mellow song, I will avoid using the heavier amp simulations such as the Marshall, Peavey 5150 and Soldano. For the heavier parts of the song, I will play the same part twice. The first take will feature a Vox AC30 simulation and I will “boost” this track using a overdrive preset. As the AC30 would typically feature brighter sounding speakers, namely the Celestion Greenback, I will choose to virtually mic this take with a Shure SM57 simulation, to capture a more rounded tone. For the second track, I will use a simulation of the Fender Twin Reverb. However, as this amp is best known for producing clean tones due to a large headroom, I will “boost” this track using a overdrive preset. I will mic this take with a Shure SM57 as well. For the third and final take, which is the clean backup guitar behind the acoustic line, I will again the AC30, set at a lower volume and miced up the exactly same way as before.
For bass, I will again use a direct input, similar to how most producers track bass today. Thankfully, Guitar Rig includes a bass cabinet and head simulation (similar to a professional Ampeg SVT rig), helping to emulate a professional bass tone. Due to its low frequency response, this will be miced using a Shure SM7.
For the piano, I will choose to use a DI, reducing the time taken to actually mic and set up an actual electronic piano.
As I am using electric guitars with distortion, I will back this up by recording a drum kit, using a Samson Drum Mic kit for particular parts of the kit. To help capture the low end from the bass drum, I will mic using an AKG D112, which has a very low frequency response that is perfectly suited to recording the bass drum.
Draft Track List
Track
list:
|
Instrument/part
of instrument/mic or DI/name of possible performer:
|
Track
1
|
Acoustic
guitar – Shure SM57 close to the neck to capture more of the low frequencies
|
Track
2
|
Acoustic
guitar – AKG C1000S close to the sound hole to capture higher frequencies
closer to the bridge
|
Track
3
|
Vocals
1 – miced up with Rode NT1A
|
Track
4
|
Vocals
2 – miced up with Rode NT1A
|
Track
5
|
Vocal harmony 1 – miced up with Rode NT1A
|
Track
6
|
Vocal harmony 2 – miced up with Rode NT1A
|
Track
7
|
Drum
– miced up with Samson Drum Kit Mic Set
|
Track
8
|
Drum
– miced up with Samson Drum Kit Mic Set
|
Track
9
|
Drum
– miced up with Samson Drum Kit Mic Set
|
Track
10
|
Drum
– miced up with Samson Drum Kit Mic Set
|
Track
11
|
Kick Drum – miced up with AKG D112
|
Track
12
|
Bass – Direct In, using a Guitar Rig simulation of a Tech 21 Sansamp into a bass cabinet miced using a Shure SM7.
|
Track
13
|
Electric Guitar 1 – Distorted Vox AC30 miced up with Shure SM57
|
Track
14
|
Electric Guitar 2 – Distorted Fender Twin Reverb miced up Shure SM57
|
Track
15
|
Electric Guitar 3 – Clean Vox AC30 miced up with Shure SM57
|
Track 16
|
Electric Guitar 4 – Clean Vox AC30 miced up with Shure SM57
|
Track 17
|
DI Piano 1
|
Track 18
|
DI Piano 2
|
Multi-track Recording log
Session 1
Name: Daniel Meer
Number and length of session: Session 1 – 2 hours
Date of session: 9/11/15
Names of engineers: Lauren Thomas, Daniel Meer
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: Electric guitar, vocals
Goals of the session (at least 2):
· Record vocals
· Record at least two guitar takes
I began by setting up the backing track in Cubase: I downloaded a version of the song from the Internet then imported it in, to allow my performers to play along to the actual song. In addition, I also set up a click track (set to around 86.5 bpm) so performers could always be in time.
As stated, I had originally planned to record vocals, but Lauren had a throat infection and was unable to perform. Despite this, I was still able to have several guitar takes recorded; this included the two distorted guitar takes, and a third, clean guitar which plays in the verses and choruses. In addition to this, I also had a bass and piano recorded, played by my friend Sam Keys. All of the instruments today were recorded via Direct Input, and with the exception of the piano, they were all played through Guitar Rig.
Next session, I aim to record the drums, as well as the acoustic guitar takes. Once Lauren recovers from her throat infection, I will also get her to record vocal tracks when she is available.
Session 2
Name: Daniel Meer
Number and length of session: Session 2 – 2 hours
Date of session: 10/11/15
Names of engineers: Jon Wells, Daniel Meer
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: Acoustic guitar, drums
Goals of the session (at least 2):
· Record drums
· Record the acoustic guitar
During this session, I was able to record the drums; they were played by my friend Lochlan Hope. His kit was miced up using a Samson Drum Microphone Kit (on the snare and hihat), two AKG C1000S for the crash and ride, and an AKG D112 for the kick drum. Unfortunately, I did run out of time to mic and record the acoustic guitar, but instead I was able to lay down a 'guide' track for the acoustic part using an electric guitar, DI'd into Guitar Rig on a clean setting to simulate an acoustic. In addition to this, I also recorded another clean guitar track to back up the acoustic part which I will record later.
