Forum Week 11

Construction and deconstruction of music.

This week presented a few more interesting points to consider.

Nathan's talk on Black Metal gave us an insight into the lengths of how musical culture will reject technology, or emulate this, to create a certain sound. The LP played to us represented a poor quality recorded on poor quality. It is interesting to see that poor quality can now be seen as an effect. Even in popular music you can see this with the very popular effect of emulating the "radio" sound by dropping out low end frequencies in the EQ.

The Ambient music of Aphex Twin shows us that music doesn't need to be complicated to be interesting. It is also a demonstration of how timbre can present as much importance as harmonic qualities in music.

Simon's presentation on "jacking" music showed how dance and pop music is created through borrowed ideas and layering these ideas. He gave the impression that he is opposed to this idea, but i believe that when done well this represents a very similar skill to actually composing these ideas in the first place. Is it not true that when these composers wrote their pieces they too borrowed ideas from others. Maybe even copied. But in the case of "Robot Rock" by Daft Punk, i totally agree with Simon. That is laziness! I also agree with Simon when he says that the originals are much more engaging. In the case of dance, the originals have much more harmonic and, in many cases, rhythmic interest. But it must be agreed that the constant repetition of certain riffs can induce other sounds to be heard. i.e. hearing the musical idea differently. Very similar to Phillip Glass.

Overall interesting and intriging arugment presented, more interesting than last week i believe.

CC1 Week 11

Meta Synth again, fun fun as always. I must admit that although this program is fantastic, the GUI is a little frustrating at times, the icons can be a little hard to find and the simple ability to drag and drop not only from the finder but also within the program can be frustrating and time consuming at times.

Playing with the 4 other rooms opened up a few extra possibilities for sampling, although many of these effects, i found, could be found in the earlier rooms we investigated. Only these rooms offer much more precision. Just playing around with the samples trying to create interesting sounds can be a little annoying, but if you were going in there with a particular sound in mind you wanted to create then it would be much more engaging.

I made 4 samples, put them in the sequencer and made another sample from my instrument.

The first sample I used the vocal sample from the previous weeks and filtered the sound with the image filter, i created a sound that had random mono frequencies.

The Next sample i used the spectrum synth and analysed the audio at a low quality to create a slow "digital" sound. I then analysed this analysis to create another sample which was an extended version of this "digital" sound.

1st step2nd step

The final sample used was created with the sampler. I put all these new sounds into the sampler and created a rhythmic sample.

The final step was to put all this into the montage room and create a sequence.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/Finalmontage.mp3

References:

Haines, C. Lecture 24/5/07 (Meta Synth (2))

Meta Synth Pro Tutorial

AA1 Week 11

This week's task was much harder than i first thought. I was initially excited about hearing a commercial song broken down.

I had, and the mixdown still does, many problems. There were so many things to think about, such as the overall volume, how loud the song should be during certain sections. The problem of each section getting louder and louder i have many issues with.

What i am proud of is my drum kit EQ, i believe that i obtained a good sound for the song. What i did find difficult was getting the right sound for the toms because it was recorded with only 2 overheads, i couldn't control the individual sound of the toms without affecting the sound of the hats and cymbals, which was quite annoying. Because the kick comes through the overheads as well it was quite bassy as well. But aside from this i think i came to a happy medium.

Also Kavyen Temperley's voice can get out of control sometimes, especially when he says the word 'about.' I had to quickly lower his volume when he says that word. His voice needs compression, and additional reverb, the room reverb is horrible and sometimes stands out quite substantially.

Mixdowns are hard, i admit i haven't played with the panning much, just a little with a few vocal tracks, but the recording seemed to have sufficient panning on it.

Also, when i mixed it on the speakers to a sound that i thought was good, when i put my headphones on, it was way too muddy, i could barely pick out sounds.

Overall, an eye opener to how hard mixing is!!!!

