COM - WEEK 1 - CRITICAL LISTENING SKILLS

This week’s seminar was devoted to listening to one of the lessons from the book (with matching CD) Critical Listening Skills For Audio Professionals, the object of which I presume is to refine our ability to focus our auditory perception to the high levels necessary to make successful audio engineering decisions. We examined variations in level at given frequencies, amongst other things and determined that changes in level are generally more noticeable at lower frequencies and louder (starting) levels. In speech as well as music, 2dB is (for most people) the smallest detectable change in level, which we discovered by listening to endless repeats of the same paragraph of text and the same extract of music. It would have been vastly more entertaining had the reader demonstrated this point by telling a dirty joke and playing fragments of say, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy but I appreciated the lesson nevertheless. It was also postulated that “random noise” can be defined as noise or sound which is constantly shifting in frequency and amplitude and we listened to examples of such with specified centre frequencies. The narrower the bandwidth around that centre frequency, the more “like” that frequency the noise becomes. Sadly, this puts paid to my claim that my bands are all based around random noise.

References

Everest, F. 2006, Critical Listening For Audio Professionals, Course Technology, Boston.

Whittington, S., Concepts of Music (Aural) Seminar (personal notes) 31/07/08

SES WEEK 1 STUDIO 1 SIGNAL FLOW

This week’s exercise involved describing the signal flow from a microphone or DI’d signal in the recording space to Pro Tools in Studio 1. To achieve this I teamed up with Sam Deere and we obtained the necessary information from the EMU (Studio) Guide, Dave Grice during the week 1 seminar and a physical inspection of Studio 1. The assignment also required a description of the talkback, headphones and studio monitors signal flows all of which should be covered by the above diagram. For extra explanatory notes, see below.

Notes:

* Patchbay inputs to Pro Tools are normalised (ie: no patchbay plugs required)
* Pro Tools outputs to patchbay are not normalised and need to be patched (Pro Tools 1 and Pro Tools 2 outputs to C24 Pro Tools source 1 and C24 Pro Tools source 2 inputs)
* For headphones mix, select monitor> auxiliary on C24
* Talkback via desk microphone, automatically patched to headphones (aux) send
* To patch a microphone or DI input via the Avalon pre-amp, the signal path between the microphone inputs at the Studio 1 wallbay is broken by inserting the dedicated Avalon input (mic signal) lead into the signal path or (for a line level signal), plug the instrument directly into the socket on the front panel of the Avalon itself – either of these options will then need to be patched on the patchbay from Avalon Out to ProTools In

References:

D.Grice, EMU Studio 1 Signal Flow, Sound Engineering Studio Lecture, 29/07/08

Adelaide University, Electronic Music Unit, Resources, Guides, Spaces, Studio 1
http://emu.adelaide.edu.au/resources/guides/spaces/studio.1.html, viewed 03/08/08

MTF - WEEK 1 - TOM DOWD DVD

The DVD “The Language of Music” presented a fascinating journey through the history of music recording technology from the viewpoint of one of the most important figures in this field, Tom Dowd. Dowd’s tenure as a recording engineer and producer seems to have spanned over 50 years during which time music recording underwent the change from direct mastering (in the recording studio) to a rotating cylindrical disc, to ¼” mono tape recording, to 8 track multi-track recording destined for stereo playback and beyond. It’s interesting to note that the problems encountered by these very early direct-mastered recordings are still extant today when recording for vinyl release, ie: that these recordings were cut at 88 grooves per inch, which could be increased up to 160 grooves per inch but only by compromising the overall level (the result would be quieter) and risking the playback needle jumping out of the groove. A band that I recorded last semester at the EMU wants to release their recording on vinyl and when we made enquiries at Australia’s only vinyl pressing plant (Zenith Records) we found that the same principle still applies, ie: that the longer the recording, the closer the groove spacing, the quieter the overall level will be, with risk of needle jumping.

