05.11.10
Posted in Production and Recording for Musicians at 16:59 by ibex
This task is contrasting to the previous one in that rather than the capture of a good raw sound, the focus here is on post-production techniques. I have created a two-and-a-half minute track that is somewhat a cross between a song and a soundscape.
Building the piece
With the exception of the vocals, all the audio material in this task is taken from recordings I made in previous tasks in the module. (The drum part and bass from Task4, and the vibes and electric guitar from Task3.) I took the melody line of the vibrophone recording as a starting point, setting the tempo of the project to match it (at 107bpm) and developing my harmonic and structural ideas around it. I often had to use elastic properties or non-elastic TCE to shape the pitch and time of my audio to unite all the different parts. (An example is the first bass part which was originally at a different tempo and a semi-tone higher). I constructed an 8-bar section using the material to act as a ‘chorus’ that comes in near the beginning and comes back at the end, with the middle section being a more abstract ‘development’. The chorus is more tightly held with the vibe motif (I quantized the kick and some of the vocals) and has a distinct sense of pulse and key to contrast with the abstract section which is tonally and rhythmically more free and unpreditable, allowing me to use sounds that don’t quite relate such as the bass line from the chorus in Roxanne (Task4) and . sound effects (the reverse crash cymbal). There are a number of points worth mentioning of things I did to address the brief when building the piecce:
- Double-tracking – this was a big thing here. All the hums in the vocal part are double-tracked and spread out across the stereo field to create a choal effect. In a similar way, the 4-bar bass part in the middle section is quadruple-tracked.
- Using ‘ghost’ and sound effects – I stretched out the first bass part into a 4-bar ‘sound’ which I put in the background mostly throughout the middle section but also right at the beginning of the piece, and created a reverse version of it.
– A capella moment – at 01:39 the hums have faded in completely and are isolated for 4 bars before the entire chorus comes back in.
– Reverse reverb – I treated a lot of parts with reverse reverb. This can be heard especially in the ‘Roxanne’ chorus bass part (01:09) and in the a cappela vocal parts (01:39)
Below is a screen shot I took when creating reverse reverb:
Recording reverse reverb
- Sub-grouping – see track list on my Pro Tools project. This was especially useful for decidng the levels of the rhythmic vocal parts against each other and the entire mix.
Mixing
This was the fun part! We were highly encouraged by the brief to use lots of plug-ins and automation in this task. Whilst this is something I happily took on board, I didn’t want to just drown all my sounds in effects, I still wanted the overall sound to make sense musically, so I generally assigned different effects to different parts which I then automated, although there is also one global effect automated on the master fader. Here are the details to make thing a bit clearer:
Task5 effects.pages
Finally I think it is worth mentioning that I used side-chaining on the vocal parts with the kick as the signal, to create a ‘pumping’ effect to the chorus. This is later bypassed when texture thickens (02:06)
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Posted in Laptop Musicianship at 15:42 by ibex
For this task we were asked to record a standard band demo of either an original song or a cover. The session had to include at least drums and vocals but could include a veriety of other intruments. I chose to do a cover of the song ‘Roxanne’ by The Police, and as such recorded drums, vocals, (main vocal and 3-part harmoney backing vocals) bass and two guitar parts. Originally I was planning to approach this in one live session but due to limited availability of the studio and the performers I had to split the production into two sessions, in the first recording the drums and the bass, and in the second the vocal and guitar parts. The first session was by far the longer as multimicing the drum kit took a while. Once it was set up however it was relatively easy to find good levels for the recording. After a few attmpts of mic choice and positioning, I set up the bass with two microphones, (see mic table) at close proximity to the amp, one pointing slightly off centre and the other coming more from the left. I felt this gave a lovely rich yet punchy sound. In the second session, the vocals and guitar parts were recorded, the guitar done through Direct Input. I wanted to stay as true to the original song as I could and as such it was unfortunate that I couldn’t find a male singer twith a high enough vocal range for the song. I had to use a female performer which felt odd (This is something I would definitely do differently in future), but to try and get closer to Sting’s style I advised for ‘laid bak’ singing – almost out of time with the rhythm section. I also instructed the performers at certain points in the song on how I wanted them to immitate specific elements that I heard and thought were nice in the original. For example in the final chorus as the music fades, I instructed the drummer to emphasize the snare on evry half beat and then strike the toms in a similar way which can be heard on the original track at about 02:50, and on my cover from around 02:43. Another example is in the second verse where I asked for the vocal line to ‘slide’ on the words “made-up” and “make-up” as Sting does in the original, but this didn’t come out very apparent. In retrospect, one other thing I would do differently is to record more of the backing vocals in order to set out double-tracking for those parts. Having done a lot of that for Task5 I now know it can bring out a really nice choral effect to harmonising parts and I think would have added a nice touch to this cover.
