Recording the Last Instrumentalists for Joe Cashetta's "Broken House"

We finished our last instrumental recording session, where we focused on piano and cello. It’s a big step forward in reworking Joe Cashetta’s Broken House. This session was special because the piano is the song's core, having been originally written solely for piano and vocals. Keeping the song's roots and then fitting the orchestration in required for me to capture the piano part with the proper feeling and sound - and I feel as though I made that happen!

We were also able to find a cellist willing to participate in this project - this was a significant win for this session as this was on such short notice. After a few laughs of us even trying to tweak it for the upright bass, we got to appreciate the cello part's depth and richness. The cello's warmth clung to the song's passion and harmonized very nicely with the rest of the instruments, creating a spotlight on the song's deep themes.

After finishing these recordings, we have all the orchestration's instrumental parts, bringing us closer to wrapping up the project!

Pre-Production

Microphones

I knew going in I wanted to use the AKG 214s for the piano, and the Neumann U-87 for the cello. After having recorded that specific piano with 214s before (in a XY stereo miking technique over the strings, centered around middle C, about 5-6 inches above the hammers), I knew it was the right call for this song. This technique has such a personable feel that I wanted to include in this song, so it made you feel like it was only you in the room with the piano. Of course, I also added room mics Royer M122s spaced pair around the soundboard side of the piano. This way, the natural reverberation that exists in the room that I want will more so be directed from the piano strings.

The Neumann U-87 was a no brainer for the cello part. After hearing the quality of the violin and bass tracks, I knew I'd want that same tonality from the cello. I decided to place the microphone around 1-1.5 feet from the bridge, angled at the part of the strings not sitting on the fingerboard where the bow is used. This allowed for me to get directional sound from the "meatiest" part of the cello, while not playing into proximity effect and bottoming out the low end of the instrument. The room mics were also utilized in this part of the session (you already knew it was coming); the Royer M122s were placed in front of the player angled at around 135º to capture that room tone to make it sound as spacious as possible.

Pre Amps

For both instruments' direct microphones, I decided to keep up with the reiteration (for my sanity I'm guessing) and use the Daking Mic Pre IV. For the room microphones I kept with the Focusrite ISA 428 MkII.

When I think back on this session, I don't recall many challenges. Our players for this session were Ben Adams (piano) and Owen Miller (cello). Both players were phenomenal and exactly what we were looking for when it comes to this song - delicate and patient but meaningful and passionate. This session was honestly a breeze, it went by so quickly (only 2 hours)!

With this being the last instrumental session, it was coming to be bittersweet. I have really enjoyed broadening my skills in tracking (miking techniques, instruments being tracked), and now, all that is left to record is vocals! I am very excited for the end result, and that is seemingly coming very quickly!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Thanks for reading!

Madelyn Jarrell

Recording date: February 8, 2025