Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Week 7 - CC1 - Performance Sequencing (1)
Download the file here.
Watching the tutorial makes Live seem so easy. Turns out to be slightly trickier than it looks. Well, I think the basic use of Live itself isn't that hard but to use it well is slightly harder.
I tried to create a somewhat straightforward song with the NIN samples provided. What I find tricky is to make use of the scenes and tracks wisely. I feel that I could do better in that. Some effects are pretty interesting but I only used the pitch shift to my vocal track.
I think, having a limit of 4 tracks and 4 scenes is pretty good because then we don't get too obsessed with the different combinations that can be made. Although it is definitely a limitation if we would like to use more samples.
Watching the tutorial makes Live seem so easy. Turns out to be slightly trickier than it looks. Well, I think the basic use of Live itself isn't that hard but to use it well is slightly harder.
I tried to create a somewhat straightforward song with the NIN samples provided. What I find tricky is to make use of the scenes and tracks wisely. I feel that I could do better in that. Some effects are pretty interesting but I only used the pitch shift to my vocal track.
I think, having a limit of 4 tracks and 4 scenes is pretty good because then we don't get too obsessed with the different combinations that can be made. Although it is definitely a limitation if we would like to use more samples.
Week 6 - AA1 - Interaction Design and Sound
I'm basing my analysis on a sound in a game called Zelda. Video games use a lot of different sound design and hence is great for the analysis of the interaction between what is happening in the game and what is heard. For example when Link falls, a comical sound that is actually synchronised with the video. When Link gets healed, a high pitched optimistic sound is played. The sound that is played when Link opens a treasure box is like a TADA sound. When Link gets coins/money, a high clink sound that suggest coins being collected can be heard.
Some other sound based events are like the opening of the menu and the closing of the menu.
Some other sound based events are like the opening of the menu and the closing of the menu.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Week 4 - Forum - Rasa, Classical Indian Aesthetics
Indian performer provide the audiences with different types of feelings/"rasa" while performing. The nine principal rasa (navarasa) with examples are as follows:
Hasya
happiness/joy/comic. The most common expression of hasya is humour. Hasya is also joy or sarcasm. Natural joy is the result of seeing the beauty and miracle of life. Sometimes manifested in laughter.
fast high flute, human laugh,
Adbhuta
wonder/reverence. Comes when one realises of their own ignorance. When we know that some things are not understandable, it makes us curious and hence, it makes our life more adventurous and exciting. This is the start of a spiritual journey.
warm pads chord
Veera
courage/heroic. This is the rasa of fearlessness, self-assurance, determination, heroism, valor, and perfect control of body and mind. However, ego, pride and arrogance must be controlled. Competition is encouraged but when one takes winning or losing too seriously, it becomes a problem
dotted rhythm, timpani + snare
Shringara
love/erotic. It's beauty and means the enjoyment of the company of the opposite sex. It could also be the love for the atmosphere, art, family, friends or romance. As love and beauty shares the same word, love should be enhanced by beauty and vice versa.
harp arpeggios,
Karuna - literally means sadness, sorrow
compassion. Sadness isn't our true nature, but bliss is. A higher degree of sadness is transformed into compassion. Main cause of karuna is loneliness. Sometimes when one gets older, karuna takes over as strengths and abilities deteriorate. When one is dying, karuna also normally comes, as one knows that the end is near, except if they believe in eternity.
high strings descending harmony,
Krodha
anger/furious. Can be constructive if used properly. For example: an anger of a mother to a child, or a teacher to a student, etc. But when not controlled, the anger can take over one's life. Expressing it appropriately is better than to let it contain inside oneself. However, when not expressed appropriately, it makes one loses their inner peace.
string bass running notes, volcano eruption, thunderstorm
Bhibasta
disgust/loathing. No rasa is more demonic and useless than disgust. It is vulgar, uncivilised, uses bad words, and shows bad intentions to others. Can be mastered when one enjoys the company of others and oneself. The best thing to do is to ignore the rasa.
powerful trombone descending slides,
Bhayanaka
fear/terror. Caused by ignorance, When something is unknown, assumptions and imaginations take over and when one is not confident, fearful things are imagined. Fear is also a natural feelings that keeps us away from harm.
loud diminished chord, high tremolo strings, chick's distress call, human scream
Shanta
serenity/tranquillity. Comes in meditation. For true Peace, body, mind, ego, and intellect must become perfectly still. Many people recognises saints as people who do nothing. At the same time, no one understand how difficult doing nothing really is. A balance between needs and desires is required.
mellow string chords, french horn, water flow, birds tweetering, celesta chords
Reference: Stephen Whittington. "Week 4 Forum - Rasa, Classical Indian Aesthetics." Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 2008.
Hasya
happiness/joy/comic. The most common expression of hasya is humour. Hasya is also joy or sarcasm. Natural joy is the result of seeing the beauty and miracle of life. Sometimes manifested in laughter.
fast high flute, human laugh,
Adbhuta
wonder/reverence. Comes when one realises of their own ignorance. When we know that some things are not understandable, it makes us curious and hence, it makes our life more adventurous and exciting. This is the start of a spiritual journey.
warm pads chord
Veera
courage/heroic. This is the rasa of fearlessness, self-assurance, determination, heroism, valor, and perfect control of body and mind. However, ego, pride and arrogance must be controlled. Competition is encouraged but when one takes winning or losing too seriously, it becomes a problem
dotted rhythm, timpani + snare
Shringara
love/erotic. It's beauty and means the enjoyment of the company of the opposite sex. It could also be the love for the atmosphere, art, family, friends or romance. As love and beauty shares the same word, love should be enhanced by beauty and vice versa.
harp arpeggios,
Karuna - literally means sadness, sorrow
compassion. Sadness isn't our true nature, but bliss is. A higher degree of sadness is transformed into compassion. Main cause of karuna is loneliness. Sometimes when one gets older, karuna takes over as strengths and abilities deteriorate. When one is dying, karuna also normally comes, as one knows that the end is near, except if they believe in eternity.
high strings descending harmony,
Krodha
anger/furious. Can be constructive if used properly. For example: an anger of a mother to a child, or a teacher to a student, etc. But when not controlled, the anger can take over one's life. Expressing it appropriately is better than to let it contain inside oneself. However, when not expressed appropriately, it makes one loses their inner peace.
string bass running notes, volcano eruption, thunderstorm
Bhibasta
disgust/loathing. No rasa is more demonic and useless than disgust. It is vulgar, uncivilised, uses bad words, and shows bad intentions to others. Can be mastered when one enjoys the company of others and oneself. The best thing to do is to ignore the rasa.
powerful trombone descending slides,
Bhayanaka
fear/terror. Caused by ignorance, When something is unknown, assumptions and imaginations take over and when one is not confident, fearful things are imagined. Fear is also a natural feelings that keeps us away from harm.
loud diminished chord, high tremolo strings, chick's distress call, human scream
Shanta
serenity/tranquillity. Comes in meditation. For true Peace, body, mind, ego, and intellect must become perfectly still. Many people recognises saints as people who do nothing. At the same time, no one understand how difficult doing nothing really is. A balance between needs and desires is required.
mellow string chords, french horn, water flow, birds tweetering, celesta chords
Reference: Stephen Whittington. "Week 4 Forum - Rasa, Classical Indian Aesthetics." Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 2008.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Week 5 - AA1 - Sound Art
I'm Back Here
by Jesse Glass and Rod Summers
Jesse Glass and Rod Summers are American and English poets, respectively, who met in Holland. They collaborated and conceived quite a number of works, as can be seen here.
What makes this piece interesting is the use of the simplest sound source which is a human voice. The poem text is also very short:
I'm back here
The piece basically repeats I'm a few times, and back a few times. I'm gradually getting softer as back gradually gets louder from a really low amplitude. The final word, here is also repeated but very quickly.
The use of technology is also very minimal. The only obvious use of sound editing is the change in dynamic, panning of the second word (back), and the fast looping of the last word (here).
Reference: Christian Haines. "Week 5 Audio Art - "Sound Art." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
by Jesse Glass and Rod Summers
Jesse Glass and Rod Summers are American and English poets, respectively, who met in Holland. They collaborated and conceived quite a number of works, as can be seen here.
What makes this piece interesting is the use of the simplest sound source which is a human voice. The poem text is also very short:
I'm back here
The piece basically repeats I'm a few times, and back a few times. I'm gradually getting softer as back gradually gets louder from a really low amplitude. The final word, here is also repeated but very quickly.
The use of technology is also very minimal. The only obvious use of sound editing is the change in dynamic, panning of the second word (back), and the fast looping of the last word (here).
Reference: Christian Haines. "Week 5 Audio Art - "Sound Art." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Week 4 - CC1 - Midi Sequencing
Using Logic, I created a short sound file that sounded very cheesy. I used the strings, electric guitars (distorted), bass, piano and drum kit MIDIs.