Here is a table showing the different microphones I used to record the band:
Task4 mic table
With limited upload space on this blog I have decided to put on the pictures for the drum set-up only as this was the most complicated while the other instruments were quite straight forward:
Floor Tom
Kick
First Tom
Snare
Hi-Hat
Overhead mics
The full kit
Mixing
Mix Screen of Pro Tools session
We were very limited in terms of post production on this task, to encourage a good initial, raw result. We were only allowed to use high pass filters for EQ, compression, side-chain compression and a total of two effects. Naturally I used some compression and HPF on my instruments to get rid of unwanted sub-bass and noise. I also used side-chain compression on the bass with the kick as the side-chain signal to allow the bass to remain at a high level in the mix without drowning out the kick. I sub-grouped the drums (excluding the kick) and added some limiting using the Maxim plug-in to hold them together. The only other effect I used was reverb, which was not very big and to which I sent only the vocals and drums. In terms of panning I was also very descrete. I only really spread out the drum parts to mirror the position of the kit from the point of view of the drummer. I did however use the elastic time properties in Pro Tools to tweak some of the vocal parts where the performer was slightly out of tune. Bellow is a screen shot that shows this:
Adjusting vocal line with polyphonic elastic properties
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Posted in Production and Recording for Musicians at 13:45 by ibex
In this task we were asked to explore the various stereo mic techniques that we studied in class and make six recordings of either pitched solo instruments or both solo instruments and a small ensemble. The idea was to set up the various techniques and see how they affect the recording depending on the positioning and distancing of the microphones and the instrument they are used with. One recording of each set had to be the AB technique.
I first tried out the techniques on a vibrophone and an acoustic guitar and decided on a collection of three recordings of each, demonstrating the same techniques – AB, OCT, Decca Tree – to show how they differ from one instrument to another. Upon reflecting back and feedback on my results I realised the techniques I chose worked better for the vibrophone and not so well for the guitar, which gave some inadequate recordings (Particularly with AB). As such I decided to redo the process using an electric guitar. This time, the three techniques I preferred were different – AB, XY, Blumlein. I also found that the smallest changes in positioning of the mics made a very big difference to the end result. For example I positioned the AB technique much closer to the sound source on the acoustic guitar than the electric, which is probably why it had produced a worse result. Below are tables showing the techniques I demonstrated with the different instruments:
Task3 mic tables
On my second attempt, whilst the electric guitar produced nice recording, for some reason all the recordings showed a problem with the phase, and as a result I had to separate these on my Pro Tools project from the original stereo tracks into pairs of separate mono tracks, with the phase inverted on one of each pair.
The second part of this task was to use the elastic properties in Pro Tools to create a soundscape using the recordings we have made. I made a soundscape using parts of my vibrophone and acoustic guitar recordings.
