Research Proposal

This blog chronicles my efforts to complete my research project for my Studio Skills module at Leeds Beckett University. My proposal was presented as follows:

Reflecting on the skills I honed during my undergraduate studies and throughout my career, I have identified some areas in which I excel as well as areas in which I could improve. I have extensive training and experience in the realms of songwriting, arranging, part-writing, and MIDI sequencing. However, I tend to fall short in the use of analog equipment in capturing the best possible sounds inside the studio. Microphone selection and placement, drum tuning, the use of outboard effects, and mixing are all parts of the process where I could benefit from further study and practice.

Paul Epworth

With that in mind, I have to decided to undertake a recording project this semester that emulates the approach and technique of acclaimed producer Paul Epworth. My reasons for selecting Epworth for this project are twofold. First, his signature sound blends acoustic and electronic elements in a way that I seek to employ in my own work. “I feel that my work is one part acoustic recording, one part electronic dance music production, and then the rest of it is basically formed by the artist I’m working with.” (Epworth 2012) Second, his approach is very focused on that raw, emotional element of music that makes it timeless. “That’s what makes a song stand the test of time: Does it have energy and power and momentum and honesty and soul and spirituality and passion? Those are the things that on a base level connect with people.” (BBC)

My first task in this undertaking will be to select an artist—either a band or a solo act—with whom to collaborate. Once this relationship is established, we will enter a pre-production phase of writing, auditioning microphones for the singer’s voice, and workshopping the arrangement of the song. This is something Epworth stresses should be done outside the actual experience of recording. Speaking specifically of auditioning mics, he says, “It works better if it's a totally separate process to actually committing a vocal performance, because it gets them thinking too much. It's like it switches the brain on, when actually you want the brain off and the heart on.” (Inglis 2009)

Once the song is written and the arrangement is feeling good, then the actual process of recording will begin. During this time I intend to deploy techniques described by Epworth in various interviews and articles. These guidelines and practices will constitute my “Production Bible” for the duration of this project and are as follows:

1. EQ at the source. "I never EQ to tape. I like the fact that you can really EQ a drum by pushing and pulling a mic in or out [to use proximity effect]. I always try to make sure the sound's right on the mics, meticulously checking phasing.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009) 
2. Tune drums with precision. “I try not to gaffer‑tape drums at all, but I spend hours meticulously tuning them.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009) 
3. No dynamic mics on drums. "I don't ever use dynamic mics on a drum kit if I can help it: it'll either be ribbons or condensers.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
4. Record your own samples where possible. When recording “Rolling in the Deep” with Adele, Epworth had her stomp on a wooden step he had lying around the studio. (Gallant 2012) “It’s very easy to go, ‘let’s find a sample of that,’ and it’s just as easy to record it. And ultimately you end up with a bit of noise on it that gives something feeling.” (Epworth quoted in Wilson 2011)
5. Track as many elements together as possible. "I'm a real sucker for getting a really good live take. Even if you replace everything, I'll still always work to get that live take that's really exciting.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009) 
6. Get the vocal right. "I find that when you're recording a vocal, you have to think about how you want the vocalist's voice to sit in the track. If you're doing a rock tune and you've got the singer right against the microphone, you're going to have to work really hard with EQ to try and make it sound like it sits in the track…With a rock singer, it's better to record them an arm's length away so that it seems to sit on that scale in the track.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009) 
7. Leave bass for last. "I always like to do bass last, because it's much easier to tell what's missing sonically within the track, and make sure it's in tune. I like the bass loud, and it's much easier to make sure it's right after you've got the guitars on and those are all in place.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009)
8. Tape saturation. Epworth is fond of using subtle overdrive on almost all elements in a track. “That’s what tape does, isn't it? Even if you're recording to tape just as a format, it adds even‑order distortion to it, and I've managed to start getting a similar effect to tape using…distortion plug‑ins, using the tone as a bias, almost.” (Epworth quoted in Inglis 2009) 
9. Get help with the final mix. “I usually pass the task of creating final mixes off to other people because by that point, I can’t see a whiff of the trees.” (Epworth quoted in Gallant 2012) Because mixing is an area I wish to improve on, I won’t be completely abandoning the final mix to another engineer, but I will seek others’ ears in getting everything sitting just right.

It is my hope that at the conclusion of this project, my replication of Epworth’s methods will have given me a greater ability to capture quality sounds at their source and blend them to create the energy and passion of timeless music. I also hope and expect to develop strong relationships with both the artist and the other musicians and producers involved in the project. As Epworth himself has said, “A good musical collaboration is like a Jackson Pollock of musical paint, where everyone’s throwing ideas at a canvas and some of them stick and some of them don’t, and the final picture you end up with is a combination.” (Quoted in McKinley 2012)

References

Gallant, M. (2012) Producer of the Year Paul Epworth on Adele, Cee Lo, Foster the People. Universal Audio [Online blog]. Available from: <http://www.uaudio.com/blog> [Accessed 20 October 2016].

Inglis, S. (2009) Paul Epworth: Producing Almost Everyone. Sound On Sound [Online], January. Available from: < http://www.soundonsound.com> [Accessed 20 October 2016]. 

McKinley, J. (2012) Hot Tracks, the Collaborative Method. The New York Times [Online], February, C1. Available from: <http://www.nytimes.com> [Accessed 20 October 2016].

Wilson, J. (2011) Paul Epworth on working with Adele and the hit album, 21. BBC [Online], December. Available from: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news> [Accessed 20 October 2016].