References

Anon, Preparing Your Master, Zenith Records
http://www.zenithrecords.org/masters.html, viewed 03/08/08

C. Haines, Seminar, Music Technology Forum, 29/07/08

Various, The Language of Music (DVD), 2003
(Mark Moorman)

SOUND ENGINEERING (STUDIO) A - STUDIO PROJECT

The band I chose to record for this project is local 3 piece "Glamville". Their line-up consists of drummer, guitarist/vocalist and bass player/ vocalist and their musical style could be described as jazz-punk. I knew Glamville would be a difficult recording subject as their songs are very loosely structured and the element of spontaneity is paramount in their musical ethos, rendering it difficult to record one instrument at a time to maintain absolute production cleanliness. In the studio, I compromised with the band to the extent where I managed to separate them physically by placing the guitarist in the dead room and the drummer and bass player in the recording space with baffles strategically positioned. Naturally I still had trouble with spill but the band was happy to be able to lay the bed tracks down together simultaneously. The bed tracks were laid in 2 x 4 hour sessions with another 4 hour session allocated to overdubbing extra guitar parts, vocals and a last-minute piano track. I then spent around 12 hours mixing down, cleaning up and generally earning my keep as a putative sound engineer. Click to below to hear the result.
MP3 MIXDOWN - GLAMVILLE - HERMETIC CO-ORDINATES - CLICK HERE

MP3 MIXDOWN - GLAMVILLE - INSOLUBLE SOLUTION - CLICK HERE

PROJECT PRODUCTION AND RECORDING NOTES PDF - CLICK HERE

AUDIO STUDIES - CREATIVE PROJECT

Program Note
Emu Challenge
Dorothy Pawlowski
03:14

EMU CHALLENGE MIXDOWN MP3 - CLICK HERE

Whenever I think of video game music, I think of the music of the Commodore 64 and (later) the Super Nintendo gaming consoles of the 1980’s. By today’s standards, these machines were capable of producing only low resolution audio, often played back through a small speaker. The result was usually brittle, noisy and trashy.

When writing this, my own hypothetical video game music ”Emu Challenge”, I deliberately attempted to emulate the sound of early digital audio by including “noisy” percussion samples and copying the vibrato-heavy, string-like synthesizer sounds which were typically used for melody instruments at the time.

Emu Challenge

The hero of this video game is an emu who faces challenges within three main gaming zones namely, The Adventure Zone, The Spooky Zone and The Fun Zone. All of the sequencing for the final work was carried out in Pro Tools LE (session bit depth 24 and sample rate 48kHz).

The percussion samples for the work were obtained either from the Garage Band library or manufactured using the ES1 and FM synthesizers in Logic Pro). I obtained sound effects from the web as well as recording voice tags which I felt would emphasise the “game” flavour of the music, editing and normalising some of the samples in Peak LE as necessary. The melodic components were composed in Logic Pro using the matrix editor and ES1 synthesizer, which I found most appropriate to the style of music. I exported the melodies as 24 bit wav audio files from Logic and imported them into the Pro Tools region list, converting the sample rate to match the Pro Tools session sample rate. The Spooky Zone melodies utilised the “swing” function of Logic, as I wished this section to have a less rigid feel to the meter.

After manufacturing, recording and collecting all of this source material, I arranged it accordingly in Pro Tools, mostly using grid mode, and performed mixing, panning, automation and organisational operations as well as applying plug-ins. Although normalised, there were still problems with varying levels between the vocal effects tags and there were no tracks left over to allocate each tag a track of its own (as I had already used all of the tracks available in Pro Tools LE at this sample rate and bit depth), so volume automation was particularly necessary on the two “FX” tracks.

The Adventure Zone

Meter: 4/4
Tempo: 160 bpm
Key: C minor

(In this section I have departed from my original idea (as per proposal) of using C major as the key because I found when I began writing the melody that the feeling of a strictly major key was not “dangerous” enough.)

The Spooky Zone

Meter: 4/4
Tempo: 160 bpm
Key: G minor

The Fun Zone

Meter: 6/8
Tempo: 180 bpm
Key: C major

Production Credits

Voice Tags: Captain I (appears by permission of Sleazy Studios)

MIDI STUDIES A - CREATIVE PROJECT

Other Girlfriend – An original song
By Dorothy Pawlowski
03:48

The concept behind this rendering of Other Girlfriend was to take a simple song that I wrote for a punk-pop band, and re-work it into a suitable format for the dance floor.