Here are photos showing the three techniques I used for the vibes and acoustic guitar
AB-
OCT-
Decca Tree –
I couldn’t upload more photos but here is a diagram that shows the placement for the XY technique I used on the electric guitar. The same set up applies also to the Blumlein technique, except the polarity is a figure of 8 rather than cardioid (See microphone tables)
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05.07.10
Posted in Laptop Musicianship at 19:31 by ibex
Now that this module has come to an end I feel I ought to write a few things about it. Some of the concepts we have covered this semester were already familiar to me from previous study of electroacoustic music but this module has taught them to me on a more practical level. It has allowed me to consider the different possibilities in a composition when it comes to space, whether diffused in its performance or presented in its automation. I had never diffused music before nor written music to be diffused, so it was a new experience for me as the composer, as well as the listener/performer. I have very much enjoyed listening to and discussing the works of well known composers of this genre, and attempting to follow their examples in writing my own acousmatic compositions. I only regret that I didn’t take the opportunity to compose for 5.1 surround sound which is again something I have never done before and thus thought might be too complicated, but in retrospect I think it would have been nice to try it and indeed I will in future.
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04.20.10
Posted in Laptop Musicianship at 19:02 by ibex
The brief for our second composition asks for a contrasting piece which should be automated for either stereo or 5.1 surround sound. I have chosen to create a piece for stereo and as such my main concern for this piece is the use of panning, as well as reverb and delay automation in order to create movement within a space.
Knowing I need to create a very contrasting piece from my last, I decided to go back a few steps to the idea we were given in week five of creating a composition using only one sound source. I had created my one minute piece of week six in this way using only one audio sample – that of a deer roar, but since my first composition was based a lot on wildlife sounds I decided it was probably best not to use my one-minute piece as a starting point but rather start from scratch. Indeed I started from ‘scratch’ as the sound object I picked for this second piece is the short audio sample of scratching vinyl which I found within the collection of sound effects in Logic Pro. This choice demonstrates a link to musique concrète in a different manner to composition one. Whilst that composition was all about ambiguity between sounds that are originally distinguishable i.e. birds, bees, drills, this time the sound material itself – my vinyl audio sample – is not as easily recognisable (for most people) and as such gives the listener an advantage in terms of reduced listening.
Starting with this sample, I began manipulation using elastic properties in Logic 9, and ‘Live cut’, (a plug-in for Logic that algorithmically splices up a sound much like a beat cutter) to generate sounds that sound squeaky or percussive. I made a collection of the sounds I liked most and arranged them, again in Logic. Structuring the piece, I took care to use a specifically different appproach from my composition one. I did this in several ways:
- Using more moments of silence as a framing device, to create sections in the composition as opposed to having a continual flow.
- Arranging sounds with shorter attacks together to give the piece a percussive feel.
- Using more effects on my sound material in contrast to the mostly raw sound collection in composition one. Aside from a lot of reverb and delay (which I count as part of the fundamental point of the brief for composition two i.e. spatial automation), I also used chorus and pitch shifting effects on many of my sounds.
- Creating a composition that is mainly rhythmic in nature. There are several moments throughout the composition that show a clear sense of pulse.
The last of these points was essentially my response to one of the class presentations we have had over the course of this module – the diffusion performance in week 4 of ‘Malina’ from the album ‘Clair de Terre’ by Robert Normandeu. As I mentioned in my post that week, I was fascinated by the fact that an electroacoustic piece should use drums and have moments of definite pulse and rhythm. This makes a nice change from the ‘flowy’ nature of most compositions in this genre. So I decided to follow the example set in this piece (which incidentally also uses only one sound source – the shakuhachi).
Automation in the piece follows all effects used but mainly I focused on automating panning, reverb and delay. Composing for stereo offers somewhat less choice when it comes to spatialisation than composing for 5.1 surround but used thoroughly, pan automation can create all sorts of interesting shapes using just the two channels. I tried to use panning to create a sense of movement throughout the piece and moments of call and response between its sonic elements by alternating their pan from extreme left to extreme right and vice versa and swapping the panning between sounds that are heard together or one after the other. I used sudden increases of reverb and delay at some points to give the sense of energy and direction and add gesture to the composition.
