You Know Me / Only You

Two long-form contemporary worship songs recorded in single 'live lounge' style takes in Ethan's Chester living room.

In both sessions I had to capture as much as possible with limited equipment. You Know Me was recorded in November 2019 at which time I was attending Liverpool University. Ethan was singing and playing into a Rhodes NT4 borrowed from the University's Music Department and I also captured the DI from his acoustic for a little extra brightness. Singers were spit into groups around SM58s. To capture the room I used a Zoom H6n and my phone. The bass was a small amp close miced.

By the time we recorded Only You in February 2020 I no longer had access to Liverpool University's mic cabinet. Once again singers were crowded round SM58s and I used a Zoom H2n and my phone as ambient mics. One of the problems I encountered mixing You Know Me had been instrument separation, so we made the decision to have the piano's volume quite low during the Only You session and I captured the midi data so I could boost it independently later.

In both sessions we felt it was important to try and emulate the feeling that the listener was in the room there with us. This meant no long reverbs or added synths, just a few subtle cuts to improve the flow.