I began by writing the bass line using a MIDI track and a virtual software synth (the ES1), as the simple bass line determines the overall structure of the entire song. In order to rewrite the song as a dance piece in the context of a MIDI file, it was necessary for me to write all of the drum beats completely from scratch. To do this I used the Ultrabeat function of Logic Pro, which is a multi-timbral virtual drum machine that occupies only one MIDI instrument track within Logic. I wrote several different drum beats, modifying the preset drum samples to suit my needs, ie: changing them to “fat” sounds with a lot of distortion. When I had the drum beats completed, I arranged them as required in the arrange window and added two more virtual instrument MIDI tracks for melody parts, one with Garage Bands Morph Synthesizer.

At this point I wished to add some audio tracks in the form of vocals. I decided to do this in Studio 2 but had some difficulty getting an audio signal into Logic there. In order to overcome this, I recorded the vocal tracks in Pro Tools and later synchronised them back into Logic in the Audio Lab. After arranging the main vocal tracks appropriately, I chopped smaller samples out of them and used these for effect in the “middle 32, breakdown” section.

I then established a Rewire track using Reason as the slave, feeding it back into Logic on two audio channels and wrote another MIDI track with “effects” type sounds to control this.

Finally, I applied plug-ins to channels as I felt necessary and automated these as well as volume and panning, particularly on the vocal channels which had level discrepancy issues which I felt could be corrected in this way.

OTHER GIRLFRIEND MIDI FILE

OTHER GIRLFRIEND MP3 MIXDOWN

CONCEPTS OF MUSIC - WEEK 12 - PITCH PERCEPTION

Music is the audible manifestation of maths. Onya Pythagoras. OK, I am officially lost and if maths is the basis of all reality then I am doubly stuffed as neither maths nor reality is my best subject and I reckon I just might have my head up my hem hem. Anyway, Pyth apparently surmised that each of the 7 planets in our solar system would produce a musical note dependent upon its distance from the “centre” (being Earth in this hypothesis): like the different lengths of resonating strings, for example. This was called “Musica Mundana” or as we would say "Music of the Spheres" and would be indiscernible to our presumably too-worldly ears. What a beautiful idea. There IS a harmonic and numeric relationship between all things from the greatest in scale to the smallest; it has been well-documented in any number of mystic publications and websites but it still has credence for all that. Some people become obsessed with these relationships and are consequently and unkindly regarded by our society as cranks. I think it is well to notice the numeric underpinning to cosmic structure but do not let the the desire to understand it dominate your life, for what is... is.

Here is a source of entertaining misinformation about Pythagoras

References:

Stephen Whittington, Lecture, Concepts of Music (Aural), 05/06/08

John Boyd-Brent, Harmony and Proportion, http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/harmony/prop.html
Viewed 10/06/08

SOUND ENGINEERING STUDIO - WEEK 12 - MASTERING

This week it all came together in one neat package – mastering. I can see why this job is generally left to professionals after I spent 4 hours yesterday manically tweaking compressors and EQ’s attempting to get every possible dB out of my mixdown. Obviously, mastering is a balancing act between totally squashing the dynamics out of the music and pumping up the volume and I think it’s important to keep in mind something that Luke told us in the context of mastering in MIDI studies, that is: the Genre Test. Some kinds of music need dynamic nuance far more than others; so dance music can probably suffer having the crap compressed out of it in the name of volume, where chamber music probably shouldn’t. I think also that one should keep in mind the final medium: what’s the point in maintaining a full dynamic range when the eventual playback medium won’t support it? Personally, I’m finding the mastering process frustrating and difficult but I presume that a degree of skill will come with practice. All of our assessment projects will have to undergo some form of mastering, I suppose.