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03.23.10
Posted in Laptop Musicianship at 18:38 by ibex
This week we performed the first of our acousmatic compositions, which were pieces to be diffused live. I was rather nervous at diffusing my own piece but I felt that it went quite well.
The main idea behind this, my first composition, follows on from the concept of ambiguity between sounds, which I have discussed in previous blog posts – taking sounds that are similar and overlapping and weaving them in and out in a way that confuses the listener. The secondary objective of the piece is to create a journey for the listener through imagery that juxtaposes nature against urban life. This was inspired by the Chris Watson sample of the Cheetah which I heard in week two, which I also used as one of the sound sources for this piece.
The composition begins with bird songs and moves through sounds of bees and humming birds, gradually introducing the sounds of motorcycles which carry a similar ‘buzzing’ quality. Soon afterwards, the sounds of the cheetah breathing come in along with samples of cats purring and one or two tiger roars. Then Industrial sounds such as a jackhammer begin to fade in over the the underlying animal purrs. These sounds are very different in timbre but have a certain rhythmic resemblance. During this middle section the level balance alternates between the industrial sounds and the natural sounds to encourage confusion to the ear. Also here many of the sounds have been highly manipulated through stretching, cutting and reversing of the samples, again to add to the ambiguity. Towards the end the balance falls to bring out the animal sounds again and eventually drifts back to bird song via more purring sounds and cooing pigeons. Overall the two main points of ambiguity in the piece are the ‘buzzing’ of the bees and the motorcycles, and the rhythmic similarity of the purring/breathing and drilling sounds.
When we performed our one-minute pieces I noticed the advantage of having a bounce that is mono rather than stereo, because it gives more power to the use of faders during the diffusion. I therefore used a bounce in mono for this week’s performance. Our next task is to create our second compositions. This time the spatial element should be automated rather than left to a live performance. Also it needs to be contrasting to our first composition.
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03.05.10
Posted in Acousmatic Composition at 20:32 by ibex
During today’s lesson each member of the group performed their one minute piece created with just one sound source. My piece was based on a recording by Chris Watson from his album ‘Outside the Circle of Fire’ of a red deer roar. I manipulated this sample with TCE stretching and pitch shifting in Protools using four available elastic audio modes: Polyphonic, Rhythmic, Monophonic and Verispeed. I then added some modulating effects and arranged the rest in Logic. I bounced it down in stereo, but having diffused it today and listening to other people’s performances I think I might have been better off creating a mono output instead, because it seems to give more direct spatial control over the piece when diffusing. I have not yet decided if my first composition for this module will be a development of this one minute piece or whether I will start over, but I do think I will definitely bounce my composition down in mono for when I have to perform it in week 8…
Right at the end of the lesson we listened to a bit of Julio D’Escrivan’s ‘Salto Mortal’, thinking about the relationship between two sounds that naturally, don’t necessarily go together, but in the piece complement one another through call and response and patterns that suggest that the energy from one “feeds” the other. Some more things to consider for our own compositions…
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02.28.10
Posted in Acousmatic Composition at 21:54 by ibex
This week we had three more groups presenting and diffusing a chosen piece by one of the suggested composers. The first group- Mike, Sam and Iakovos, chose a piece by Denis Smalley called ‘Piano Nets’. It showed a contrast between sounds with harsh envelopes coming from the piano, to synth sounds with softer attacks. We found that many people in the class didn’t like the piece very much because it was quite monotonous, and that perhaps the piano is not very suited for a diffusion environment.
