EXTRA CREDIT

Here are 5 songs that I recorded and mixed on my own time in the studio.

The first is Matt Kelley and Kait Schwartzbeck singing “Yesterday.”

The second is Sarah Oermann singing “Silly Mess.”

The next 3 are from the Opera small ensemble class, excerpts from The Old Maid and the Thief.

Yesterday

Silly Mess

Bob’s Bedroom

Steal Me Sweet Theif

When the Air Sings of Summer

For Matt and Kait, I wanted to emphasize a live sound, an earthy sound, that makes it seem as if they’re sitting on their front porch swing singing.  So I kept these natural sounds in the mix: guitar knocking, string plucks, etc.  I recorded the voices with the Shure SM58 mics to get the live sound I wanted.  I used the Neumann small body condenser on Matt’s guitar.

For the second song, I used all Neumann condensors to get the warmth I desired.  I used the small body on her guitar and the large body for voice.  I let the audio mainly speak for itself, although I did add reverb to her voice and put an exciter on her guitar to get all of the natural warmth of her strings.

For the Opera recordings, I used all Neumann large diaphragm condensers to record the voices and 2 Neumann small diaphragm condensers to record the highs and lows of the piano.