I inputted the sound using the midi controller and then I smoothen the entries of the instruments and make it more on-time. I leave most of the end bit random so it sounded slightly more natural.
Download MP3 file here.
Download Finale file here.
Reference: Christian Haines. "Week 4 Creative Computing - MIDI Sequencing." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
I inputted the sound using the midi controller and then I smoothen the entries of the instruments and make it more on-time. I leave most of the end bit random so it sounded slightly more natural.
Download MP3 file here.
Download Finale file here.
Reference: Christian Haines. "Week 4 Creative Computing - MIDI Sequencing." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
Week 4 - AA1 - Source Sound
The first advert I'm going to analyse is PC vs. MAC.
Comic piano/vibraphone music is played throughout. The main focus is on the conversations between PC and MAC. Some hyper-real sounds and foleys are used like the handkerchief unfolding, shoulder tapping, falling down (crash). A single non-diegetic line, "good" at the end while showing MAC is also used. Other dubbed in natural sounds are sneezing, runny nose and nose blowing. I like this advert because it uses personification to show viruses and computer brands.
The second advert I'm doing is the infamous Lynx's Bow Chicka Wah Wah advert.
The advert has two distinct scenes, the living room (with background chattering) and a quiet bathroom. Dialogues are used throughout, but other sounds like the Lynx spraying and toilet flush is also used. The length of the advert is so compressed that I think there could be a mistake in the sound design. The sound of toilet flushing starts as the old man wipes his hands. Presumably, he wipes his hands after washing his hands. Unless someone else flushes the toilet for him, that couldn't happen at the same time. Only an extremely short music is used at the end.
I chose this because I thought the "mistake" in the toilet scene was interesting.
References:
Christian Haines. "Week 4 Audio Arts - Source Sound." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
YouTube. Mac vs. PC. Accessed: 19 August 2008. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQb_Q8WRL_g
YouTube. Bow Chicka Wah Wah Dinner Party. AccesseD: 19 August 2008. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27QP6vJf9KM
Comic piano/vibraphone music is played throughout. The main focus is on the conversations between PC and MAC. Some hyper-real sounds and foleys are used like the handkerchief unfolding, shoulder tapping, falling down (crash). A single non-diegetic line, "good" at the end while showing MAC is also used. Other dubbed in natural sounds are sneezing, runny nose and nose blowing. I like this advert because it uses personification to show viruses and computer brands.
The second advert I'm doing is the infamous Lynx's Bow Chicka Wah Wah advert.
The advert has two distinct scenes, the living room (with background chattering) and a quiet bathroom. Dialogues are used throughout, but other sounds like the Lynx spraying and toilet flush is also used. The length of the advert is so compressed that I think there could be a mistake in the sound design. The sound of toilet flushing starts as the old man wipes his hands. Presumably, he wipes his hands after washing his hands. Unless someone else flushes the toilet for him, that couldn't happen at the same time. Only an extremely short music is used at the end.
I chose this because I thought the "mistake" in the toilet scene was interesting.
References:
Christian Haines. "Week 4 Audio Arts - Source Sound." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
YouTube. Mac vs. PC. Accessed: 19 August 2008. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQb_Q8WRL_g
YouTube. Bow Chicka Wah Wah Dinner Party. AccesseD: 19 August 2008. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27QP6vJf9KM
Week 3 - Forum - Presentations
Year 1 students, including me, presented our projects this week. Most, including me, did our CC project, for some reason. Alex did his on his AA recording project which sounded really awesome. The mix and everything sounds pretty professional. Jacob's CC project is also another awesome one in the list, with kitchen utensils as the sound sources. Scott did his CC on his "daily life" activities which is an interesting topic to cover. Jamie's CC project is also awesome, it has a lot of noise sounds, including my narration of the quote he chose. The trumpet in that recording is also interesting. Scott's CC project is based on natural sounds versus man-made sounds. It's a great piece, especially the ending, when everything just mashes up into on heap of noise. Josh presented his animation project which is a really funny clip. He also composed the music + the sound effects in it. Scott's concrete is based on foley recordings and a lot of the sounds are great, especially the thunder one. Another (don't know his name) did his on a game project, in which he did the sound effects and music, that's another great one.
Reference: "Week 3 Forum - Year 1 Presentations." Presentations presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 2008.
Reference: "Week 3 Forum - Year 1 Presentations." Presentations presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 2008.
Week 3 - AA1 - Sound Scene
Our task this week is to perform a sound analysis of a Hollywood movie.
The movie I have chosen is Shawshank Redemption, the scene where Andy Durfene is entering the prison.
I chose this movie and the particular scene because it's got quite a variety of sounds, especially in terms of dialogues (diegetic and non-diegetic). It has a narrator, a diegetic dialogues and even non-diegetic crowd noise/ambience). The background sounds consists of strings/music in the first minute, an ambience crowd noise in the second minute and just silence in the third minute.
The first really clear foley sound is the sound of the flag. If heard passingly, it seems very real, but the more I listen to it, the more fake it sounds. The transitions between the three background sounds are nicely mixed as it fades in and out without even being noticed by the listener/audience. There are a few underneath sounds, like the footsteps in the second minute, which are drowned by all the crowd noise and dialogues. It's quite meticulously added, subtle but it emphasis the importance of the character (Andy). The mood sounds at the third minute creates this eerie effect and unwelcoming mood in the prison.
The music plays an important role, as it creates the despair mood, contrasted by the cheering and the jeering crowds.
Reference:
Christian Haines. "Week 3 Audio Arts - Sound Scene." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
YouTube. Shawshank Redemption, Welcome to Shawshank Prison. Accessed: 18 August 2008. Available: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=El4Ri1U35Z4&feature=related
The movie I have chosen is Shawshank Redemption, the scene where Andy Durfene is entering the prison.
I chose this movie and the particular scene because it's got quite a variety of sounds, especially in terms of dialogues (diegetic and non-diegetic). It has a narrator, a diegetic dialogues and even non-diegetic crowd noise/ambience). The background sounds consists of strings/music in the first minute, an ambience crowd noise in the second minute and just silence in the third minute.
The first really clear foley sound is the sound of the flag. If heard passingly, it seems very real, but the more I listen to it, the more fake it sounds. The transitions between the three background sounds are nicely mixed as it fades in and out without even being noticed by the listener/audience. There are a few underneath sounds, like the footsteps in the second minute, which are drowned by all the crowd noise and dialogues. It's quite meticulously added, subtle but it emphasis the importance of the character (Andy). The mood sounds at the third minute creates this eerie effect and unwelcoming mood in the prison.
The music plays an important role, as it creates the despair mood, contrasted by the cheering and the jeering crowds.
Reference:
Christian Haines. "Week 3 Audio Arts - Sound Scene." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.
YouTube. Shawshank Redemption, Welcome to Shawshank Prison. Accessed: 18 August 2008. Available: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=El4Ri1U35Z4&feature=related
Monday, August 11, 2008
Week 2 - Forum - Some of David Harris' Favourite Things
This forum was a really interesting and different forum than usual! Instead of talking the usual stuff about aspects of music and technology, we are talking about modern classical composition, i.e. the String Quartet.
David Harris' string quartet was lovely. Somehow, I have a feeling that it's very Australian, even though I don't know what the reasons are. Someone commented on how it sounds Sculthorpe-like (Sculthorpesque?) especially the first slow section. I quite agree with that, but it does branches out to David's style, especially with the short, staccato, sul ponticello sound that I reckon sounds very David Harris-like (Harrisque?).
Stephen gave us a provocative thought on "Programme Notes," whether it is necessary in the understanding of the music or not. And how much should be informed and what to be included in a programme note. I reckon, it's useful especially due to the long wait before the concert starts. On the other hand, sometimes it's nice to just appreciate the music without any texts accompanying it.
His other favourite thing was Schubert's String Quartet in G major(/minor). The
abundant of parallel major/minor changes were amazing and the last movement was described by David as "minimalist/trance-like."
Reference:
Harris, David. "Week 2 Music Technology Forum - My Favourite Things." Lecture presented at the University of Adelaide, 7 August 2008.
Week 2 - AA1 - Environment Analysis
At first, I tried to record the sound outside my house, but it didn't have any interesting sounds at all, so I went out to Grenfell Street, Rundle Mall and North Terrace (corner of Kintore Ave.) and recorded 45 seconds of sound clips. The first one was too noisy and the second one, again, hadn't got much to analyse. So, I decided upon the third one, which has slightly more to analyse.
