Musical Product

The list of songs we are recording are:

• I need a dollar- Aloe Blacc
• Set Fire to The Rain- Adele
• Brown Sugar- The Rolling Stones
• Iris- The Goo Goo Dolls
• Hurt- Nine Inch Nails
• Sweet child o' mine- Guns N' Roses

We recorded the songs using the recording studio at our school. We had to ask our teacher to set up the equipment for us as it would take a long time and we had to be in lessons all day before the recording session. we did not want to waste a lot of time setting up the equipment as we only had the studio booked for 2 hours and we had a lot to run through. The instruments that we used were:

• Vocals
• Drums
• Guitar
• Piano

We had to book the room around a month before we actually recorded, we left this much time so that we could practise properly; ensure that we would be able to have people to set the equipment up on that date; make sure we were all available on that date; make sure we all knew what we were doing; and make sure we could bring in any equipment we needed


Some of the equipment used was:

• D112 mic- For the bass drum- This is designed specifically for a bass drum, it has a low frequency response.
• C418 mic- For the tom drums
• C1000's mic- Overhead mic- Condensor mic's, picks up finer details, the sound another mic would not usually pick up
• Shure beta 87C- Snare drums
• Rode NT2000- Piano and Guitar
• Pop shield- Vocals- This stops plosives, we used this to make the recording sound more professional
• Shure SM57 BETA A- for lead vocals

The vocals were placed far away from the drums, this is so the mic's did not pick up the drums, they are very loud so we would pick them up if they were too close. I was facing the group, but the microphone was facing away, this was so that the others could see me but the microphone wasn't picking up background noise. This is known as isolation.

During the recording session we left it recording for the whole 2 hour session. We recorded two or three run through of each song, we did this to ensure we could choose which version we wanted and we could identify any mistakes during the first run through, discuss the problems with the group and then we could remove in the second run through. When we first started recording, we were not aware that you had to remain silent for a few seconds after the song had finish to make sure all the sounds had stopped, so we talked straight after we had ended the song, this would mean we would talk over the decay of the final section of the music which we didn't realise would be recorded. Because we were doing 2 or 3 run through's of each song this took a lot of the pressure off us, I think that this made us more comfortable and probably made the finished product better as we were happy when we were recording.

As we were recording all of the songs without a bass guitar, some of the songs sounded a little empty when we listened to the recordings afterwards so this is something we would definitely need to work on in the future in order to make the recording sound more professional.

Here is a link to the recording of 'sweet child o' mine' that we put onto youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z8wbS0e2yM

Overall I am very happy with our recording session and our finished product, to say that this was our first time recording in the studio, we were very well organised and the finished product came out at a high standard. However next time it is important that we ask a bassist to help us on a few songs and perhaps take less time between recording the songs, as hiring out a real studio would be very expensive.

The Record Label

The record label that released Mylo Xyloto is the company Parlophone. Parlophone originates from Germany, but is now located in the UK. The genres that Parlophone release are :jazz, pop, rock etc.

Parlophone was said to be the one of the mos famous record labels in the 1960's. Some of the releases they claim are: The Beatles albums up to sgt peppers lonely heart.

However Parlophine are still a large recording comapny, they release work from: Gorillaz, Kylie Minogue, The Pet Shop Boys, Eliza Doolittle, Bat For Lashes, Blur, Tine Tempah as well as Coldplay.

The parent company of Parlophone is EMI music, one of the original companies that founded EMI music was founded by the inventor of the gramophone, Emile Berliner. This shows us that they have been around since the very beginings of recording sound and music.

They have hundreds of digital partners so they can distribute music all over the world.

Princess Of China

On the album is the track 'princess of china' this song features the singer Rihanna. The song has a very strong beat to it, and the lead singer Chris Martin has said that it is his favourite song on the album. They also said that it was important for people to know that they wrked with rihanna because of her musical ablility, not just because she is a big star.

This is the album cover, the designer were Tappin & Gofto

Tappin & Gofto: "The main source of inspiration for the artwork was effectively discovered
 through conversation with the band. They're very passionate about their 
artwork and always have an idea for the kind of thing they want. It's kind
 of down to us to help try and bring this into reality and work through ideas 
with them until a direction is agreed upon collectively. We worked with the band on and off for a period of 
approximately five months before we reached the final direction for the
 artwork. When we had agreed the final art direction it then became more about how
 we got the very best out of the idea and about the details of the design for the
 album cover and associated artwork parts like the booklet, the label, the 
typography, etc. It was great, because even at that stage the band really like
to be involved, you really have to work thoroughly though all your ideas."

http://news.qthemusic.com/2011/10/behind_the_scenes_on_the_makin.html

The Track Listing

1. Mylo Xyloto
2. Hurts Like Heaven
3. Paradise
4. Charlie Brown
5. Us Against The World
6. M.M.I.X.
7. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
8. Major Minus
9. U.F.O.
10. Princess of China
11. Up In Flames
12. A Hopeful Transmission
13. Don't Let It Break Your Heart
14. Up With The Birds

Releasing

Mylo Xyloto was released on the 24th October 2011, It is coldplays 5th studio album, it charted at number 1 in 17 countries and in the uk it became their 5th album to debut at number one. The album sold 208,000 units in the UK alone in the first week of being on sale.
The album was supposed to be released at the end of December 2010, however the album was not finished yet because they had been touring, they mentioned in interviews that it would be released the following year.
When the album was released it was released on vinyl and CD, there was a special edition released that includes the cd, a digital copy along with things like studio notes, posters, pop up books and stickers. They said they will release this special edition in December 2011.
The lead singer Chris Martin has said that the titile of the album has no meaning at all.

Music assignments

For the next few posts i will be posting about Coldplays latest album, Mylo Xyloto. So i'll be talking about things like :
Where it was recorded
How long it took
Studio personal
Extra musicians
The album cover
The record label
How the album compares to older albums or recordings by the band

      Album reviews

Interviews
Promotional stunts
Music videos to promote the album
Marketing
Tour posters
Concert reviews
Concert photos

       Etc

       xox