Session 3
Name: Daniel Meer
Number and length of session: Session 2 – 2 hours
Date of session: 20/11/15
Names of engineers: Jon Wells, Daniel Meer
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: Vocals
Goals of the session (at least 2):
· Record vocals
During this session, I was able to record the vocals; performed by Lauren Thomas. After completing a basic take (using a Rode NT1A), I then recorded a second take to double track the vocals. In addition to this, I also recorded vocal harmonies during the choruses, then double tracked those too. As well as creating an effect similar to that of the original song, it also served to help the vocals cut through above the myriad of guitars I had already recorded.
Next session, I aim to record the acoustic guitar part and thus then be able to remove the guide track.
Session 4
Session 4
Name: Daniel Meer
Number and length of session: Session 2 – 2 hours
Date of session: 01/12/15
Names of engineers: Jon Wells, Daniel Meer
Names of musicians and instruments being recorded: Acoustic
Goals of the session (at least 2):
· Record vocals and give the song a basic mix
During this session, I was able to record the acoustic guitar part, using the SM57 placed close to the neck in order to capture the lower frequencies and the C1000S by the sound hole to capture the higher frequencies.
After this, I sought to gave the song a draft final mix. I began by firstly removing the piano track, as I felt that it didn't fit too well with the other instrumentation. Next, I made sure all of the volumes were balanced with each other, so that no parts were drowned out. I did have a problem with the vocals after the second chorus, as they couldn't be heard over the top of the distorted guitar. I remedied this turning down the volume of the guitar tracks, and changing their EQ so they didn't interfere with the mid-range (where the vocals should sit in a mix).
Evaluation of Individual Tracks
https://soundcloud.com/user-239608709/sets/yellow-dan-meer-seperate-instrument-stems
When I listen back to my individual recorded instrument tracks, I am impressed with the results. All of the recorded live tracks (vocals, acoustic guitar and drums) sound very clear and are of a professional quality. In particular, I am very pleased with the results of the acoustic guitar tracks; my combination of the SM57 and C1000S (which are two contrasting microphone) worked together very well, as they helped to fill in gaps left by the other (the C1000S covered high and low frequencies, whereas the SM57 dealt with mid-range). The vocal tracks were done to a very high standard, and each take matched up very well. The drums are very clear, with bleed from other parts of the kit minimised as much as possible.
Evaluation of Mix
https://soundcloud.com/user-239608709/yellow-dan-meer-final-mixdown
I am extremely pleased with the results of my final mix, especially as this is the first time I have mixed a track of this scale. All of the vocal takes matched up relatively well, ensuring they cut through the mix without much of a audible "double track" effect. The acoustic guitar sat well with the other tracks due to my combination micing technique, and the DI stringed instruments (electric guitar and bass) could be EQ'd in Guitar Rig, so I mostly kept them within the high mid, as not to interfere with the kick and toms in the bass end nor the cymbals in the high end.
However, without the use of EQ or plugins, I do feel there are some balancing issues, mainly after the second chorus, as the distorted guitars come in over the top of the vocals. If I reduced the volume of those tracks, they would no longer be heard over the top of the drums or other guitars. In future, this could be fixed whilst mixing by placing an EQ on all of the vocal tracks and boosting the mids so the tracks would sit right in the mix. In addition, the cymbals did tend to come in over the top of other instruments, so this could be sorted by removing some of the high end (around the 2k area) using a parametric EQ. Finally, I did have a slight issue with the final stereo mix clipping ever so slightly; during mixing, I could sort this by using a multiband compressor/limiter within Cubase to balance the low/high frequencies.
Evaluation of Individual Tracks
https://soundcloud.com/user-239608709/sets/yellow-dan-meer-seperate-instrument-stems
When I listen back to my individual recorded instrument tracks, I am impressed with the results. All of the recorded live tracks (vocals, acoustic guitar and drums) sound very clear and are of a professional quality. In particular, I am very pleased with the results of the acoustic guitar tracks; my combination of the SM57 and C1000S (which are two contrasting microphone) worked together very well, as they helped to fill in gaps left by the other (the C1000S covered high and low frequencies, whereas the SM57 dealt with mid-range). The vocal tracks were done to a very high standard, and each take matched up very well. The drums are very clear, with bleed from other parts of the kit minimised as much as possible.
Evaluation of Mix
https://soundcloud.com/user-239608709/yellow-dan-meer-final-mixdown
I am extremely pleased with the results of my final mix, especially as this is the first time I have mixed a track of this scale. All of the vocal takes matched up relatively well, ensuring they cut through the mix without much of a audible "double track" effect. The acoustic guitar sat well with the other tracks due to my combination micing technique, and the DI stringed instruments (electric guitar and bass) could be EQ'd in Guitar Rig, so I mostly kept them within the high mid, as not to interfere with the kick and toms in the bass end nor the cymbals in the high end.
However, without the use of EQ or plugins, I do feel there are some balancing issues, mainly after the second chorus, as the distorted guitars come in over the top of the vocals. If I reduced the volume of those tracks, they would no longer be heard over the top of the drums or other guitars. In future, this could be fixed whilst mixing by placing an EQ on all of the vocal tracks and boosting the mids so the tracks would sit right in the mix. In addition, the cymbals did tend to come in over the top of other instruments, so this could be sorted by removing some of the high end (around the 2k area) using a parametric EQ. Finally, I did have a slight issue with the final stereo mix clipping ever so slightly; during mixing, I could sort this by using a multiband compressor/limiter within Cubase to balance the low/high frequencies.
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