The sound has a lot of noise ambience (perhaps due to the poor quality of recording), and on top of that, it's very dense and loud, hiding most of the other thing under it. Traffic beep (indicating red light) can be heard almost throughout, except for the few seconds when the fast traffic beep (indicating green light) is sounded. There are a small portion of chattering and my cough towards the end. Skateboarding sound can be heard getting louder and softer due to the distance it is from the recorder. A car honk can also be heard in the beginning.
Soundscape.
Reference:
Haines, Christian. "Week 2 AA1 - Environment Analysis." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 5 August 2008.
The sound has a lot of noise ambience (perhaps due to the poor quality of recording), and on top of that, it's very dense and loud, hiding most of the other thing under it. Traffic beep (indicating red light) can be heard almost throughout, except for the few seconds when the fast traffic beep (indicating green light) is sounded. There are a small portion of chattering and my cough towards the end. Skateboarding sound can be heard getting louder and softer due to the distance it is from the recorder. A car honk can also be heard in the beginning.
Soundscape.
Reference:
Haines, Christian. "Week 2 AA1 - Environment Analysis." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 5 August 2008.
Week 2 - CC1 - Modular Programming
We explored Bidule further. I did the tutorial as directed and came out with an instrument and I used that to create this.
Download music file.
I used last week's experimentation with the spectral plug-ins and combined it with this week's techniques (oscillators, ADSR Envelope). Following the tutorial was easy enough, but I still am rather confused about how it is supposed to be done (or how to do it differently from the tutorial). So I was rather struggling in understanding which plug-ins to use and what to connect with what. As the result, it turns out to be too similar to the tutorial's instrument.
Aside from that, I created a sound file with 6 layers of sounds. Three acts as "background" spectral sound, and three were the tones generated with the 16 Steps Sequencer. The result is not too bad, aside from the fact that I got a massive headache after doing this. But the sound generated sounds like aleatoric music.
Here's the image of the canvas. The red plug-ins are red because I took the screenshot with my computer's Bidule file, which does not have that particular plug-ins.
And here's the bidule file.
References:
Front and Back. Bidule Tutorial 1: A Simple Synthesizer. Accessed: 11 August 2008. Available: http://relivethefuture.com/choronzon/bidule-tutorial-1-a-simple-synthesizer/
Haines, Christian. "Week 2 Music Technology CC1 Tutorial - Modular Programming." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 5 August 2008.
Download music file.
I used last week's experimentation with the spectral plug-ins and combined it with this week's techniques (oscillators, ADSR Envelope). Following the tutorial was easy enough, but I still am rather confused about how it is supposed to be done (or how to do it differently from the tutorial). So I was rather struggling in understanding which plug-ins to use and what to connect with what. As the result, it turns out to be too similar to the tutorial's instrument.
Aside from that, I created a sound file with 6 layers of sounds. Three acts as "background" spectral sound, and three were the tones generated with the 16 Steps Sequencer. The result is not too bad, aside from the fact that I got a massive headache after doing this. But the sound generated sounds like aleatoric music.
Here's the image of the canvas. The red plug-ins are red because I took the screenshot with my computer's Bidule file, which does not have that particular plug-ins.
And here's the bidule file.
References:
Front and Back. Bidule Tutorial 1: A Simple Synthesizer. Accessed: 11 August 2008. Available: http://relivethefuture.com/choronzon/bidule-tutorial-1-a-simple-synthesizer/
Haines, Christian. "Week 2 Music Technology CC1 Tutorial - Modular Programming." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 5 August 2008.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Week1 - Forum - Listening Culture
I was not in the forum as I was coughing and sniffing a lot (did not want to spread the virus). But I read Jacob's blog and I talked to some of them who went to the forum and got a small idea on what the forum was about.
Excessive volume levels are definitely a negative issue for both the listener and the "second hand listener." Like smoking and a second hand smoker, excessive volume levels expose "noise" to people who do not want to listen to the noise. I remember from my trip to Japan, where there are signs in the trains warning MP3 listener to turn the volume lower and a sentence saying, "No matter how beautiful the music you are listening to on your headphones, to all others it is just noise." House parties with loud music definitely is an annoyance to neigbours.
With the convenience of MP3, we also have lower listening quality. I think this is not so much of an issue. People who listen to MP3s can't avoid the lower quality but nevertheless, the convenience it provides is worth more than the reduction in quality it causes.
Excessive volume levels are definitely a negative issue for both the listener and the "second hand listener." Like smoking and a second hand smoker, excessive volume levels expose "noise" to people who do not want to listen to the noise. I remember from my trip to Japan, where there are signs in the trains warning MP3 listener to turn the volume lower and a sentence saying, "No matter how beautiful the music you are listening to on your headphones, to all others it is just noise." House parties with loud music definitely is an annoyance to neigbours.
With the convenience of MP3, we also have lower listening quality. I think this is not so much of an issue. People who listen to MP3s can't avoid the lower quality but nevertheless, the convenience it provides is worth more than the reduction in quality it causes.
Week 1 - CC1 - Modular Programming
I tried to produce some ambient sound with Bidule. I used the Stochastic MIDI Note to produce the notes. The instruments I used were Drawbar Organ, Schottstaedt String Tone, Risset Bell , PWMPolySynth, and DLSMusic Device.
Effects I used include Spectral Pulsing, Spectral DroneMaker, Spectral Gate and Spectral Shimmer. I used Spectral effects because it gives me the ambient effects I want.
The software is pretty useful as it can create quite a wide range of sound depending on the plug-ins available. It's very flexible in a sense that you can create a whole different ranges of sounds.
Sound Sample.
Bidule File.
Effects I used include Spectral Pulsing, Spectral DroneMaker, Spectral Gate and Spectral Shimmer. I used Spectral effects because it gives me the ambient effects I want.
The software is pretty useful as it can create quite a wide range of sound depending on the plug-ins available. It's very flexible in a sense that you can create a whole different ranges of sounds.
Sound Sample.
Bidule File.
Week 1 - AA1 - Sound Design
This week, we looked at sound design: what it is, the purposes, what it's trying to achieve and it's technical aspects. A sound design can be used as a sound effect or sound logo, etc. I have chosen Deep Note, a sound logo created by Andy Moorer in 1983. The sound is famous for being the sound logo for THX.
The sound can be downloaded here.
This piece of sound design was created for the purpose of a sound logo to accompany a logo to be put before the movie Return of the Jedi. The design specification given by the producer is that he wanted, "something that comes out of nowhere and gets really, really big!"
In essence, what it's trying to achieve is to produce sound that appears and gradually gets very grand and big.
Moorer achieved the big sound not only through loudness but also texture. In the beginning of the sound, lower frequencies were used and as the sound gets "bigger" the higher frequencies gets louder too and as a result, a big sound is achieved. He used a really dense texture to achieve this very loud and big sound.
References: Tiny Music Thing Makers: Pt. 3: The THX Sound. Accessed: 4 August 2008. Available: http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-3-thx-sound.html
The sound can be downloaded here.
This piece of sound design was created for the purpose of a sound logo to accompany a logo to be put before the movie Return of the Jedi. The design specification given by the producer is that he wanted, "something that comes out of nowhere and gets really, really big!"
In essence, what it's trying to achieve is to produce sound that appears and gradually gets very grand and big.
Moorer achieved the big sound not only through loudness but also texture. In the beginning of the sound, lower frequencies were used and as the sound gets "bigger" the higher frequencies gets louder too and as a result, a big sound is achieved. He used a really dense texture to achieve this very loud and big sound.
References: Tiny Music Thing Makers: Pt. 3: The THX Sound. Accessed: 4 August 2008. Available: http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-3-thx-sound.html
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
CC1 - Project - Musique Concréte
The CC project this semester is to compose a music based on the idea of musique concrete. I decided to compose a fairly simple piece. This piece is based on the French baroque overture form with slow-fast-slow (contrary to the Italian fast-slow-fast overture). But because of the length allowed, I only did the condensed overture, with slow and fast (although the end is slightly slow because of the nature of the music).
The first section utilises drones (produced by a washing machine) and short and snappy sounds. It is in itself binary in the forum (A-BA'). The fugal section of the overture (the fast section) is actually canonic. Using a stereo recorded foosball match, the stereo left and right are separated into two files and their entries are canonic.
The B section builds up as there are more and more sound and it also calms down as less and less sound are heard (as they have already completed their cycle as some hasn't).
I did not do much sound editing because I wanted it to sound more natural. A section is edited more with delays and time stretch and EQ-ing. But B section is almost not edited at all to give the natural foosball sound.
Documentations. French Overture - Sound file. Score.
The first section utilises drones (produced by a washing machine) and short and snappy sounds. It is in itself binary in the forum (A-BA'). The fugal section of the overture (the fast section) is actually canonic. Using a stereo recorded foosball match, the stereo left and right are separated into two files and their entries are canonic.