Mixdown Mono
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/EJNewYorkDougmono.mp3

Mixdown Stereo
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/EJNewYorkDougstereo.mp3

Mixdown Stereo EQ
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/EJNewYorkDougEQStereo.mp3

In case you have the audio files on your computer, here is the Protools Session.
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/EJNewYorkDoug.ptf

This is an overall image of the Session
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/Picture1.png

This is an Image of the Vocal section where his voice goes out of "control." What i have done is essentially a manual compression.
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/Picture327.png

This is an Image of the EQ on the Overheads.
www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/Picture4.png

References:
Fieldhouse, Steve. Mixing (1) lecture 22nd May 2007

"The Art of Mixing," chapter 11 AA1 Readings.

Protools LE 7.3.1

Sorry about the hyperlinks, they don't seem to be working in the mac lab, blogger doesn't want to give me them.

CC1 Week 10

Meta Synth, WHAT A PROGRAM!!!!! it does everything, and it seemed to take up less processing power than i thought. Heaps of fun, unlimited potential.

I tried to approach this weeks exercise musically, some of the sounds that i have created are quite musical, however there are some that aren't and just sound 'cool.'

This first sound i created with the Image Synth and made an ambient digital music sound. I played with a bass line and chords and rhythms. http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/NewSoundmusic.mp3

This next sample i again tried to achieve a musical sound. I played around with the pitch 'Harmonics' window and ring moduation to come up with this sound. This came from the vocal sample used before.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/RingModuatorflange.mp3

This sample i created using the vocal sample again with the ring modulator. What i did was pitch shift up and down, almost creating a car reving sound, or a siren sound.
http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/flangeinertia.aiff

The next sample was done with the Image Synth, the photo explains my idea. Mainly a crossover of high to low frequencies, to create a sweeping effect. I then added a colour (stereo) filter to this and played around with the pitch in the harmonics section.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/newsound2crossoverhamo.mp3

This final sample i did was using the vocal sample, i then randomised the parameters in the harmonics section (as seen in the photo) and i added a flange. This is the effect created.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/Sexharmonisedandtimepitch.mp3

Overall this program is incredible and i can defiantly see myself using this in the future, i can certainly see myself using the Image Synth aspect of it and all the pitch shifting capabilities.

References:

Haines, C. Lecture 17th May 2007.

Meta Synth Pro

AA1 Week 10

Drum Recording, both the best and most fun, and the most frustrating and time consuming.

We recorded about 4 samples, and choose the best 2.

We miced up the whole drum kit, We used the 421s on the floor tom and mid tom, the Shure Beta 52A on the kick, the 2 Rhode NT5s for the overheads, the 2 Neuman U87s for the room mics in the stereo configuration shown in class, the Shure SM 57 for the snare, the Neuman KM 84i for the hi-hat and the Shure 56A on the high tom.

The first of these recordings is of a full set up.
http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/bouncerec2mp3.mp3

The second is of a minimal set up; kick, snare and 2 overheads.
http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/bouncerec2minimalmp3.mp3

Please Forgive my Horrible Drumming!!

Heres a photo of our setup
http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/d/DSC00127.JPG

Forum Week 10

Freddy's talk on the conceived structures of a popular song made me think about whether or not human emotion (as a whole), in relation to music, work to a formula. Are we like machines to an extent. Is music a mechanical mechanism, i believe that in some ways it is, forms and structure, but it is the human element that makes it so appealing. I relate this back to one of the first Forum Classes talking about computer designed music. Because computers don't have emotion, only parameters of emotion which isn't entirely random like a human (somebody will argue this I'm sure) ((and i say this in loose terms)) the appeal to the music just isn't there.

Talking about the construction of dance music put into all styles of music into perspective, talking about climax and subsequent anti-climax. This is a fundamental of indeed most contemporary styles of music throughout all time. It is this that we look for in songs and what makes song interesting to listen to.

Watching the advertisement was interesting, in a sense, to see the construction and deconstruction. However it was actually seeing what we had learnt and the application of this in the real world and see results such as being show on television. Watching this makes studying what we are worthwhile in a "real world" sense.

Good to hear about a new topic!!!

Forum Week 9

This week's talk on the teapot studies and the notion of resonating frequencies was very interesting to me. The idea of making things move with your brain is almost futuristic. The first thing that popped into my head was the idea of making music without touching an instrument, hearing something in your head and it being played back to you without lifting a finger. The studies done really shows theories in action. To me it puts everything into perspective, that we are working with a physical medium, sound, to evoke a meta-physical result, emotion.