References:

David Grice, Lecture, Sound Engineering Studio, 03/06/08

MTF - WEEK 12 - STUDIOS

This week’s session involved having a decko at various music recording studios about town (sadly, I don’t see any of them advertising for staff) as well as an advertising audio-production-and-jingle-writing establishment. Anyway, they all look like fun places to work and I wish I did. Co-incidentally, I was treated to a personal tour of one of Adelaide’s commercial TV studios over the weekend, from an audio production perspective. At least, that’s how my friend presented his job to me but it seemed upon investigation to be vastly more complicated than that and he (my mate) wears a large number of technological hats simultaneously. Now THAT looks like some serious fun, however, the centralised nature of TV production in Australia renders this field of employment opportunity somewhat dubious... bummer. I’m starting to think about what I shall do with myself when this course is over. The possibility of working out of an existing studio as a music recording engineer seems a bit intermittent, particularly in Adelaide (and in light of what we have been studying in this subject) – am I good enough? Will it bring home the bacon? What other options are there? I think I would like to be a highly-paid academic...

References:

D. Grice, Lecture, Music Technology Forum, 03/06/08

MTF - STUDIO PRESENTATION (MIX)

The audio files that I chose to remix originated from Peter Gabriel’s alternative rock/ new wave song “Shock the Monkey”, (released 1982 on Geffen) which was produced by Peter Gabriel and David Lord.

The overall structure of the audio is as follows:

 31 x unsynchronised audio files of various durations
 file type mp3 @ sample rate of 44.1 kHz(?)
 no pro-tools session data
 tempo nominally 148.64 bpm (according to supplied documentation)
 time signature: 4/4
 base-key: D minor
 longest audio file: 04:08m

The audio tracks included:

 various live percussion (several tracks)
 bass guitar (several tracks)
 electric guitar (several tracks)
 synthesized brass (several tracks)
 marimbas (and synthesized marimba)
 lead vocals (several tracks)
 back up vocals (several tracks)
 various “filler” sounds (several tracks)
 what sounds suspiciously like a Fairlight CMI

After performing the analysis of the provided audio as detailed above, I researched possible remix techniques. My initial researches in the Elder Music Library were surprisingly fruitless so I tried the internet. Most of the references to remixing that I did find were mostly in various sound production forums and were often unattributed (to “real” people). Eventually, however, I found five techniques that I thought I could reasonably interpret into my remix.


“Now ev’ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowing what to keep.”
- Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”


I began by analysing each track and decided what to remove and what to work with. I focussed on percussion and tuned percussion type sounds with vocals and some keyboard strings for contrast. After deleting unwanted tracks, I was left with 17 of the tracks to work with. I then decided how I wanted the remix to begin and set Pro Tools in grid mode with the tempo specified as 148.64bpm and the grid resolution set to 1/16.

This is when I applied remix technique No. 1 which formed the most important structural premise for my whole remix, namely:

“...my favorite (sic) thing is to chop up a bunch of loops and totally twist the song...1”

That is, to chop up whole audio files into smaller regions and sounds and restructure them into new loops and patterns. I chopped individual percussion hits out of percussion tracks and the attack segments of melodic tracks and recombined them into new drum beats. I used the same technique to make new melodic parts and bass lines using larger segments of the audio files. Once I had my basic drum patterns and melodic parts, I looped and recombined these to form the basis of the remix. Another aspect to this is:

“...skipping beats...2”

That is, totally removing percussive elements to give a syncopated feeling.

Next I applied a remixing technique where the kick drum track is duplicated twice and the copies are used to trigger both higher and lower kick drum sounds, then a phase shift is applied to the EQ of the duplicates, thus:

“...apply EQ phase sweep to kick drum copy...3”

I simplified the technique somewhat by just duplicating the kick drum track altogether then applying an automated filter sweep to the copy.

Next I applied (my personal favourite) from the “chopped and screwed” school of hip-hop remixing which involves:

“...select time stretch from the menu and time the tempo with the vocals as you change the pitch...4”

I applied this to both “normal” vocal parts and heavily chopped vocal parts.

The final technique which I used was gleaned from an article referring to methods to spoil unauthorised music downloads, like this:

“...shifting channels (sounds like a speaker cut out).5”

My channel shift was applied as panning automation synchronised to the grid.

Altogether, I enjoyed this exercise, not least because I detest the original song and was looking forward to making some improvements to it (hopefully).