The B section builds up as there are more and more sound and it also calms down as less and less sound are heard (as they have already completed their cycle as some hasn't).
I did not do much sound editing because I wanted it to sound more natural. A section is edited more with delays and time stretch and EQ-ing. But B section is almost not edited at all to give the natural foosball sound.
Documentations. French Overture - Sound file. Score.
AA Project - Recording
The final project for this semester is to record a band. I recorded the band that plays in my church and a song that a friend of mine wrote/arranged for this band. We were originally recording another song by another person, but she was too busy to finish the song.
The recording session was on 16th June and all went well in the set up until I tried to connect the input through the wallbay. After 3 hours of setting up and trying to find out how it should be done properly, we started recording.
There weren't much problem after the gains were set (although the gains had to be set really low because of clipping). Mic placements were not so good because I could hear so much spills from the other parts of the drums.
Mixing it and producing it is even harder, only then I realised that I should have made sure that everything was recorded right before I left, since none of them can re-record again (too busy with work).
Overall, this gave me a really great experience albeit all the mess involved. I am interested in recording a better and more organised project in the future.
Documentations. The Power is Broken - Song.
The recording session was on 16th June and all went well in the set up until I tried to connect the input through the wallbay. After 3 hours of setting up and trying to find out how it should be done properly, we started recording.
There weren't much problem after the gains were set (although the gains had to be set really low because of clipping). Mic placements were not so good because I could hear so much spills from the other parts of the drums.
Mixing it and producing it is even harder, only then I realised that I should have made sure that everything was recorded right before I left, since none of them can re-record again (too busy with work).
Overall, this gave me a really great experience albeit all the mess involved. I am interested in recording a better and more organised project in the future.
Documentations. The Power is Broken - Song.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Week 10 - Forum - Scratching
We watched the video about Scraching. It was an hour and a half of movie about Scratching as a genre of music and how it became big. Stephen mentioned that one of the first experiments on scratching is by John Cage which is interesting; to think of the scratching genre was experimented by an American Art Music composer.
The video gave a lot of insight to some important aspects of scratching. It is very interesting how many of these musicians started off as a kid playing around with some LPs and a turntable, often done without the knowledge of the mother.
An important aspect of scratching is looking for the right LP to scratch. The libraries of LPs seem like mountains and mountains of big huge piles of old LPs that would just blow your mind. I wonder how can one find great LP to scratch amongst the piles of LPs. I guess that's part of the skills required.
The video gave a lot of insight to some important aspects of scratching. It is very interesting how many of these musicians started off as a kid playing around with some LPs and a turntable, often done without the knowledge of the mother.
An important aspect of scratching is looking for the right LP to scratch. The libraries of LPs seem like mountains and mountains of big huge piles of old LPs that would just blow your mind. I wonder how can one find great LP to scratch amongst the piles of LPs. I guess that's part of the skills required.
Week 10 - Acoustic Guitar Recording
U87 Omni 14th Fret 1 inch away
This arrangement picks up nice and warm sound. It sounds mellow to the point that it sounded dull.
U87 Omni SM57
This arrangement is slightly brighter than the previous one and gives it a less dull sound.
NT4
This arrangement sounds very reverby. The guitar sounds very sharp and clear. It's definitely sounding better than the previous arrangements.
Revoiced AKG, NT5 NT4
I decided to combine the AKG + NT5 combination with the NT4 arrangement. I think this sounds very good. The revoicing creates a full sound on top of the clear sound of NT4.
This arrangement picks up nice and warm sound. It sounds mellow to the point that it sounded dull.
U87 Omni SM57
This arrangement is slightly brighter than the previous one and gives it a less dull sound.
NT4
This arrangement sounds very reverby. The guitar sounds very sharp and clear. It's definitely sounding better than the previous arrangements.
Revoiced AKG, NT5 NT4
I decided to combine the AKG + NT5 combination with the NT4 arrangement. I think this sounds very good. The revoicing creates a full sound on top of the clear sound of NT4.
Week 9 - Forum
We had Seb, an ex student here, and he showed us what he did after completing his course in the EMU in Adelaide Uni. It was interesting, and I enjoyed the beat maker. But I particularly enjoyed the instrument he made out of the water bowl thing. It was this instrument that controls the sound through the water waves. The player would then touch certain parts of the water bowl and sound is generated depending on the waves that happens in the waater.
Next we had someone else I forgot the name. He did the "Music of the Spheres" concert in the Fringe Festival. It was an interesting idea. The audience would be sitting down, or lying down, faced to the ceiling of the building. Constant music is played/performed for a few hours with the images on top.
He also did some research on cultural music. Especially noted was an ancient American civilisation with the large building where a sound of a specific bird can be heard. He said it was the world's oldest and most ancient recording device. To think of it being the technology of the world before Christ.
Next we had someone else I forgot the name. He did the "Music of the Spheres" concert in the Fringe Festival. It was an interesting idea. The audience would be sitting down, or lying down, faced to the ceiling of the building. Constant music is played/performed for a few hours with the images on top.
He also did some research on cultural music. Especially noted was an ancient American civilisation with the large building where a sound of a specific bird can be heard. He said it was the world's oldest and most ancient recording device. To think of it being the technology of the world before Christ.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Week 9 - CC1 - Spectral Technique
This week, I used SoundHack to edit sound files with mutation, phase vocoder or convolution. I used the phase vocoder to stretch the sample first (Jacob's recording of the phrase) and then I used convolution to mix it with the flutes. I kept this sample and further mutate it with some gamelan samples.
I then put the instruments to Reason/NN19 and just automapped the samples. I the gamelan mutated one was on the higher register of the kb and the flutes one on the lower.
Here's the sample.
I then put the instruments to Reason/NN19 and just automapped the samples. I the gamelan mutated one was on the higher register of the kb and the flutes one on the lower.
Here's the sample.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Week 8 - Forum - Recording
A sound engineer from Adelaide who had worked in the States (with Britney Spears and Queen Latifah!), Peter Dawdal, came and talked about his recording experiences a few weeks ago with a Big Band in Adelaide Uni and his past recording with Britney Spears.
A few stuff that was important includes preparation and being on time. Room should be booked long before the recording session. He would have noted the numbers of players, instruments, and draw a layout of the whole recording plans layout. Whether it's gonig to be recorded live or by overdubbing.
He suggested going to the venue beforehand (a few days before) and noting how important it is so that mics, seats, stands can be settled. Hard drives are very important and making backup files is very important too. Recording everything is a good idea, never delete anything.
He also specially mentioned how mics used for the piano shouldn't be too heavy as the mic has to go deep inside the piano and the stand might not withstand the weight. Mics like NT5s should solve the problem.
Regarding work, relationship between client and engineer should be very professional. We must not talk about our client at all. On top of that kitchen is an important item too, as the producers and record staffs needs to be kept entertained.
A few stuff that was important includes preparation and being on time. Room should be booked long before the recording session. He would have noted the numbers of players, instruments, and draw a layout of the whole recording plans layout. Whether it's gonig to be recorded live or by overdubbing.
He suggested going to the venue beforehand (a few days before) and noting how important it is so that mics, seats, stands can be settled. Hard drives are very important and making backup files is very important too. Recording everything is a good idea, never delete anything.
He also specially mentioned how mics used for the piano shouldn't be too heavy as the mic has to go deep inside the piano and the stand might not withstand the weight. Mics like NT5s should solve the problem.
Regarding work, relationship between client and engineer should be very professional. We must not talk about our client at all. On top of that kitchen is an important item too, as the producers and record staffs needs to be kept entertained.
Week 8 - CC1 - Sampling Techniques
I used a recording of Jacob's voice saying the "We become what we behold..." quote because I don't like to hear my own voice. I then used Peak to separate them into new regions. After that I changed the Root keys of each samples to suit the name of the sample.
Using Reason's NN19, I put the samples I did to the keyboard and automapped the samples. Then I recorded some random stuff.
Here's the screenshot on NN19 + Reason.
Using Reason's NN19, I put the samples I did to the keyboard and automapped the samples. Then I recorded some random stuff.
Here's the screenshot on NN19 + Reason.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Week 8 - AA1 - Drum Set Miking
Miking a drum set is an exciting one to do. You get to use a lot of mics. The first setting we used basically used quite a lot of mics.
2 U87s as overhead stereo mics, SM57 for top and bottom snare, NT5 for hi-hat, beta52s inside and outside the kick drum, MD421 for hi and mid tom and beta56 on low tom. On top of that, we used the AKG as the room mic.
The overall sound of it it pretty rich. The bass sounds powerful and the close miking is effective. One notable thing is the room mic. Even the room mic is played by itself produces quite a powerful sound. And when the room mic is not added, the recording sounds really dry. A little touch of room mic made quite a big difference.
Here's the file.
