Recording Projects
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
This weekend, we were asked to record the strings on two songs for a talented singer songwriter who is producing her own album of melodic ballads. As over the previous two weeks I had been arranging the strings on both tracks in collaboration with the artist, I was really looking forward to recording them and hearing how they would sound on live strings. Although the Sibelius software that I use for arranging can give me a pretty good idea of how the parts will sound, it can’t really add any of the feeling and sensitivity that we do when we’re playing on acoustic instruments.
The arranging had been done to a brief and a couple of Sibelius versions had gone back and forward via email until our client was happy. One of the tracks required intricate writing with a view to having an 8 piece string ensemble (like a string quartet but thickened to two players per part). The other song already had synthesised strings in the mid range which needed to be replaced with the real thing and expanded to really open the song out. In this second song, it was important for the string parts to really enhance the track without getting in the way of the melody or other instrumentation, so as I was writing for a 48 piece string orchestra, the arranging had to have a very light touch with the ability to have richness and power where necessary.
We started the recording session at 4pm and didn’t finish until after midnight! Although the session had taken longer than anticipated, the results sounded stunning and we’re very much looking forward to hearing the final mix.
Tags: adding strings to a track, getting the most out of live strings, how to write string arrangements, orchestration, singer songwriter, string arranger, string parts for a singer, writing for string orchestra, writing string parts for a pop song
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Monday, July 26th, 2010
This weekend was quite full with two separate recording sessions of a contrasting nature. In the first, I had been given the brief of arranging and notating some string parts for a dance track and on Sunday we went into the studio to record these. The track itself had a strong and catchy riff and some very contemporary sounding vocals, all superbly mixed and produced, so my job was to add strings which would be complimentary and supportive, without in any way detracting from what was already in the mix. All together there were 10 parts to be added for various stringed instruments and as such, the range of writing covered overall about four octaves (although not simultaneously!). Sometimes, the strings lay beneath the track adding a rich body of sound and expanded near the end of the track, allowing the music to naturally open out and reach a climax with a catchy hook in the strings - this adds a completely different dimension to a track which is hard to achieve by electronic means.
Tags: adding string parts to dance music, real strings on a track, recording sessions, session string players, String Arranging, strings for dance music, Vaughan Jones string arranger, violin parts for a track
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Friday, June 18th, 2010
Earlier this week, we received a phone call from a music production company who specialise in writing music for television advertisements and films. Having recorded the piece with synthesised strings, they were looking to replace the majority of them with live musicians so we were booked to go in today to record at Air Edel studios in London.
Various drafts of the advert were recorded so that the client and advertisement director could liaise and choose the most suitable version. All in all there were 8 different versions, varying in length between 30 and 40 seconds.
Having received the call on the Monday, I had to book the other players, exchange contracts, do a little bit of notation of parts (so that when we walked into the studio we could make best use of every minute), so that we were all ready to go this morning. In fixing session musicians, a lot of work can be exactly like this - of a ‘last minute’ nature, so the ability to deal swiftly with enquiries, work on the score and in booking players is vitally important. As we have a pool of strong players, we can always confidently book musicians that we know and trust, assured that they are not only reliable, but that their playing is of a high quality which will shine in a recording.
We look forward to hearing and seeing the final advert when it’s aired on television within the next few weeks.
Tags: Air Edel Studios, hire a string section, hiring string players, last minute musicians, Music for television advert, Scoring for strings, session musicians, session string players, studio strings
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Monday, June 14th, 2010
Although Stringsection really are a group of string players (the clue is in the title I suppose!), occasionally we are asked by clients to source or recommend session musicians who play other instruments. In the past, we’ve been asked to find a cor anglais player, a flautist, oboist, harpist, French horn player and pianist to work on the same recordings that we were booked for.
On the surface, this should seem easy because as musicians we have lots of colleagues and contacts through orchestras and ensembles who play virtually any instrument, or it’s simply a case of ‘phone a friend’ to get a good recommendation. What takes a little thought is finding players who are 100% ‘rock-solid reliable’ and temperamentally suited to studio work as well as orchestral playing. As woodwind and brass players are often required to perform quite exposed solo’s in symphonic pieces, they will usually have no trouble sight reading and playing difficult stuff really well. Because tuning issues on wind instruments can be even more affected by humidity than with strings, studio conditions can have quite an effect, particularly in smaller booths. Also in smaller rooms, it may take a little longer for the engineer to set up the microphones and levels for e.g a French Horn as the volume of sound is potentially larger than a violin and the direction of sound needs to be carefully catered for - in this case, patience among the session musicians is a virtue!