I will endeavour in the future to really listen to sound on its own, not in the midst of other distractions.

CC1 Week 9

This week i found quite difficult, bussing the gate system was difficult to achieve, but after looking at your example i managed to get it to work, however i still have problems with this and i will ask you about this the next time i see you. This weeks final product im not as happy with, i saw this as more of a study rather than a atmospheric piece of "music."

You'll notive that i slightly faded in the drum beat that i used in the gating system. I did this because i thought that it sounded interested. You can still hear the un faded version early on in the study.

i didnt have as much luck as you had with the reverse delay effect. Even after time stretching and manipulation i believe that my sample wasn't as good as it could have been. This is an example of how much work is in the art of sampling and that very rarely you stumble upon sounds by chance.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/CCweek9final.mp3

Finally its uploaded!!!

AA1 Week 9

Before going into this class i have never liked any other type of bass recording other than DI, because i believe that you get a better, more dynamic bass sound, a "bassier" and fuller sound. Although for my AA assignment this semester i will not record the bass through the amp, i will however not be as closed off to the idea of bass micing (correct spelling??).

The first recording we did was with a Yamaha MZ204 aimed at the centre of the speaker cone and going through the Avalon. Of the microphones, i believe that this one produced the best sound because it was the most dynamic and crisp. I know that some people like the bass "grungy" sounds, but personally i like crisp sounds with the most frequency response range.

The next recording was with the AKG. In my opinion this was the worst because it sounded very "boomy" and unclear, mostly just noise.

The following recording was with the Shure 56 Beta going to the Avalon. This made a very raw sound, most suitable to a rough rock song or a heavy "grungy" song.

This next file is of a compressed AKG panned to the right and the DI panned to the left. It created a stereo bass sound, I'm not too sure in what context i would use it, but the sound created in interesting.

The final recording is of a DI, my favourite as i explained before.

Overall i will mostly use the DI, but may record with a Yamaha mz204 and mix the sounds together.

I apologise about the missing sound files, i am currently having problems with uploading the files. I am working on the problem, and if i cannot resolve this issue, i will create an audio CD bring it on Tuesday.

Forum Week 8

Gender in music tech the hot topic that nobody wishes to present didn’t present too many new ideas this week.

Bradley's presentation on the topic of differences between the 'old days' views of men and women's positions and social commentaries put the modern view in perspective. But apart from the fact of these old views, it still concluded Amy’s answer to the question. "It doesn’t matter what gender you are, only how skilful you are."

Laura's presentation offered an insight into the differences in men and women's lyrical styles. She concluded that men's lyrics, in general and extreme terms, are much more aggressive than women's lyrics. Obviously there are many exceptions to this, but I believe her general statements.

Ben's talk on 'Queen' told us about the life of Queen and their front man Freddy Mercury. He made a point of Freddy Mercury's homosexuality in reference to gender and sexuality in music. His talk was an interesting insight into 'Queen.'

Finally Ed's talk, this talk was the most interesting for me this week. Although his arguments/stories were juxtaposed, I still understood his direction. The insight into other cultures, old and new. I found the Hindu professions and witch burning most interesting.

CC1 Week 8

I must admit that i didn't learn much more this week, just about the existence of the two programs "Sound Hack" and "FScape." I was frustrated that FScape didn't work, because i believe that my sound scape would have benefited from the frequency separation. I was very excited about the prospect of actually creating a real instrument, not just a sample activator, but didn't achieve this because of FScape.

I lengthened all my samples by various amounts, to a degree that i believed a useful sound was created. My favourite being one that i stretched to about 500%. This sound you can hear when a very low note is produced, however it is used throughout to give the sound scape a feeling of movement, not just one sound after the other.

This time i had no problems using the Keyboard because i knew what i was doing with the audio midi setup and Reason's setup. All smooth sailing this time and i cant wait till i use the sampler with the keyboard again.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/Soundscape3samplerSoundHack.mp3

AA1 Week 8

Electric Guitar recording was the lesson for me. Playing guitar is what gave me an interest in music, so learning about recording it was most enjoyable.