The second setting only uses three mics. One U87 on omni above the drum set, one SM57 slightly away from the snare, one beta 52 slightly away from the kick drum and an AKG behind a gobo as a room mic.
The setting is pretty amazing for what 4 mics can do. If not much time is available, I reckon this setting is pretty great. However, the mix does sound slightly mixed up. The concentration on each parts of the drums set is not that great and it's less bright than the first setting. It still does sound great though.
Here's the second file.
2 U87s as overhead stereo mics, SM57 for top and bottom snare, NT5 for hi-hat, beta52s inside and outside the kick drum, MD421 for hi and mid tom and beta56 on low tom. On top of that, we used the AKG as the room mic.
The overall sound of it it pretty rich. The bass sounds powerful and the close miking is effective. One notable thing is the room mic. Even the room mic is played by itself produces quite a powerful sound. And when the room mic is not added, the recording sounds really dry. A little touch of room mic made quite a big difference.
Here's the file.
The second setting only uses three mics. One U87 on omni above the drum set, one SM57 slightly away from the snare, one beta 52 slightly away from the kick drum and an AKG behind a gobo as a room mic.
The setting is pretty amazing for what 4 mics can do. If not much time is available, I reckon this setting is pretty great. However, the mix does sound slightly mixed up. The concentration on each parts of the drums set is not that great and it's less bright than the first setting. It still does sound great though.
Here's the second file.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Week 7 - Forum - Tristam Carey
Tristram Cary was born in in 1923, Oxford, England. His father was the writer of several books like "Mr. Johnson" and "The Horse's Mouth." His mother was an amateur musician and cellist. Tristram Cary left secondary school to study music at the age of 17 in 1942. He then joined the navy as a radar operator. That is where he first larnt the basic electronic skills. At that time, it was the pioneering stage of radar where it has just been developed and considered top secret. That is also where Tristram first realised the potential of creating music through electronic means.
After troops were demobilised, electronic equipments became junk and Tristram obtained quite a few of them to be experimented with. He also returned to study music.
In 1950, Tristram bought his own studio and wrote the first radio show with electronic soundtrack. He was also occasionally commissioned by the BBC. By 1960 he already had his studio equipped with tape technologies established in an institution: Royal College of Music. He met Peter Zinovieff and David Cockrell and together, they founded the Electronic Music Studio (EMS). They were the first people who developed portable synths and they are called the Synthi and VCS3. The Synthi and VCS3 was a consumer product as they were easy to use. Bands like Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Tangerine Dream, Hawkland and Roxy Music bought them.
Tristram was also renowned as a composer of incidental music to the show Dr. Who. He wrote for few other films. As he was classically trained, he could incorporate symphonic music and electronic music together.
Tristram moved to Adelaide and established the Electronic Music Unit in Adelaide University. He spent his late years archiving his own work of scores, converting his analog music to digital, remastering his 1980s digital materials and wrote his autobiography.
Tristram died not so long ago and his work in the development in electronic music is very much appreciated.
After troops were demobilised, electronic equipments became junk and Tristram obtained quite a few of them to be experimented with. He also returned to study music.
In 1950, Tristram bought his own studio and wrote the first radio show with electronic soundtrack. He was also occasionally commissioned by the BBC. By 1960 he already had his studio equipped with tape technologies established in an institution: Royal College of Music. He met Peter Zinovieff and David Cockrell and together, they founded the Electronic Music Studio (EMS). They were the first people who developed portable synths and they are called the Synthi and VCS3. The Synthi and VCS3 was a consumer product as they were easy to use. Bands like Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Tangerine Dream, Hawkland and Roxy Music bought them.
Tristram was also renowned as a composer of incidental music to the show Dr. Who. He wrote for few other films. As he was classically trained, he could incorporate symphonic music and electronic music together.
Tristram moved to Adelaide and established the Electronic Music Unit in Adelaide University. He spent his late years archiving his own work of scores, converting his analog music to digital, remastering his 1980s digital materials and wrote his autobiography.
Tristram died not so long ago and his work in the development in electronic music is very much appreciated.
Week 7 - CC1 - Tape Techniques
For this week's project, I used three audio files and edited them.
The first was a time stretched part of a shutter pitch shifted 2 octaves higher. The second one is a white noise with fade into a tom that fades out. Panning from left to right is added too. The third one is tom with time expansion added to it. It's also reversed. The fourth one is the same but time expanded twice as much. The next one is a part of a shutter noise that is time stretched, it's also pitch shifted down 4 octaves. The next one is a reversed tom with fade in and then a shutter noise with it pitch shifted 4 octaves higher. The next one is a white noise with fade in and panning from left to right followed by a sine wave of 440Hz with fade out and panning from right to the left. The next one is a short shutter noise with reverbs added. The one after that is the same but reversed. Then another shutter one is pitch shifted down 4 octaves and time shifted and a reverb is also added. The next one is a reversed tom that is time stretched followed straight by a white noise and fade out. The last one is a long build up of white noise followed by a thinned out tom panned from right to the left and to the middle.
Click here to listen.
The first was a time stretched part of a shutter pitch shifted 2 octaves higher. The second one is a white noise with fade into a tom that fades out. Panning from left to right is added too. The third one is tom with time expansion added to it. It's also reversed. The fourth one is the same but time expanded twice as much. The next one is a part of a shutter noise that is time stretched, it's also pitch shifted down 4 octaves. The next one is a reversed tom with fade in and then a shutter noise with it pitch shifted 4 octaves higher. The next one is a white noise with fade in and panning from left to right followed by a sine wave of 440Hz with fade out and panning from right to the left. The next one is a short shutter noise with reverbs added. The one after that is the same but reversed. Then another shutter one is pitch shifted down 4 octaves and time shifted and a reverb is also added. The next one is a reversed tom that is time stretched followed straight by a white noise and fade out. The last one is a long build up of white noise followed by a thinned out tom panned from right to the left and to the middle.
Click here to listen.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Week 7 - AA1 - Bass Recording
So we recorded Jamie playing the bass last Friday and it turned out okay. We miked the amplifier on top of a chair with an SM57 and a SM52Beta. On top of that we also DI-ed the Bass through Avalon and the DI box.
SM52Beta
This miking is definitely very thin and clanky in sound. On top of that, there are noise generated by the mic that is recorded into it too. The bass register is not heard as much as the higher register and it sounds very raw.
DI to Avalon
The DI sounds very clean as room or other noise cannot be recorded. The bass is definitely more prominent than the higher register and that gives a good bass quality. It also sounds fuller and powerful.
SM52Beta + Avalon DI
The quality is okay although the room noise and the amplifier-generated noise can also be clearly heard. Out of phase problems may be solved with adjusting and aligning the sound signals.
SM52Beta
This miking is definitely very thin and clanky in sound. On top of that, there are noise generated by the mic that is recorded into it too. The bass register is not heard as much as the higher register and it sounds very raw.
DI to Avalon
The DI sounds very clean as room or other noise cannot be recorded. The bass is definitely more prominent than the higher register and that gives a good bass quality. It also sounds fuller and powerful.
SM52Beta + Avalon DI
The quality is okay although the room noise and the amplifier-generated noise can also be clearly heard. Out of phase problems may be solved with adjusting and aligning the sound signals.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Week 6 - Forum - Youtube Biopsy
In this forum session, we watched a video David Harris made called "Youtube Biopsy" which is a collection of videos taken from youtube.
There were a lot of different videos and it was mixed all over the place. From the launching of space shuttles, to disasters, to impossible Mario game scenarios.
According to David, he had this piece performed before accompanied by a piano piece he wrote, but during Forum, the music of Vicki Bennett from People Like Us. Their music is really interesting as it recycles many other music and it mixes them around. Some of the mix sound horrible but most of the mixing sound really amazing. As it's very interesting, it also generated some arguments amongst teachers and students in the Forum (and it was the first time I said something in the discussion!).
I personally think that this has quite a high value despite the fact that it doesn't originally make music but recycles music. One of my arguments is that people regard highly of the motets of the medieval period (where they mix 1 plainchant with 2 secular songs). If the people of the medieval period did that and it is regarded as valuable, isn't People Like Us' music based on the exact same idea with differrent type of music?
There were a lot of different videos and it was mixed all over the place. From the launching of space shuttles, to disasters, to impossible Mario game scenarios.
According to David, he had this piece performed before accompanied by a piano piece he wrote, but during Forum, the music of Vicki Bennett from People Like Us. Their music is really interesting as it recycles many other music and it mixes them around. Some of the mix sound horrible but most of the mixing sound really amazing. As it's very interesting, it also generated some arguments amongst teachers and students in the Forum (and it was the first time I said something in the discussion!).
