Recording Yourself

As the project moves along, this is where you will find advice on recording your part for the Choir. You will find expert tips by industry professionals from Brickwork Studios, Market Harborough

Meet your recording expert

MARTIN WHITEMAN

Martin brings his technical knowledge to Olivia’s Lockdown Choir and will oversee the recording, editing and production of the final result. He has worked as a recording engineer for over 25 years on records for Sony Music, Universal Music, Columbia Records, Parlophone and for many other high profile record labels, bands and artists. Martin’s thorough experience within the music industry helps him guide and manage a recording project successfully from recording the first note through to the final release.

Now working as Brickwork Studios’ lead engineer and also one of its Directors, Martin continues his passion for recording and works to support and encourage musicians within the local community.

SCROLL DOWN PAST THE BACKING TRACKS FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO RECORD YOURSELF

BACKING TRACK

You can download or stream a version of the backing track from Google Drive by clicking here

BACKING TRACK WITH GUIDE VOCALS

You can download or stream a version of the backing track from Google Drive by clicking here

LYRICS SHEET

If you have lost your lyrics sheet, you can download another copy from our Google Drive by clicking here

MAKING YOUR RECORDING

The simplest way of recording yourself at home is with two phones. One playing back the backing track through headphones and another recording your singing. The phone used for playback could be another family member’s. You only need to borrow it for half an hour or so while you do your recording.

Let's start by setting up the phone used for playing the backing track through headphones. First open a browser on the phone and go to -https://www.oliviaslockdownchoir.co.uk/

Click the three horizontal lines in the top right and choose “Recording Yourself”.

On this page you’ll find the backing track, both with and without the guide vocal. Ultimately It’s up to you which one you feel most comfortable singing with, but I suggest you try the one with Tracey’s guide vocal first. Having Tracey singing along in your headphones will help to keep you on track.

Plug your headphones or earbuds in and set the volume control so the backing track is clearly heard, but not uncomfortably loud. Some people find it easier to sing by only having one side of the headphones covering an ear, or just wearing one earbud. This might help you hear yourself more clearly and may improve your tuning.

You could also use a portable stereo, mp3 player or Hi-Fi to playback the backing track, but you’ll probably need to download the mp3 and transfer it to the device. You can download backing tracks from the “Recording Yourself” page on the website. After clicking the download here link on the recording yourself page use the arrow pointing down in the top right corner of the next webpage to start your download.

Right, let’s set up the other phone for recording.

If possible we’d like you to capture a video of yourself singing so we have both the picture and the sound. Olivia is going to make a montage of all the video clips which is why we’re asking, but if you feel at all uncomfortable about videoing yourself, you can just record the sound instead.

If you’re choosing to video yourself, can we ask that you try and wear a plain top rather than patterned one and also film yourself against a plain background such as a wall. If you can do this, it’ll help make the montage video look better.

On an Apple device, perhaps the simplest way is to use the Camera app and choose “VIDEO” from the tabs at the bottom. If you’d rather just record audio you can use the Voice Memos app instead.

On Android, again the Camera app will work great for video. For audio only recordings there should be an included app called Voice Recording or Recording.

Now your devices should be all ready to try a recording.

At the start of the backing track you’ll hear me say “1 2 3 4 clap” three times. This is there to help me synchronise your recording with all the others and works a bit like the clapper board on a film set.

All you need to do is listen and try to clap as close to the word “clap” as you can. This is done three times so I can take the average and get a more accurate sync point. Make sure you’ve started the recording on your phone before you do the claps so they are included with the recording of you singing.

When you make your recording it’s best not to sing too close to the mic. About arms length is a good distance. Though mobile phones are pretty good at rejecting background noise, it’s still a good idea to try and record yourself in a reasonably quiet space where you’re not going to be disturbed.

Feel free to have more than one go to get your best take. You’re in good company as most professional singers in studios will do multiple takes before they get one their happy with. Also bear in mind that you are only ever going to be heard in the midst of many other singers so don’t be too hard on yourself. The odd slip up here and there is unlikely to be heard.

Once you’ve made your recording please send it to me using the email address - choirlockdown@gmail.com

If you can put your name and the word “recording” in the subject of the email that will help me manage my inbox.

OK, I think that should cover what you need to know to record yourself, but if you’ve got any questions or you get stuck, please feel free to get in touch with me - choirlockdown@gmail.com

Have fun recording yourself !