References

1 “Uncle Jerr”, Studio Recording Engineer (forum)
http://www.studiorecordingengineer.com/ftopict-1019.html
Retrieved 20/05/08


2 Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopped_and_screwed
Retrieved 20/05/08

3 Tom Holkenborg, Interview with Randy Alberts, Digidesign
http://www2.digidesign.com/digizine/archive/digizine_august04/protechniques/
Retrieved 20/05/08

4 “Mr. New Material”, Associated Content
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/269048/the_perfect_mixx_how_to_chop_and_screw.html
Retrieved 02/06/08

5 Startling Moniker
http://startlingmoniker.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/mediadefender-remixes-chopped-screwed/
Retrieved 20/05/08

CONCEPTS OF MUSIC - WEEK 11 - LOUDNESS CONT'D

For me, the outstanding part of this week’s discussion was the brief explanation of throat singing and the importance of pitch to the perception of speech generally. I suppose that it’s obvious to some that the vowel sounds of sung speech (singing) carry the pitch but it’s one of those things that I have never before considered and was therefore able to greet the knowledge with a “hey, wow” kinda attitude. Throat singing is an amazingly technical vocal style – check out this website which has a good explanation of some of the styles from different parts of the world and how they’re accomplished, as well as demonstration videos and links to similar sites (assuming you can be bothered of course).

Khoomei types

There is also a reference here to one Arthur Miles, obscure country-singin’ cowboy and a recording he made which features throat singing in a country and western context (dating from the 1920’s) – waaaay cool. So, have I been sitting here mouthing away at different droney vowel sounds in order gain a first-hand understanding of the relationship between changing harmonic series, tone colour and vowel sounds...? You’ll never know.

Listen to some throat singing

References

Stephen Whittington, Lecture, Loudness and Intensity, 29/05/087

http://khoomei.com/types.htm
viewed 03/06/08

SES WEEK 11 - COMPRESSORS AND GATES

Ah, gates explained (at last) and compressors explained (yet again). Which is OK. I feel I understand the concepts behind these two standards of audio equipment quite well yet whenever I actually apply one during the course of my mixing adventures, the results are... well, you know. So I have looked further for explanations to assist with my application of these tools (given that I had to leave this week’s session early and no doubt missed something important). I found yet another cool place to go for audio tutorials namely, Doctor ProAudio, which appears to be a site dedicated to the world-wide Spanish-speaking audiophile community but fear not, this page is en Inglés:

Doctor ProAudio compressors/limiters tutorial with link to gates tutorial

These tutes feature an excellent explanation of the (to me) mystifying concepts of side-chain and “knee”, which was a profound relief, lemme tell ya, as well as clear graphics (which actually help for a change). Armed with this new cache of e-knowledge and in conjunction with my D-learning (Dave), I shall no doubt be able now to produce mixes of the very highest quality. We can only wait and see.

References:

D. Grice, Lecture, Sound Engineering Studio, 27/05/08

http://www.doctorproaudio.com/english/
Doctor ProAudio, viewed 31/05/08

MTF - WEEK 11 - LOCAL RECORDINGS

Listening to a variety of recordings that Dave G provided, we attempted to determine which ones had been recorded in Adelaide studios. Personally, I found the task impossible although Dave maintained that he could tell an Adelaide recording, particularly from certain studios. I find this a bit sad; the implication that a given set of equipment, personnel and space will result in a given sound or possibly flavour to the production. I think the lesson was supposed to demonstrate to us that it is possible to produce quality audio product in SA and the question was raised that, in these circumstances, why don’t more musicians come here to give birth to their sonic babies? I reckon it comes down to vibe; you’ve slaved over these songs, cried over them and they mean everything to you, surely you want to get all hyped up about giving them to the world. Perhaps for most people this means going somewhere that the air fairly pulsates with the vibrancy of overpopulation, I dunno. Later we listened to Adelaide engineering examples in the form of remixes from Lauren, Kristie and Shane – well done, guys! You have set the standard...

Here is an example of an Adelaide recording - guess who?