I personally think that this has quite a high value despite the fact that it doesn't originally make music but recycles music. One of my arguments is that people regard highly of the motets of the medieval period (where they mix 1 plainchant with 2 secular songs). If the people of the medieval period did that and it is regarded as valuable, isn't People Like Us' music based on the exact same idea with differrent type of music?
Week 6 - AA1 - Amplifier Recording
Jamie, Jacob, Josh and I did the amplifier recording last Friday and it was awesome. We used 6 mics and recorded two different styles of music: funk and rock.
The 6 mics we used was:
1. U87 as a room mic (set on cardoid)
2. B-Uls straight ahead close to the amps in the middle
3. SM57 straight ahead a bit towards the right of the amps
4. SM57 sideways from right side
5. SM58 sideways from left side
6. SM57 Beta, out of phase mic placed at the rear side of the amps.
Here is the recording.
The 6 mics we used was:
1. U87 as a room mic (set on cardoid)
2. B-Uls straight ahead close to the amps in the middle
3. SM57 straight ahead a bit towards the right of the amps
4. SM57 sideways from right side
5. SM58 sideways from left side
6. SM57 Beta, out of phase mic placed at the rear side of the amps.
Here is the recording.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Week 5 - Forum - Pierre Henry
We watched the video about Pierre Henry, a man who was involved with the genesis of music concrete. It was amazing to see this man in the video, walking around the city with his stereo mics and was just recording what we would normally consider noise. To him it's all music! Even though I don't really like music concrete and noise, I do understand his passion for it. It made me respect music based on noise more.
Some of his works are truly not understandable but they are at least to him and many others who love music concrete. But despite that, there are moments when it unfolds really beautifully.
Another aspect of music concrete and the type of music Henry is associated with is the fact that we as people who have good hearings might take our good hearing for granted. Henry's music encourage us to listen to the beauty and blessings of hearing. The presentation ended with Stephen showing us some of his works.
Some of his works are truly not understandable but they are at least to him and many others who love music concrete. But despite that, there are moments when it unfolds really beautifully.
Another aspect of music concrete and the type of music Henry is associated with is the fact that we as people who have good hearings might take our good hearing for granted. Henry's music encourage us to listen to the beauty and blessings of hearing. The presentation ended with Stephen showing us some of his works.
Week5 - CC1 - Sequencing
This assignment has been a bit confusing and it's pretty hard for me to do. At my first few tries, I couldn't do anything at all. I couldn't even make a kick bass sound. So I was frustrated and gave up.
Then after asking for help from a few people (mainly Jacob), I finally tried to do it again. It's not much of a work but at least it's better than nothing.
Here's the file. But be warned, this would be the worst thing you have heard yet.
Then after asking for help from a few people (mainly Jacob), I finally tried to do it again. It's not much of a work but at least it's better than nothing.
Here's the file. But be warned, this would be the worst thing you have heard yet.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Week5 - AA1 - Vocal Recording Mic Techniques
Jamie, Jacob and I did an hour and a half of voice recording in Studio 1 last Friday. We used U87, SM57 and the Bulls (although I am not using that particular recording). We used the pop filter as well as the compressor for all the recordings.
U87 Cardoid 3 Inches
This recording has quite a bassy feel for it. Due to its distance from the sound source, the middle and bass is more prominently heard. On top of that, it picks up unwanted sounds like breathing or swallowing sounds.
U87 Cardoid 80 cm
Although the bass is pretty rich on this one, the treble is clearer and hence it gives a better overall sound. The sound quality is also brighter.
U87 Omni 3 Inches
Personally, I think this is the best setup for this recording session. It's got less bass and more of the higher register, but the bass isn't terribly low. Perhaps due to its close proximity to the sound source, some unwanted noise is also picked up.
SM57 Cardoid 3 Inches
This setup also has a richer higher registers which results in a brighter sound. Dictions can be heard very clearly. As with all of the other closely placed mics, there are a lot of unwanted sounds.
After we finished recording all the needed recordings for the blog, we recorded some "fun" recording. But, I am not going to post it here, due to its weirdness.
U87 Cardoid 3 Inches
This recording has quite a bassy feel for it. Due to its distance from the sound source, the middle and bass is more prominently heard. On top of that, it picks up unwanted sounds like breathing or swallowing sounds.
U87 Cardoid 80 cm
Although the bass is pretty rich on this one, the treble is clearer and hence it gives a better overall sound. The sound quality is also brighter.
U87 Omni 3 Inches
Personally, I think this is the best setup for this recording session. It's got less bass and more of the higher register, but the bass isn't terribly low. Perhaps due to its close proximity to the sound source, some unwanted noise is also picked up.
SM57 Cardoid 3 Inches
This setup also has a richer higher registers which results in a brighter sound. Dictions can be heard very clearly. As with all of the other closely placed mics, there are a lot of unwanted sounds.
After we finished recording all the needed recordings for the blog, we recorded some "fun" recording. But, I am not going to post it here, due to its weirdness.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Week 4 - Forum - Presentations
This week's presentations were felt shorter than last week's. The first one was this really interesting program that lets you record some samples and will manipulate the sound as soon as you record it, and you can keep recording new sounds. It's made more interesting as the guy who presented his program actually used mics to speak with us behind some screen (because he needs to record).
Another presentation was of this composition for the Arts festival. The purpose of the piece is to accompany a picture exhibition (in the festival) so that the people who visit the gallery feels as if they enter a different realm and not just see the pictures for a few seconds before leaving. It is a really nice concept and done nicely.
The last two presentations were of different sounds that can be made of a guitar (not necessarily plucked or strummed). The first one was interesting, as it feels like it's building up pretty nicely. Despite that, the presenter was not really confident with the piece that he just fast-forwarded most parts. I thought it was great.
The last one was a similar thing, but of a more commercial sound and there is a visual accompaniment to the sound, as it shows how is the piece done.
Another presentation was of this composition for the Arts festival. The purpose of the piece is to accompany a picture exhibition (in the festival) so that the people who visit the gallery feels as if they enter a different realm and not just see the pictures for a few seconds before leaving. It is a really nice concept and done nicely.
The last two presentations were of different sounds that can be made of a guitar (not necessarily plucked or strummed). The first one was interesting, as it feels like it's building up pretty nicely. Despite that, the presenter was not really confident with the piece that he just fast-forwarded most parts. I thought it was great.
The last one was a similar thing, but of a more commercial sound and there is a visual accompaniment to the sound, as it shows how is the piece done.
Week 4 - CC1 - Audio Sequencing
This week's assignment is to use the samples we recorded and edited earlier on to compose a piece based on a graphic file given to us. We use ProTool sequencing program to compile and manipulate the sound.
I basically came up with this thing.
Whether this piece is successful or not, I don't know and I am not sure. But it has been fun trying to figure out new stuff on ProTools.
Here's the graphic we had to work with.
And here's what I've got on protool.
I basically came up with this thing.
Whether this piece is successful or not, I don't know and I am not sure. But it has been fun trying to figure out new stuff on ProTools.
Here's the graphic we had to work with.
And here's what I've got on protool.
Week 4 - AA1 - Microphones
So I had a friend of mine coming in to record some chords with the classical guitar the EMU storeroom has. I used the SM57 and NT3. With each mics, I used different positions, mic close to the guitar, mic slightly further than the guitar and mic pointed at a totally opposite direction from the guitar.
The results are pretty cool, although the recording sounds much too soft; I probably need to normalise it (which I didn't do).
Here's the recording, I lost the recording of the close up SM57 for some reason. So there are only 5 sound samples:
The obvious difference that I can hear from NT3 and SM57 is the fact that NT3 is so much louder (because it's a condenser). Close up NT3 position give a lot of bass and sounds pretty unpleasant (although gloriously loud). NT3 placed slightly further sounds really good and NT3 placed opposite did have the similar sound as SM57, only slightly louder.
The results are pretty cool, although the recording sounds much too soft; I probably need to normalise it (which I didn't do).
Here's the recording, I lost the recording of the close up SM57 for some reason. So there are only 5 sound samples:
- Far SM57
- Opposite SM57
- Close up NT3
- Far NT3
- Opposite NT3
The obvious difference that I can hear from NT3 and SM57 is the fact that NT3 is so much louder (because it's a condenser). Close up NT3 position give a lot of bass and sounds pretty unpleasant (although gloriously loud). NT3 placed slightly further sounds really good and NT3 placed opposite did have the similar sound as SM57, only slightly louder.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Week 3 - Forum - Presentations
This week's forum is all about presentations made by year 3 students. Excuse me but I forgot all their names already...
First one was this really cool audio-visual presentation. The audio is nice, I love it but the visual aspect of it is slightly disturbing as it was this blinking and flashing blinding lights that made my eyes really painful (I can't stand bright lights in the dark). But I'm pretty impressed with the whole thing. It's dedicated to the good ol' cathode tube stuff on TV. Since we now have plasma TVs.