Essentially when we are asked to fix another player, they would not only need to be a very capable musician with excellent tuning, but a patient and punctual person who can pay a great deal of attention to detail, be pleasant to work with and not develop an attack of nerves when the red light goes on! In the same way that not every musician is temperamentally suited to studio work, there are also those who absolutely thrive in a recording situation with some of their best work done in the studio.
So far, the only request for another instrumentalist that has completely stumped us was someone looking for a bluegrass style banjo player but happily the client found someone very good via the internet.
Tags: booking an orchestra, booking orchestral players, contracting musicians, fixing an orchestra, hiring an orchestra, hiring professional musicians, hiring string players, orchestral contractor, qualities of a studio musicians, recording musicians, recording studio musicians, sourcing session musicians
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Monday, June 7th, 2010
One of the challenges involved in playing a stringed instrument is the ability to cope with different climates and the corresponding changes that these can bring about in the instrument. As violins, violas, cellos and double basses are all made from what were once living, breathing pieces of wood, they are all subject to slight expansions and contractions. From a player’s point of view, this can make an instrument seem ‘tight’ or the strings feel harsh as well as creating a few whistles or making them go quickly out of tune.
In such conditions, performers across the world are still able to give of their best and as this article is written in temperate England, it has to be said that we have very little to complain about! We don’t have to contend with excessive humidity that players may experience in say Florida or Bangkok, nor the dryness of a high altitude I experienced when playing in Aspen, Colorado. Perhaps we all need to develop the versatility to play well, even when our strings are out of tune - in fact it is good to occasionally practice on an instrument slightly detuned as we’ll certainly have to cope with that when it happens in the middle of a concert.
We also need to be able to respond to different climates (hot, cold, dry or damp) and rapidly adjust our playing if a string somehow feels different, or our left hand fingers seem ’sticky’ on the strings, making gliding between positions less easy. In such circumstances, the player has to try even harder to connect with the music in every moment, hopefully transcending moisture and heat.
When it comes to recording in the studio, especially in the summer when hard work and a closed room can cause players to perspire more, humidity can become a real issue. A couple of years ago I remember recording 3 days of demanding music in a very enclosed room without the benefit of air conditioning. As the hours wore on, strings became increasingly difficult to play on and the bow seemed to slip across the string a little. In this circumstance, we just had to try harder and put even more of ourselves into the music, with regular breaks to go outside with our instruments and take in some much needed fresh air!
Tags: cello humidity, climate affecting stringed instruments, hot recording studio, humidifiers, recording live strings, recording studio musicians, session musicians, stringed instruments humidity, strings in a recording studio, tuning a violin, viola humidity, violin strings humidity, violins humidity
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Friday, May 7th, 2010
Congratulations this week to the Granite Shore who have just sent us the final mix of two songs which we have provided strings for. As these two songs ‘Flood of Fortune‘ and ‘Highway Code‘ are to be released on an independent label ‘Occultation‘, our brief was to arrange and record strings to a high standard yet keep within a budget. The strings on Flood of Fortune were written for a large scale string orchestra whereas Highway Code is more simply scored for string quartet.
Both tracks are to be released on vinyl and should be available from June onwards, but preview clips can already be heard on the Granite Shore website. It’s always very satisfying to hear a final mix back (as we only really get to hear the string parts at the end of a recording session!), and we wish the band all the best of luck!
Tags: Flood of Fortune, Granite Shore, Highway Code, Occultation, Orchestrating for strings, Scoring for strings, String orchestra for song, Strings for a track, writing for string section, Writing for stringed instruments
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Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Yesterday I had an interesting job - a recording session at USP content studios for solo violin. The piece is to be used in a radio advertisement for a forthcoming novel. My brief was to compose a few bars of lovely ‘fairytale’ type music which would then become horribly discordant and eventually finish with a harsh screeching sound with the bow dragged across the violin!
The text of the radio commercial describes how the main character’s relationship, job and life in general go horribly wrong - and this is where my playing had to go horribly wrong as well! What was interesting to myself, the engineer, the client and the scriptwriter was how difficult it is to play badly when you’ve spent over 30 years trying to make the violin sound beautiful. After practicing various ways and means of producing a truly appalling sound, I can honestly say that I’ve now got rather good at it although hopefully it won’t creep into other aspects of my playing!
