michaelshaiyen-blog

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Final PQ-Sheet/Track listing.

All tracks were produced/composed by me under the alias “SuperShaiyen”.

Produced by: Michael Shaiyen/SuperShaiyen Performed by: Michael Shaiyen Written by: Michael Shaiyen Mixed & Mastered by: Michael Shaiyen All Artwork by: Mr. Composition

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Exporting The Finished Pre-Master

HOFA (along with other DDP image creating software) allows the user to input text information that will appear on CD (however, not iTunes as Apple retrieve their information from the internet and my songs are not registered online). I typed in the album information as shown in the picture below, also inputting the album art. This is now ready to be exported as a DDP image which will then be pressed to CD.

Note: CD and most digital stores and streaming services place content at 16 bit. My project was recorded at 24 bit so during the downscaling I have turned on the dither function in order to preserve the highest quality.

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Mastering Cont. - Limiting & Volume Control

The last technical process was firstly adding limiters to the tracks. This software (HOFA) would not allow me to add plugins to individual audio clips like wavelab, so I had to automate the limiter. I first set the output to -0.3dB to stop any chance of clipping and then increased the gain control until I started to see some gain reduction on the meters. I tried to stay away from anything more than 4dB maximum, keeping my tracks closer to the 2.5dB/3dB mark. After this I then played through the tracks listening to looking at the master fader for any changes in level. I then lowered the volume on the individual clips where needed.

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Mastering Cont. - Transitioning between each track

Tracks sounding good individually is all well and good but when put together as a collective it is important for the tracks to flow well from one to another. This in itself is an art form.

I listened to UK artist Ella Mai’s EP “Change” and noticed how not only were the tracks so consistent but the transitions between them were seamless. At the same time it was also possible to click through each track in “shuffle” and not be able to hear any cuts of audio from the previous track. This was what I was trying to achieve in this section of my mastering process.

I loaded the tracks into HOFA, and its interface allowed me to slide a track into the tail of another creating crossfades which I could then alter. I played with this listening to the tails of song and adjusting where the new song should sit in the gap between them. In my first attempt I was able to create somewhat smooth transitions between the songs when listening to them as a whole. However, when selecting through individual songs, tails of the the previous songs manifested as chops of audio at the start of the new song. I had to go back and make changes. I used the crossfades quite a lot a first as I did like how the sound of the tails sat in the new song. I then listened closely to Bryson Tiller’s album “True To Self” and heard that the ends of the majority of songs had reverb and delay tails chopped in order to make room for the next song with no detriment to the listening experience. (This also meant that each song would loop perfectly as well). I got rid of and reduced some cross fades in my project, listened back and the EP was now playing through as I wanted it to.

I did not include any crossfades between tracks one and two because I purposely cut the delay of the vocals short and allowed the tail of the instruments to play on (which wasn’t a lot) leaving little to play with. I instead decided to take a snippet of noise from the track and apply a slow down effect to it. This would then sit at the end of the track and allow the next track to play on the next beat.

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Mastering Cont. - Reference Tracks

After dealing with the compressors, I found reference tracks to help me determine the “muddiness” of each of my tracks. The reference tracks were as follows:

My Best - “Get Mine” [Bryson Tiller ft. Young Thug]

Tired of Talking - “Blowing Smoke” [Bryson Tiller]

Someone Else - “Don’t Get Too High” [Bryson Tiller]

We Don’t - “We Both Know” [Bryson Tiller]

I tried to level match these by ear in an attempt to minimise the risk of making decisions based on perceived loudness. After listening, I believe that the tracks did not need much tonal correction. I did however add a cut at 250Hz on “We Don’t” in order to make the track sound more transparent like it’s reference track.

(In hindsight i should have used a linear phase EQ as opposed to the channel EQ as this would not have not coloured the sound in any way).   

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Mastering

I had previously mastered singles of my own and in a earlier module had mastered an EP but had never mastered an entire body of my work in this way.

The software I wanted to use was wavelab (which I had used in a mastering module earlier in the year) which would have allowed me to create a DDP image containing information such as crossovers, gaps between tracks and other metadata. However, I had plugins at home that I wanted to use in the mastering process that I could not take into the uni labs (due to licensing). 

