Week no. 7
This week I recorded the piece!
The equipment I used were a Zoom H4 recorder/audio interface with a Shure SM57 cardioid
dynamic microphone. I don’t know too much about the specs of these items but I do know that
at least two microphones should be used when recording for a decent result. The Zoom H4
actually has two built in mics so I ended up using 3 on total. The Shure SM57 was used to sort
off pick the sound further away from me but still aimed at me while the Zoom H4 microphones
were near me and slightly to the left of me to pick minimum nail sounds coming from my right-
hand.
Once I started recording, I realized that I had to practice the refrain a bit—I wasn’t getting a
good take. The refrain calls for a sustained 16th note arpeggio through the entirety of it, making
it by far the most demanding section of the piece. On the first day, I practiced it for about an
hour and then tried recording it again and no luck. I turned my attention to the first episode
instead. The first episode is a much slower section and it took me two takes to get it. On the first
take my finger slipped and I played an accidental glissando.
Episode no. 1 Audio Clip:
On the second day, I attempted the refrain again and after a good warm up session I got it….
After 4 takes—y’know what they say “fifth times the charm”. The crazy part is that afterwards, I
went back and heard the first episode and decided that the ended of the section was rather
harsh and so I used this energy and decided to make the refrain which comes after the first
episode, more urgent. In other words, I sped it up. To my surprise this made it slightly easier,
but it could have also just been that I was filling warmed up after all the playing which took
place prior.
Refrain 1 Audio Clip:
Refrain 2 Audio Clip:
The 3rd day I recorded the final Episode and the final refrain. Going into this one, I thought it
would be the easiest to record because it was mildly rhythmic and easy on the next hand—
mildly rhythmic music is easier to play then non-rhythmic music, for me at-least. While playing I
realized that the phrasing was not working. After each little melody moment I would sustain the
accompaniment for an awkward amount of time so I too away one measure from this and made
6 measure phrases which I think feel better and there work better. This took about an hour since
I decided to change it in the score so after about 30 minutes of this I finally got the first take and
after listening to it was good! For the last refrain, I decided to go back to a calmer tempo. The
second episode ends on a cliffhanger which I think would be great contrasted by a calm refrain
to catch it.
Final Episode Audio Clip:
Final Refrain Audio Clip:
Next week we will edit the final draft and create the video with the cover art. I have also been
pondering perhaps making this a programmatic piece. Anyways, that will be decided next week, SEE YA!