In these recordings we used the Shure SM57, Neumann U 89 and the Sennheiser 481.

The first example is of a Neumann U 89 on a slight angle to the amp, towards the edge of the speaker cone. The sound that was produced was very thick and "bassy", not very useful for my applications.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/NeumannU89distoffaxis.mp3

The second example is of a Shure SM57 facing directly at the centre of the speaker cone. This sound was very dynamic, however sometimes a little thin or "trebbely." But dispute this slight flaw, it produced one of the best sounds.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/SM57Dist.mp3

This next example was an experiment with stereo. We combined the two previous sounds and panned one hard left and the other hard right. This sound is very dynamic and produced the second best sound during the exercise.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/SM57LU89R.mp3

This is the same set up as the previous stereo experiment, except this time we recorded a clean guitar sample.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/SM57LU89Rclean.mp3

The final example was produced using a Sennheiser 481 facing directly at the speaker cone. This produced the best sound in my opinion because it was so dynamic. Because of this dynamic quality, we recorded a clean example. It seemed to have the best frequency response to the guitar's tone.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/Sennheiser481clean.mp3

Overall lots of fun and personally (guitar being the main instrument i play) interesting.

Please check out my AA Back Up blog.

Sorry, having issues with uploading photos. Will do this at a later date.

Audio Arts Back Up

This is a recording Ive done at home using some of the techniques learnt in Audio Arts. It is a song entitled "Way to Fall" by Star Sailor. I double tracked the acoustic guitar and panned them hard left and right. On the bass i turned the tone nob down so the bass wouldn't become a prominent instrument, just used to fill out the sound. the piano and strings are at the same volume level as the guitar so they play an equal part in the song. The bass is panned just right of centre and the piano and strings just left of centre. This creates a dynamic sound and utilises the full potential of stereo. In addition to this i added a very wide reverb because it suits the style of song and fills out the sound.

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/Mixdown.mp3

Forum Week 7

My turn this week. I wanted to go first last week because my topic was very general, however the first presentation by Ben set the theme for the week much better than I could have with my approach to the topic. Firstly this topic was very hard to get your head around, even after doing the presentation it still baffles me. I must commend Ben's composure and preparedness for this topic, he clearly showed the most professionalism in him talk.

Amy's focal argument was something that I had never thought of during my investigation into the topic. The question of whether the topic is actually relevant, which, after listening to her, is a totally valid point; I don’t believe it really matters. It's not about statistics, its about skill and ability and creativity, does it matter what sex the person in question is?

The final presentation on Bjork reaffirmed my opinion of Bjork as a modern "contemporary" music technologist. Personally sheer music doesn’t appeal to me, but I can see her brilliance and skill in her style of music. She really has thrown herself into the technological art forms. I.e. music, film, music video. She is a representative of the modern technological art form.

CC1 Week 7

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/loudman/z/Samplingsounds2.mp3

This task was something that i have always wanted to do, but never had the programs to achieve it. I thought that it was a lot of fun. However, although fun, i don't see myself using this in my lifetime, in a performance or compositional piece (i may be wrong though).

I had no issues with splicing the sounds and creating loop points, but i did have problems with separating the sounds over the keyboard. To overcome this issue i loaded a previous preset (in my case "Acoustic Bass") and altered the timbres within the preset to my audio files. The next issue i had was using the keyboard. I tested the connection to the computer by playing around with the ports and i found that there was a signal getting to the computer, it was just "Reason" wasn't receiving them. After discussing the issue with Sanad, he told me that the preferences in "Reason" (which i had been looking for in 'Options' previously) was actually under the toolbar entitled "Reason." With these issues now overcome it was down to the actual recording.

After changing the envelopes to a setting where the sound continuously played i was ready to go. As you can hear in my recording i used a large tonal range. The constant beat of the low sample as a reference point. I then continued to play with the idea of sounds moving out of sync because of the slight change in loop duration. This idea follows throughout.

This i can see is a very effective performance technique and technology, however i don't see myself using this in my lifetime.

Using Reason Adapted for Digidesign.