I searched for an alternative and found another piece of software called HOFA which carried out very similar functions to wavelab, but was more accessible to me as I could access it at home, therefore allowing me to use my favoured plugins.

The first way I decided to approach this was by firstly importing the final mixes into a new Logic session, leaving large gaps between them as I did this. I started by taking an EQ and dropping the gain down by 9dB (as done by producer/engineer Yoad Nevo). I then wanted to use the SSL compressor for its “analog” settings. Listening to the kick I started with the “attack” parameter placing it at its lowest setting (0.1ms) which sounded as though it was “choking” the kick. I then raised the attack until it sounded as though the kick was coming through. This plugin only allows the attack parameter to be placed on one of the marked times which was a limitation as most of the tracks required an attack in between the markings. Turning this off, I then loaded Logic’s stock compressor (which allowed much more precision due to its smaller increments) and repeated the same thing. I used this compressor to find an appropriate attack time for each track and then switching to the SSL compressor set the closest time to the markings.

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This is the live media that will sit on Instagram’s “feed” format.

Created by Mr. Composition

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The second draft of portrait media now containing track audio - waiting for next draft that will remove sound of wind and thunder

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Here is the first draft of the portrait media that was created for me by (known as) Mr. Composition. 

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My EP Artwork

After going back to my area and taking some pictures this was the first draft of the artwork. Black and white with the only colour coming from the eagle on the logo and the track listing in red. Connotations could be that telling your truth can set you free (like an eagle).

This artwork is easy to look at but I felt that as it is now titled “Introspective” it should be more intimate and include more of “me”. We took a lot of pictures during the recording process and also on other occasions for extra material. These were edited to look as though they were taken by a polaroid camera and added to the artwork.

Note: All visual media was shot and edited by Mr. Composition

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Change of Plan...

Listening to the project after the tracks had been mixed, I wasn’t sure if the title “Grime&B” was any longer appropriate. Purely based on audio it was hard to deduce why the project was given this title and as such I could not justify calling it that. I tried to come up with other project names that would explain both sonically and technically what I am trying to achieve but none of them sat well with me.

I showed the project off the record to one of my friends who described it as being “introspective” mainly because of the lyrical content. I then decided to change the name of the project to “Introspective”.

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Example 3 - An example of a piece of media that would sit in a feed of posts on Instagram. Again the use of dynamic art makes it seem “alive” which is eye catching. (Taken from reeceswagldn instagram page, a repost of UK rapper Bonkaz artwork)

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Example 2 - Another example of portrait media. Here the smoke and movement of the picture is interesting to me. (Taken from footballer Mesut Ozil’s Instagram page)

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Example 1 - Portrait media made for Instagram/Snapchat Stories. (Taken from UK artist Ebenezer’s Instagram)

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Promoiton Material

My research paper looked into the ways in which I could promote this project with tools such as visual aids. I researched and found some examples of digital art that was interesting and eye catching to me. On finding these I wanted to take inspiration from them and create my own that would support my project and use it as promotional material.

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Audio for the track “Off The Top” which was removed from the project.

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Mixing - Off the Top (Vocals)

This was the track that was built from the “Ask Flipz” sample which was to be dubbed as a freestyle (due to its lack of structure). Earlier I mentioned that I had not recorded a demo, so going into the studio and brining the file back was the first time that I heard the song recorded.

I had already included this track in my plans, wanting to use it as an outro for my project. I tried to sculpt a rough mix to see what the track would sound like, which proved taxing. Much like “Tired of Talking” the main problem was finding a reverb that sat well with the vocal. Also at times the vocals (especially the first section of vocals) sounded very transparent compared to others, as though a lot of mid-range had been scooped out of them (which it hadn’t). I felt that maybe the chorus on the bass was the cause of the problem/distraction. However, that would not have made sense as it would have effected the vocals throughout and would still not explain why the reverb was not sitting well with the vocals.   

Furthermore, being honest with myself I felt that it was not up to par with the rest of the tracks. The lyrics were not impressive; the flows and switching between rap and sung vocals were okay but not striking, and the performance was not gripping so the track sounded bland. I enjoyed listening to the beat as I believe that was it’s only redeeming factor which is why I held onto the session for so long. I decided to remove this track from the project.