Project Jay Groovara

Project Background

I met Jay at a local songwriters group that I started in January 2026 and he said that he would be interested in me recording and mixing a track "Vomit" for him.

The Jay Groovara band are a 2-piece band. Jay plays guitar and bass and handles vocals while xxx plays the drums.

They are well rehearsed and have a number of original songs that they play in their live set at gigs locally. Both of the band members have some studio experience, so they knew what to expect before the recording session.

Studio Recording Session - Scheduled 13th Feb 2026

Planning

Before the recording session I discussed studio requirements with Jay. I particularly wanted to know what the drum configuration was so that I could plan what microphones to use for the recording of the drums.

Also it's important to know what type of music the band play as the recording setup can vary dependant on the musical genre.

Jay was able to send me a reference video for the drum setup so that I was able to plan what microphones I would use at the recording session and their placements. I could also make decisions on what amplifiers would be most suitable for the guitar and bass recordings.

For a recording session that is with a band, rather than a solo aritist, I like to have a track planning sheet set up before the studio session.

This allows me to determine what tracks will be used for each instrument(s) and is also useful as I can hand a copy to the studio technicians prior to the recording session so they can make sure that all of the required equipment is available.

Session tracking sheet

From this sheet, it is possible to correlate which input channel is being used for each instrument and to which track on the recording it is routed. For example, In the University Studio 1, due to the position of the drums, the drum microphones are typically routed from Input 17 onwards (dependant on how many microphones are used for the drum kit) In this session we used 7 microphones for the drums so I used input channels 17 to 23.

I also like to ensure that I have a recording project template set up before the recording session in the software that we will be using. For this project, I used Logic Pro. I was able to set this all up on my computer at home prior to the recording session and then load it onto the studio system at the recording session.

Both of the steps above save valuable studio time as the aim of studio time is to maximise the studio time available to the musician.

Recording

Our recording session took place on 13th Feb 2026 in the University Studio 1. This is my favourite studio to work in as the desk is a Neve Genysys Black that provides a great deal of analogue warmth to the recordings. The operation of the desk is perhaps more complicated than the other studios due to the complexity of the equipment but the more that I work with this set up the more comfortable I feel with it.

(Some photos taken during our recording session)

Mixing

Once the recording session was completed, I saved all of the recordings that had been made in Logic and transferred them to my own studio system for mixing. First I worked on the drums.

Working with a real drummer presents a new set of challenges for the producer. As well as choosing the most suitable microphones for each drum component, the producer needs to consider microphone placement and drummer style to achieve the best results.

(Owsinski, 2023a)

For this project I set up the drum recording microphones to capture the following drum components:-

• Kick Drum
• Snare Top
• Snare Bottom
• Hi-Hats
• Tom Toms
• Overhead microphones (Left and Right)

Once the recordings are captured and I am working on the mix phase, the first task will be to mix the drums. This is quite an art as all of the recorded inputs will have different characteristics and the objective of the producer is to mix the drums to sound like one instrument rather than a collection of individual drums.

Once the individual drum components have been mixed and balanced, they can be grouped so it's easier to mix the drum kit as a single instrument when the other instruments are introduced.

Next I worked on the bass guitar, ensuring that the drums and bass knit together tightly to create the driving rhythm of the song. The drum and bass parts of a song are know as a rhythm section and this creates the "groove" if the groove is tight then generally the other components will knit together better.

Rhythm guitar is next. An important part of the mix process is to ensure that all parts of the audio frequency spectrum have a place in the mix. If instruments have the same frequency range then the mix may become "muddy". It's important to mix as a whole, rather than individual instruments in isolation as a soloed instrument may seem thin on it's own but when it is combined with the other instruments, it fits in the mix perfectly.

After the rhythm guitar, I introduced the lead guitar elements and finally the lead and backing vocals.

One of my acid tests on a mix is to listen to the mix on a variety of different sound systems. The mix should sound good on a tiny phone speaker as well as an expensive set of studio monitors. I find that the "car test" works well for me, as generally if a song sounds good in the car, it will sound good elsewhere.

Listening in the car allows the producer to focus on the following areas:-

• Translation — does the mix sound good outside your studio or headphones
• Low‑end balance — cars often exaggerate bass, so problems show up quickly
• Vocal clarity — can you hear the lead clearly over road noise
• Overall vibe — does the mix feel energetic, muddy, harsh, or flat

This is why many producers do a “car test” before finalising a mix.

Client Feedback during Mix Process

During the mix process, I had regular communication with Jay as I wanted hime to hear how the mix was progressing and also take his feedback into account. I feel that it's very important to keep the client well informed at all stages of the process as that provides client "buy in" and there aren't any nasty surprises at the end of the process.

The following video is a short extract of our recording sessio.

The following video demonstrates me mixing the track and highlights how I introduce the different musical elements into the mix. I have tried to keep it brief but at the same time highlight each element.

Reflection

This was a fairly ambitious project regarding the amount of work required as we had a real drummer and drums take time and patience to record with the best outcome.

Careful planning was essential to ensure a smooth day in the studio and I was glad of the pre-preparation work that I had undertaken.

The musicians were experienced and professional and knew what to expect once in the studio and that made things run smoothly on recording day.

Although this was an ambitious project, it was also the project that I got the most satisfaction from as I managed to run and engineer a whole studio session on my own. It's quite daunting the first time that you do this but invaluable experience and I enjoyed being able to organise and run the session exactly the way that I wanted to.

There was good communication between myself and the band at the mix phase of the project and everyone was very pleased with the outcome.