References

D. Grice, Lecture, Music Technology Forum, 27/05/08
D. Lokan, Lecture, Music Technology Forum, 27/05/08

CONCEPTS OF MUSIC AURAL - WEEK 10 - INTENSITY AND LOUDNESS

I’ll try not to boringly whine on about the maths-heavy handout which we received this week, allegedly in order to facilitate our understanding of sound pressure level and the decibel measurement of sound intensity. It is obvious to me that I shall never be ein Tonmeister. Yes, I matriculated in maths but that was 24 years ago and I can honestly say my application of higher maths functions during my adult life has been, nil, nada, zero and zip. Oh, that’s not a whinge, by the way, I’m just nonplussed by the possible necessity of arithmetic function in my chosen future career. Am I padding my blog with BS? Um, yep sorry. However, it would be interesting to investigate exactly how many of the reasonably (and sometimes very) successful engineers and producers that we have been studying in Music Technology Forum have any grasp whatsoever (and if any, to what degree) of the maths tied to their jobs. One could probably maintain a perfectly respectable sound engineering life without this mathematical knowledge, however, the real issue is: can one pass this component of the Diploma without it? I may have to read it after all. Damn.

References:
S.Whittington, Lecture, Concepts of Music (Aural), 22/05/08

SES - WEEK 10 - MIXING DOWN

At last, some real help with the mix down process, which I so desperately wanted. I love the idea of taking a “reference CD’ to the studio and referring to it regularly; to gauge the frequency response of the room, to give your ears a “control”, to give yourself pause from the constant focus on noise. I find this very tiring; to concentrate for long periods on sounds and try to read nuances into them while attempting to determine the effects of infinitesimal parameter changes. The “compare” function in the PT plug-ins window is of great use when confronted with this issue. Dave is right when he says “mix quietly”. I have to battle the temptation to mix at louder volumes because frankly, everything sounds better when you turn it up – there seems to be more bottom end which is so soul-satisfying… until you get it home and it blows your crappy stereo speakers or shakes your little earphones to pieces. The technique Dave showed us of starting with drums seemed logical to me but I had not thought to mix the kick drum in comparison with the bass instrument as a starting point. Good idea.

References:

D. Grice, Sound Engineering Studio Lecture, 20/05/08

MTF - WEEK 10 - CD MANUFACTURE

As I sit here drinking a damn’ fine wine, I ponder on what it takes to get one’s music noticed in this musically super-saturated world. Obviously, I have had (up until now) no bloody idea ‘cos no-one’s ever taken a blind bit of notice of mine… actually, we did chart well locally, I suppose. Perhaps if I had wrapped my CD’s in balloons and launched them at A& R executives they may have attracted some notice. Given my feelings towards the commercial music industry, however, it may have been more appropriate possibly for me to nail my CD’s to bricks and launch them at A & R execs’ heads, oh tut. Anyway, I have investigated further the intricacies of the CD production process and, as a consequence, here is this week’s handy-dandy link so that you can share in my findings (should you be so inclined):

MANUFACTURING PROCESS FOR DATA CD ROM AND AUDIO CD
WRITTEN BY: TERRY MCLEAN; ARTICLE PUBLISHED: YEAR 2006, MONTH 12;

It’s all about fathers, apparently – Freud would have a field day. Really, very interesting and yes, I was one of those who had laboured under the misconception that CD’s were all laser burned, live and learn.

References:

D.Grice, Music Technology Forum Lecture, 20/05/08

T. McLean, e-Tutorial, Manufacturing Process for Data CD Rom and Audio CD,
http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/Manufacturing-process-for-data-CD-ROM-and-audio-CD/, viewed 24/05/08

Multishape CD-Rom, viewed 24/05/08
http://www.multishapecdrom.com/cd_showcase/?case=irr_01

CONCEPTS OF MUSIC WEEK 9 LOUDNESS

I know you all think I’m mad because I reckon foetuses can perceive ultrasound when being bombarded with such – perhaps my un-researched reasoning is wrong (I believe that the smaller the ear canal, the higher the detectable frequencies), but I’ve seen the little unborn ones reacting to the ultrasound procedure with my own eyes… co-incidence, conspiracy?