Tags: composing music for radio, Fairytale music, Music for radio commercials, Playing the violin badly, Radio commercial, Screeching violin, Session musician, Session violin, USP content studios, Violinist for advert, Violinist for advertisements
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Monday, April 12th, 2010
Last week, four of us entered the studio to record thirteen pieces written for String Quartet by the composer Ash Madni. The disc is to be released under the name ‘the Monzi Quartet’ and the players were myself and Judith Templeman on violins, with Adrian Smith on viola and Tony Woollard on ‘cello.
The pieces seemed to settle into three groups - the first were five movements entitled ‘Mystic Thoughts’, the second were three movements called ‘Sounds from the Bazaar’. Both of these were inspired by the composers Indian heritage and upbringing in Dubai. The third group were five miscellaneous pieces with titles such as ‘Human Enigma’ and ‘Confusion’.
The music was highly active in nature with a virtuosic quality that kept us all on our toes throughout the two full days of recording which took place at MBJ studios with the expert help of engineer Ben Jones (who we frequently work with). All the pieces employ many percussive pizzicato effects with trills and glissandi as well as a modal feel in places.
We wish Ash every success with the release of this disc and look forward to working with him again in the future.
Tags: Adrian Smith Viola, Ash Madni, Ash Madni Classical Composer, Composer Ash Madni, Judith Templeman Violin, MBJ studios, Monzi Quartet, Monzi String Quartet, Mystic Thoughts, Sounds from the Bazaar, Tony Woollard Cello, Vaughan Jones Violin, World Music for String Quartet
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Monday, March 15th, 2010
The literal definition of the Italian word ‘Rubato’ is ‘robbed time’, which doesn’t seem to be a particularly attractive way of describing something that adds such emotional meaning to a piece of music. In essence, it is where music is slowed down or speeded up to create an expressive effect. When done with artistry and musical sensitivity, rubato can subtly ebb and flow but without distorting the rhythmic pulse. What is taken away is always added back, rubato would never slow a pulse down and then not regain it later on, it is in a sense elastic.
In the studio, the only way of effectively playing rubato in an ensemble is through playing ‘live’, where all the musicians are actively listening to each other and making minute adjustments as they play. It would not be possible to achieve a natural ‘pulling up’ or quickening with a click track. A click track is frequently used in recording situations, especially where string parts are to be added over existing instruments or vocals - it takes the form of a metronome beat heard only in the headphones of the session musicians who are working on the track. A click can be speeded or slowed to suit the beat of the music players are working on and can even accelerate or slow down, but this rarely sounds very natural.
When music is of a metronomic nature (such as rock or pop music), then a click track can be highly effective and when used well, will not be betrayed in the end result. Recordings can sound perfectly natural where a click track has been used and often can have a tightness and accuracy that could only be achieved with a lot of rehearsing. Of course, if multiple overdubs are used then a click track is an essential tool and will cut down the studio time needed.
In more sophisticated music which is ever changing, the use of a click track can be more of a hindrance than a help and in that situation, musicians opt to use their ensemble skills and the end result will hopefully be far more natural.
Tags: Arranging for strings, Click Track, composing for strings, Live strings, Orchestrating for strings, Robbed time, Rubato, session musicians, session string players, string arranger, String Arranging, String orchestra, studio musicians, studio strings, Writing for stringed instruments
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Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Occasionally we are approached by clients who are self financing a project or who are on a very restricted budget, yet are unhappy using samples and still would like to add real strings to their track. Often, it is a private project with a tight budget, which (without going overseas and potentially risking the quality of player) would make hiring a full string section and large enough recording studio out of the question. With modern technology, several options are open - either using a high quality sample string sound as a base and layering a few real players on top (to give a more realistic and convincing effect than samples alone), or hiring a handful of very good players who are able to overdub themselves accurately - subtly varying the bowing, level of vibrato and microphone positioning on each take to try and sound like different people.
Although we always recommend that when the budget is not an issue, as many players are used as possible to capture a natural sound - surprisingly overdubbing can work well as an alternative to synthesized strings - although requires great concentration and an attentive engineer to sound convincing. This week, we were asked to overdub to create the sound of 64 string players - which is more the scale of string section found in a large symphony orchestra. Because each section was divided into two separate harmonies (or lines of music), we had all in all 8 layers for each line of music. The parts were recorded to be one element of a track which had plenty of other instruments and effects going on, so the overall sound was more convincing than adding synthesized strings, yet didn’t break the bank.
Tags: adding real strings to a track, overdubbing strings, strings on a budget
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