The second one was pretty impressive too, although to be honest, I forgot what it was... But I remember enjoying it.
The third presentation, is by far my favourite. He showed us two pieces. The first one was an ambient music. He basically made a program that does things that I don't understand. And then after 20 times of trying out the program, he only liked one outcome, which according to Stephen, a really good statistic! Anyway I love the ambient sounds and it sounds like something that acoustic instruments can play (orchestra?) and might be suitable for movies. His second piece was also great. It started with this minimalistic ensemble of four guitars before it goes to this section of music (I forgot what it's called) that uses images to produce sounds (that sounds like pure noise, but sounds REALLY cool!). And at the end was this cute D major perfect cadence on the keyboard.
First one was this really cool audio-visual presentation. The audio is nice, I love it but the visual aspect of it is slightly disturbing as it was this blinking and flashing blinding lights that made my eyes really painful (I can't stand bright lights in the dark). But I'm pretty impressed with the whole thing. It's dedicated to the good ol' cathode tube stuff on TV. Since we now have plasma TVs.
The second one was pretty impressive too, although to be honest, I forgot what it was... But I remember enjoying it.
The third presentation, is by far my favourite. He showed us two pieces. The first one was an ambient music. He basically made a program that does things that I don't understand. And then after 20 times of trying out the program, he only liked one outcome, which according to Stephen, a really good statistic! Anyway I love the ambient sounds and it sounds like something that acoustic instruments can play (orchestra?) and might be suitable for movies. His second piece was also great. It started with this minimalistic ensemble of four guitars before it goes to this section of music (I forgot what it's called) that uses images to produce sounds (that sounds like pure noise, but sounds REALLY cool!). And at the end was this cute D major perfect cadence on the keyboard.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Week 3 - CC1 - Frequency Based Sound Editing
Sample 1
Using the lasso tool, I cut some chunks of the frequency and moved some sideways and transposing the frequency higher.
Sample 2
I used the paper that I teared quickly as the basic sound I edited. All I basically did was just to get small chunks of the sound and move them so they are displaced and transposed.
Sample 3
With this one, I cut off the high and medium frequency, leaving only the lower frequency. And I also increased the frequency and slowed the speed down slightly.
Sample 4
With sample 4, i deleted big chunks of the frequency from all over the sound and slowed down the speed of playback.
Sample 5
I slowed down the playback speed. On top of that, I deleted the whole horizontal blocks every random intervals. Then I copied some remaining blocks of frequency and moved it around.
---
EDIT:
I found out that www.box.net does only let you download the file and that could be pretty troublesome. So, on the next project I will probably just use www.ripway.com again.
Using the lasso tool, I cut some chunks of the frequency and moved some sideways and transposing the frequency higher.
Sample 2
I used the paper that I teared quickly as the basic sound I edited. All I basically did was just to get small chunks of the sound and move them so they are displaced and transposed.
Sample 3
With this one, I cut off the high and medium frequency, leaving only the lower frequency. And I also increased the frequency and slowed the speed down slightly.
Sample 4
With sample 4, i deleted big chunks of the frequency from all over the sound and slowed down the speed of playback.
Sample 5
I slowed down the playback speed. On top of that, I deleted the whole horizontal blocks every random intervals. Then I copied some remaining blocks of frequency and moved it around.
---
EDIT:
I found out that www.box.net does only let you download the file and that could be pretty troublesome. So, on the next project I will probably just use www.ripway.com again.
Week 3 - AA1 - Headphones
We were shown how to connect headphones. David was telling us that a good engineer will listen to all sort of things, like the headphones the musicians are hearing, the main mix, and so on. So we went to studio to check out the headphones. Turns out that the EMU headphone slots are for channels 3 and 4. We were then looking for which ones connects up to 1 and 2. Channel 1 turns out to be linked to the dead room but we didn't find out where 2 goes to, but it could be Studio 1.
Anyway, we went to try out the headphones (as well as practicing the start up procedures). When we went there, a large group of people were recording in the EMU and Studio 1. So instead of using a radio, Jamie played the guitar in the dead room while we set up the headphones.
The guitar is connected to the dead room's wall bay for Input 1 and the headphones are connected to it's input on the wall bay too. Normal patches are applied to the patchbay and the Mackie mixer.
On top of that, Aux 1 and 2 are used to control the output to the headphones in the dead room. We could also set up the left and right side of the headphones.
Anyway, we went to try out the headphones (as well as practicing the start up procedures). When we went there, a large group of people were recording in the EMU and Studio 1. So instead of using a radio, Jamie played the guitar in the dead room while we set up the headphones.
The guitar is connected to the dead room's wall bay for Input 1 and the headphones are connected to it's input on the wall bay too. Normal patches are applied to the patchbay and the Mackie mixer.
On top of that, Aux 1 and 2 are used to control the output to the headphones in the dead room. We could also set up the left and right side of the headphones.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Forum - Week 2 - Blogging
Were talking about blogging, some terms derived from blogging world as well as some blogging etiquette.
Well, Stephen started up the class with asking us to introduce ourselves to the class. And then the discussion started with the topic of blogging. Stephen read out some of his findings based on his readings about blog. "To blog or not to blog," that is the question.
To be honest, I was pretty confused as to why are we talking about blogging in Music Technology forum, but I guess blogging is one of the many results of the development of technology. The reason we discussed about blogging could also due to the fact that we do use blog in Music Technology as a way to submit our portfolio. We also discussed whether it is a good way to pass up our portfolio through blogs.
Some other topics we covered were the value of an information and the etiquette of blogging. In some media, an information become more valuable as more media stores the information whereas in some others an information become less valuable as more media stores that information. Blogging has some etiquettes that bloggers have to note too, and that includes the good old referencing.
Aside from all the seriousness, we had some fun with the invention of new blogging terms (neoblogism?). Like the fact that we live in the blogisphere (the world of blogging) and are in a blogademia. The tendency toward the blogging of everything is called blogalisation. Materials picked up by bloggers for their blogs are called blog fodder and feeding too much blog fodder can cause bloggarrhea. Meanwhile, a person who keeps checking their blogs on how much hits they have had is called a blog hawk. A person who maintains a relationship by the means of blogging is called blogamy and I guess more than one relationship would be called polyblogamy. Unfortunately there are some really famous bloggers called blogerati who in turn outshines many bloggers which results in bloglivions (unpopular blogs).
Well, Stephen started up the class with asking us to introduce ourselves to the class. And then the discussion started with the topic of blogging. Stephen read out some of his findings based on his readings about blog. "To blog or not to blog," that is the question.
To be honest, I was pretty confused as to why are we talking about blogging in Music Technology forum, but I guess blogging is one of the many results of the development of technology. The reason we discussed about blogging could also due to the fact that we do use blog in Music Technology as a way to submit our portfolio. We also discussed whether it is a good way to pass up our portfolio through blogs.
Some other topics we covered were the value of an information and the etiquette of blogging. In some media, an information become more valuable as more media stores the information whereas in some others an information become less valuable as more media stores that information. Blogging has some etiquettes that bloggers have to note too, and that includes the good old referencing.
Aside from all the seriousness, we had some fun with the invention of new blogging terms (neoblogism?). Like the fact that we live in the blogisphere (the world of blogging) and are in a blogademia. The tendency toward the blogging of everything is called blogalisation. Materials picked up by bloggers for their blogs are called blog fodder and feeding too much blog fodder can cause bloggarrhea. Meanwhile, a person who keeps checking their blogs on how much hits they have had is called a blog hawk. A person who maintains a relationship by the means of blogging is called blogamy and I guess more than one relationship would be called polyblogamy. Unfortunately there are some really famous bloggers called blogerati who in turn outshines many bloggers which results in bloglivions (unpopular blogs).
Thursday, March 13, 2008
CC1 - Week 2 - Audio Editing
We were shown how to edit an audio last Thursday and it was cool. Christian did it with a sample sound of a tom. He cut the attack, then reversed the audio cropped, bounced, and did all sort of things with Peak software. It was cool. And we were asked to record sound samples that is created by paper (ripped, crunched, scraped, etc.) and to edit it. It should last for about 45 seconds.
I recorded my sound samples on the two days I did my AA task for the week.
Shake
The original sample of the sound was the paper being waved like a flag. Then I changed the reverb and put delay on it.
Scrunch
The paper was scrunched and then I changed the reverb and reversed the audio. I also lowered the pitch down slightly.
Fast Tear
For this one, I tore the A4 paper quickly and changed the reverb. I think I also cut the attack of the sound.
Slow Tear
Tore the paper slowly, and then I added reverb. I also added a delay effect and reversed it.
Flick
Flicked the paper with my fingers and edited the reverb to a large hall.