Check this link if you’re interested:

Is this relevant to our discussion this week? Yes, as we investigate the nature of intensity and relative loudness, infrasound and ultrasound, heterodyning (which has meaning beyond the scope of audio). Once more Stephen has juxtaposed the physical and psycho-physical aspects of sound. This increased knowledge of the nature of sound is having an effect on the way I listen when I’m recording and mixing down, although the conditions at the EMU are relatively sterile (“relative” to my usual musical environment which often involves beer-fuelled chaos and countless uncontrollable noises). To put it in a nutshell, I am trying soooo hard to listen with my brain, balancing the pure auditory input with the new knowledge about the way sound (mis)behaves and the way I perceive it (mis)behaving.

References:

S. Whittington, Lecture, Concepts of Music (Aural), 15/05/08

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour
viewed 19/05/08

Chicago Tribune Online Edition
http://nie.chicagotribune.com/activities_082905.htmhttp://www.hhs.gov/
viewed 19/05/08

AUDIO STUDIES WEEK 9 PT SEQUENCING CONTD

So we continue our journey in and around Planet Pro Tools. I’m chuffed to discover that all plug-in parameters can be automated and further that they can be controlled with external controllers; the Novation keyboard in the audio lab and presumably the mixing desk in Studio 1. I’ve found the plug in information that we are covering very useful at the moment as I have been working on a demo for a band that I somewhat impetuously began a while back, before realising that I would be flat out doing assignments and have no time to indulge myself with free studio time, sigh. Strangely, the more I use the plug-ins in all their saveable, copy-and-pasteable glory, the more my mix sounds like crap! I am going to adopt the attitude of a female, fin-de-siecle, photographer (whose name eludes me at the mo’) to the effect that for her, the photograph ended at the negative; cropping, exposure compensation and other post-negative manipulation were just so much toss. Adapt this to the recording studio and it becomes; the band must sound perfect before it is even worth beginning, the vibe must be right and the music wonderful. Plug-ins are cake-icing.

GLAMVILLE

References:
C. Haines, Lecture, Audio Studies, 14/05/08

SES WEEK 9 BASS AMP RECORDING

This week we continued our study into the studio recording of conventional rock band instruments by recording a bass amp using a range of microphones and direct inputs in both the dead room and the live recording space. Through this exercise we concluded that there wasn’t a great deal of difference in the sound quality between the two recording spaces, however, there was a noticeable difference between the various microphones and D.I.’s. We recorded the bass amp in ideal conditions, that is when there were no other instruments present to “spill” into our microphones. Obviously, one would have to think again in terms of amp positioning and baffling if a full band were present. The microphones we used were the AKG C414, Shure Beta 52, Shure Beta 57, Shure SM56 as well as a direct input from the bass guitar and a direct input from the bass amp (which happened to have such a facility). My personal favourite combination of these was the SM56 mixed with the guitar DI, mainly because of the warm richness in the tone. However, if I didn’t want warm rich tones, I might use something else. Depends on the desired effect.

Here is my recording of a bass amp

References:
D. Grice, Lecture, Bass Amp Recording Techniques, 13/05/08

MTF WEEK 9 CLASS PRESENTATIONS

This week’s in-class presentations were ably presented by presenters Lauren, Ryan and Anthony with Joe presumably presenting apologies for his lack of presence.
Lauren chose producer Timbaland who has worked with such popular “artists” as Missy Elliot and Justin Timberlake amongst others. Lauren is obviously a fan of Timabland’s work, an advantage to her enthusiastic delivery. She supported her research with graphic material and audio samples which she used to demonstrate her points regarding Timbaland's “flava”, evident in his use of syncopation and percussion- heavy production. Here’s a sample of the Aaliyah song that I quite like.

What If, AALIYAH

Ryan researched British producer Hugh Padgham, allegedly responsible for the highly distinctive “gated-snare” sound of the 80’s – what a guy. Ryan again chose to present with a range of media and had obviously researched his subject’s engineering techniques very well.

Last up was Anthony and his presentation on one Adam Dutkiewicz, who in his spare time is also the drummer for Killswitch Engage. Adam has also worked with Parkway Drive (amongst others) as well as producing his own band. Anthony’s presentation took the form of another multi-media event and was highly entertaining and informative.

References:

A. Zillante, In-Class presentation, 13/05/08
L. McMahon, In-Class presentation, 13/05/08
R. Gerlach, In-Class presentation, 13/05/08