The last band (for now) that we recorded for MidSide Sessions is a lovely duo who go by the name of Not A Lemur.
“Rhythmic guitar, ukulele and sweet melodies carried by angelic vocals – Not a Lemur offers a unique brand of progressive folk/alternative rock.
Residing in Brisbane, Australia, Rubi Matthews (vocals & ukulele) and Dom Smith (guitar & bass) formed Not a Lemur in mid-2013 as a busking project after writing and performing together in various bands since 2011. They met at JMC Academy in 2010 where they studied Popular Music and Performance and began writing and performing original music together.”
You can check out more about Not A Lemur at their website and on Facebook.
SESSION TIMELINE:
Recording Session, Monday 6th of November:
12:00 pm – Enter Neve, begin setting up Pro Tools session according to specifications. Hire all necessary studio equipment
12:30 pm – Set up mics and stage plot.
1:00 pm – Not a Lemur to arrive and set up.
1:30 pm – Setup cameras/lighting.
2:00 pm – Have session, microphones and cameras all ready for recording.
2:15 pm to 3:15 pm – Audio and video recording
3:20 pm – Any other recordings needed to be recorded by this time, begin tearing down session.
3:45 pm – Musicians pack down
4:00 pm – Pack down all gear. Back up Pro Tools session to external hard drive. Transfer all camera footage from SD cards to external hard drives
4:30 pm Exit Neve studio, returning everything to its original state.
PROJECT CONTINGENCIES:
Studio unavailable, postpone or if necessary use alternative studio.
Microphone choice not the best, switch to alternative.
Microphone not available for use, switch to alternative.
Ensure musicians have backup instruments
Desired sound is not achieved, change microphone placement or try different material/approach.
Faulty equipment, inform supervisors and find replacement.
Holy bajeez was it nice to get away from jazz music. Don’t get me wrong jazz was fun and challenging but variety is the spice of life. This session struck a very good balance between challenge and our actual ability. We used three cameras with one of them being manned. Two of the shots were very similar so we kept it to the better one, and the dynamic camera when it came to be edited. We learned that we shouldn’t overload our plates with too much at one time and this was the perfect session in that regard. The decorating of the studio took less time (the band even brought in their own decorations) than previously, the cameras were set up much quicker as well. This led to probably the smoothest session of the lot.
Sarah knows Dom and Rubi personally and had told us in advance that Rubi had in the past gotten caught up with herself when performing. With this in mind we kept the atmosphere very jovial and welcoming. It almost broke when it came to introducing the first song which took a couple of attempts to get right but with encouragement and patience we prevailed at keeping Rubi settled and quite frankly we got a great performance. This was the first group that really took the ‘live’ feeling that we wanted to give to the session and I think that our approach with the performers really helped achieve this.
In general I feel that Ric, Sarah and I work very well as a team in this environment. Ric and Sarah are ridiculously good at the personal side of things, interacting with the performers and settling any nerves or worries that may arise. Mechanically and technically is where I think I pull my weight in the team dynamic. As a whole we have departmentalized our teamwork in a way that puts us each at our strengths whilst also encouraging each other to better ourselves in aspects that we may be lacking in.
Enough sentimentality, check out Not A Lemurs’ 3 song set here.
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