I recorded my sound samples on the two days I did my AA task for the week.
Shake
The original sample of the sound was the paper being waved like a flag. Then I changed the reverb and put delay on it.
Scrunch
The paper was scrunched and then I changed the reverb and reversed the audio. I also lowered the pitch down slightly.
Fast Tear
For this one, I tore the A4 paper quickly and changed the reverb. I think I also cut the attack of the sound.
Slow Tear
Tore the paper slowly, and then I added reverb. I also added a delay effect and reversed it.
Flick
Flicked the paper with my fingers and edited the reverb to a large hall.
AA1 - Week 2 - Recording Studio Start Up Procedures
So we were shown how to properly start up Studio 2 in the EMU, it was pretty cool as we got to see the practical stuff of music technology. At the end of the class, we were asked to book a few sessions and perform the start up procedures. I booked Friday 10AM and Monday 1PM.
Friday 10AM
Went to Studio 2 to try out starting up a studio (and do the CC1's homework too, which is to record paper sounds). It felt so cool going into a studio by myself... Switched on the lights, then checked that the speakers are off and then then mains power. Then I did as the instruction sheet instructed and switched on the rest of the machines, which pretty much look alien to me. I used the Avalon pre-amps because David showed us how to use that one earlier on.
Then, I got an SM58 and a mic stand to try out recording the paper sounds, but I thought I couldn't get any input to the pro tools. So I went in and out the studio to the mic cabinets like a madman for roughly 10 minutes before settling on the SM58 again (I took out NT3's too but couldn't find the battery!).
After connecting the stuff I needed to connect to on the patchbay (mic to HiZ Avalon input, Avalon output to ProTools input and ProTools output to line 15 and 16 for playback), I could record the paper sounds.
Shutdown procedures was just as easy as start up, switched off the speakers, normalised everything on the Mackie and switched off the rest of the machines.
I'll do that again on Monday.
Monday 1PM
This session went well, I have memorised the procedures (although I referred to the paper just to make sure). No problems at all in terms of mics as I didn't need to run back and forth like I did before this (I used the SM58 again).
Instead of using Avalon pre-amps, I used the Mackie pre-amps this time. Recorded more samples of the paper sound.
Friday 10AM
Went to Studio 2 to try out starting up a studio (and do the CC1's homework too, which is to record paper sounds). It felt so cool going into a studio by myself... Switched on the lights, then checked that the speakers are off and then then mains power. Then I did as the instruction sheet instructed and switched on the rest of the machines, which pretty much look alien to me. I used the Avalon pre-amps because David showed us how to use that one earlier on.
Then, I got an SM58 and a mic stand to try out recording the paper sounds, but I thought I couldn't get any input to the pro tools. So I went in and out the studio to the mic cabinets like a madman for roughly 10 minutes before settling on the SM58 again (I took out NT3's too but couldn't find the battery!).
After connecting the stuff I needed to connect to on the patchbay (mic to HiZ Avalon input, Avalon output to ProTools input and ProTools output to line 15 and 16 for playback), I could record the paper sounds.
Shutdown procedures was just as easy as start up, switched off the speakers, normalised everything on the Mackie and switched off the rest of the machines.
I'll do that again on Monday.
Monday 1PM
This session went well, I have memorised the procedures (although I referred to the paper just to make sure). No problems at all in terms of mics as I didn't need to run back and forth like I did before this (I used the SM58 again).
Instead of using Avalon pre-amps, I used the Mackie pre-amps this time. Recorded more samples of the paper sound.
Forum - Week 1 - The Synergy Project
We went to UniSA to attend a forum called The Synergy Project last Friday (instead of our normal Thursday forum). It was cool to watch those professionals who work in the fields of media/music that involve technology.
The presenters range from a visual artist, technologician, composer, game developer, etc.
It was quite an enlightening experience as we saw these people who uses even their University projects and developing them further to a big commercial product.
The presenters range from a visual artist, technologician, composer, game developer, etc.
It was quite an enlightening experience as we saw these people who uses even their University projects and developing them further to a big commercial product.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
CC1 - Week 1 - System
Today's tute is about Systems including the DME (Desktop Music Environment). Christian was reading the course outline, the aims of the course and mentioning a few websites that we can use. It's a delightful thing to know that we will be using Mac OS (not that I'm surprised, seeing as the Audio Lab is filled with MacPros). At the end, he "threw" us straight into doing the week's assignment.
Creating a MIDI Network between Two Computers
So I paired up with Simon (was is Simon?) and we used the AMS to go to MIDI Network Setup to create a session and we connected our computers (computer 4 nd 5). And then we changed the setup at MidiKeys software. On mine (third pic), Destination is set up to ReMOTE SL: Port 1 and listens to Network: Session 1 (previously set up on the MIDI Network Setup). On Simon's, Destination is set to Network: Session 1 and listens to ReMOTE SL: Port 1 and the thru button is pushed. After doing those, what Simon played on his MIDI Controller can be seen on my screen (through MidiKeys). Here are some pics (first two is Simon's and the third mine).
Creating a MIDI Network between Two Computers
So I paired up with Simon (was is Simon?) and we used the AMS to go to MIDI Network Setup to create a session and we connected our computers (computer 4 nd 5). And then we changed the setup at MidiKeys software. On mine (third pic), Destination is set up to ReMOTE SL: Port 1 and listens to Network: Session 1 (previously set up on the MIDI Network Setup). On Simon's, Destination is set to Network: Session 1 and listens to ReMOTE SL: Port 1 and the thru button is pushed. After doing those, what Simon played on his MIDI Controller can be seen on my screen (through MidiKeys). Here are some pics (first two is Simon's and the third mine).
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
AA1 - Week 1 - Recording Session Plan
First AA forum was already fast paced. I, being a classically trained musician, was confused throughout the forum. David mentioned some pointers on being a successful sound engineer, adding some of his own recording experiences. Towards the end of the session, he mentioned Beatles’ sound engineer Jeff (I think it’s Sanders) and some of his experimental techniques with sound recording. David also stressed the importance of planning ahead recording session.
We were then told to pick a band and create a recording plan including the types of mics are to be used. I was really clueless about mics, so I talked to David at the end of the class. I then decided to go to the EML to borrow some books about mics and start getting an idea about different types of mics. On top of that, I search on some things on the internet and asked my friend about recording.
So here’s my session plan (please note that there are bound to be mistakes because I don't know anything at all about recording).
Session Plan for Live Recording in a Studio
Song: Love Enough
Band: Hillsong United
Instruments
Drum set, Electric Bass, Lead Guitar (and singer), Solo Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Synths (2), 4 Back up Vocals.
Recording Orders
1. Rhythm section: Drum set, bass, guitars (acoustic and electric).
2. Lead vox
3. Back up vox
4. Synths
Notes: Take one of the rhythm section include a rough singing by the lead vox, recorded once as a guide.
Microphone Input List
Input Instrument Mic
1 KICK - Beta 52A
2 SN TOP - SM 57
3 SN BTM - AKG 414
4 HH - KM 84i
5 H. TOM - Beta 56A
6 L. TOM - MD421
7 OH L - NT5
8 OH R - NT5
9 BASS - DI
10 L. GTR - C-414 BULS
11 GTR SOLO - B57
12 GTR RTHM - B57
13 SYNTH 1 - DI
14 SYNTH 2 - DI
15, 16 BG. VOX - NT4
17 L. VOX NT3
We were then told to pick a band and create a recording plan including the types of mics are to be used. I was really clueless about mics, so I talked to David at the end of the class. I then decided to go to the EML to borrow some books about mics and start getting an idea about different types of mics. On top of that, I search on some things on the internet and asked my friend about recording.
So here’s my session plan (please note that there are bound to be mistakes because I don't know anything at all about recording).
- - -
Session Plan for Live Recording in a Studio
Song: Love Enough
Band: Hillsong United
Instruments
Drum set, Electric Bass, Lead Guitar (and singer), Solo Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Synths (2), 4 Back up Vocals.
Recording Orders
1. Rhythm section: Drum set, bass, guitars (acoustic and electric).
2. Lead vox
3. Back up vox
4. Synths
Notes: Take one of the rhythm section include a rough singing by the lead vox, recorded once as a guide.
Microphone Input List
Input Instrument Mic
1 KICK - Beta 52A
2 SN TOP - SM 57
3 SN BTM - AKG 414
4 HH - KM 84i
5 H. TOM - Beta 56A
6 L. TOM - MD421
7 OH L - NT5
8 OH R - NT5
9 BASS - DI
10 L. GTR - C-414 BULS
11 GTR SOLO - B57
12 GTR RTHM - B57
13 SYNTH 1 - DI
14 SYNTH 2 - DI
15, 16 BG. VOX - NT4
17 L. VOX NT3
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