The Creed - Alexander Gretchaninov

The Creed

This piece of music by Alexander Gretchaninov is a choral piece, and has a very sombre tone. However, it is in a major key. There is a lead singer accompanied with a backing choir, meaning that the texture of this piece is melody and accompaniment, which is homophonic, giving it a bold feel making it sound complete. The dynamics are louder when the leading singer is singing. It also crescendos at other moments of the song. The articulation of this piece is very legato and also smooth. This reflects the calming and soothing mannerisms of the piece.

This piece has great acoustics, with a sound being produced as if it was in a Cathedral or any large building with a high ceiling/tall walls. I get this from the reverb on the choir's vocals. Cathedrals deliberately create a panning effect through the shape and structure of the building. Cathedrals will also have big audiences, which mean that this will affect the acoustics within the area, as the audience will take some of the reverb away.

If this piece were to be performed in a recording studio, which had foam panels applied, then a majority of the reverb would get soaked up. Also there will be a big difference due to there being no audience within the studio this would mean there is less things to absorb the sound compared to if it was a bigger room and had a bigger audience.

In the recording studio, the choir will be recorded separately. I would divide them into vocal groups e.g. Tenors, Sopranos, Baritones and Altos. Within these groups I will then separate them into smaller groups around the room so making sure there is no more than 4 round a microphone. I will use 3 dynamic mics and place them in the middle of the smaller groups. This will allow the mic's to pick up only 3-4 singers at a time, meaning the recording will be sharper and of professional standard.

In a cathedral, things will be set up differently. The choir will all be recorded in the same room that they are be set up in. At the front of the cathedral behind the alter they will then be split up into vocal groups using lines so for example baritones at the back and altos at the front and then sopranos and tenors between them so there will be 4 lines. I will be placing 2 overhead mics for the choir so that they pick up almost all the sound coming from the choir as well as the mass reverb coming from the cathedral due to the shape of it as well as the size. I will then place 1 dynamic microphone in front and a condenser next to that and then the same again on the other side towards the middle so there will be 2 lots of each microphone just to be sure that all types of sound are picked up from the cathedral. The last microphone I will place is directly in the middle, which is a bigger dynamic microphone, and this is for the main vocalist giving them more control over the rest of the choir. 

Music Listening Logbook

Music Listening Logbook...

Happy – 4/4 Simple time
Homophonic first few seconds then melody and accompaniment

It’s a man’s world – 6/8 Compound time
Homophonic

Everybody Hurts – 6/4 Compound time
Melody and accompaniment

Unchained melody – 5/8 compound time
Melody and accompaniment

Uptown funk 4/4 – simple time
Melody and accompaniment

Mission impossible – 5/4 simple time
Homophonic

Standing in the doorway – 6/8 compound time 
Homophonic

Clown – 4/4 simple time
Melody and accompaniment 

Everybody Hurts (Live vs Studio)

Everybody Hurts - Live vs Studio

The studio version of “Everybody hurts” you can hear certain instruments where as in the live version it is very hard to hear over the guitars, drums and vocals. This is because each instrument, in the recorded version, is given a dedicated recording per instrument.

The studio version also includes some instruments that where not included in the live performance, such as string instruments like the violin/cello.

The studio version vocal’s are a lot better, this was the best recording of the vocals hence why they were used. The voice does not break and he hits the notes properly. The live version he sings a few notes flatly, but this is because there is no editing or re-recordings in a live piece. There is no feedback from any instruments in the studio version, or any drum clicks and no improvisation from the performers. There are no out of time instruments because of metronome keeping all the performers in time. The main singer also provides his own harmonies for himself. This cannot be reproduced live as the performer can only sing the main lyrics. The instruments in the live version do not overpower each other, they have been levelled to stay at the same level throughout.

In the live performance of “Everybody Hurts” there is a lot feedback that can be heard at 0:22. The studio version does not have any feedback, as the recording would be recorded again so the feedback is not in the song. I would fix this by making sure all instruments are no where close to speakers as well as lower the gain to prevent any feedback. The vocals are not as perfect in the live version like the studio version, this is because the voice was edited to sound better using EQ and some inserts as well as recording the voice over and over until it was perfect. 

The audience can be heard in the recording of the live version, where as in the studio recording there is no audience or any other audio leaking into the microphone. To fix this I would either lower the gain of the microphones so it picks up the audio less. 

The live performance also includes the performer starting to improvise some of the lyrics that are different to the studio version. To fix this and make the live version sound similar to the studio, I would tell the performer to sing the exact lyrics previously. The beginning part of the live version includes the drum clicking his drumsticks together to count the rest of the band in. This is not included in the studio version as it is cut out to make it sound more professional. The microphone for the vocals does not have a pop shield either, meaning it is possible to hear pops from the performer. The studio version most likely used a pop shield to prevent any pops from occurring. To fix this I would make sure the live version would have a pop shield on the microphone. The live performance of “Everybody Hurts” was played in a large open environment; this means the reverb is different compared to the studio version. The studio has little to none reverb since it was probably recorded in a small room with reverb shielding.