The second group – Ben and Simeon, chose the piece ‘Pendledrom’ by Barry Truax which translates in Danish to ‘Commuter Dream’ and portrays a narrative of falling asleep on a train. I personally really liked this piece because of its stylistic use of gradual sounds interweaving within a soft backgound. The sonic material is that of environmental recordings from a train station and train journey. Barry Truax is known for his associatoin with Murry Shafer and his work with sounds of the environment (Acoustic Ecology) and the World Soundscape Project. This is an area which I have particular interest in and as such really enjoyed listening to this piece. It was also tremendously effective within a diffusion context because of its concept of a dream – drifting in and out from real sounds to those of a dream, in a state where the brain misinterprets the location of sounds and their meaning and often the sounds themselves are warped by the sleeper’s subconscious and imagination.
The third was my group- Michail, Igors and myself. We presented the piece ‘Erinyes’ by Robert Normandeau. We chose this track mainly in response to last week’s mention of ‘Clair de Terre’ in Rick’s presentation. This track, from the same album, is very different from the one Rick diffused. In comparison to ‘Malina”s pleasant instrumental sound, the harsh use of vocal material in ‘Erinyes’ was very eerie and disturbing.
Our task for next week is to come up with a one-minute-long piece to be diffused in lesson, but which uses only one sound source (and sound object).
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02.25.10
Posted in Acousmatic Composition at 23:30 by ibex
This week I have been given the task of working in a group with Igors and Michail to prepare a presentation and diffusion of a piece of our choice, by one of the suggested composers: Francis Dhomont, Robert Normandeu, Denis Smalley, François Bayle, and Barry Truax.
Having enjoyed last lesson’s presentation of ‘Malina’ from the album Clair De Terre by Robert Normandeau, I thought it might be nice to work with something from the same album. There are two pieces that follow ‘Malina’. The first is ‘Erinyes’ and the second is a Suite of 13 short movements, the first of which ‘Ouverture’ is 6 minutes long and the rest vary between 1 – 3 minutes or so. I was actually very interested in exploring this third piece, but it’s length and complex setup discouraged my group, who much prefer ‘Erinyes’ anyway.
The name of the track derives from the creatures in greek mythology of the same name. The erinyes were
netherworld goddesses who punished wrongdoers and criminals. They often did so by tormenting the criminal’s mind, driving them into madness. This concept is nicely reflected in this piece by Normandeau, which gives its vocal material a threatening and maddening nature through repetition of onomatopoeic sounds objects. The source for the sound in ‘Erinyes’ was a recording taken from a live production of the greek tragedy ‘Electra’ which was performed in Montreal in April 2000. Normandeau had in fact provided the music for this production.
Thinking of diffusing this track in class, I think the strategy that would work best is diffusion in circles, representing the imagery of the erinyes invading and revolving in their victim’s mind. Towards the end of the track there is a section that has many shorter sounds, which might call for a different diffusion strategy, such as hard left and right panning for a sort of call and response effect.
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02.19.10
Posted in Acousmatic Composition at 19:22 by ibex
This week’s session, similarly to last week, consisted of two groups presenting and diffusing a chosen piece to the class. The first was Pete and Daniel presenting ‘Theme De La Fuite’ by Francis Dhomont, and the second Rick presenting ‘Malina’ from the album ‘Clair de Terre’ by Robert Normandeu. Of the two pieces, I found the latter more interesting which was unexpected since it was clearly created with less diverse sound material than ‘Theme De La Fuite’. To me this didn’t seem to hinder the complexity of the piece. On the contrary, it gave it a sense of unity, and I was especially intrigued by the way it explores the sound of a single instrument – the shakuhachi. I also liked the idea that in spite of this being an electroacoustic piece, it had moments that had a definite sense of pulse, and use of beating drums which is rather unusual in this genre. I can’t help but wonder however, whether it is in fact this notion that I find interesting, or whether it is simply the conventional appeal of pulse and rhythm that drew my attention.
At the end of the lesson we listened to some more sounds collected by the group for example Daniel’s recording of playing the mandolin. We found that sounds like this made with a certain gesture are good for diffusion because they naturally follow a change in direction that can be mirrored in panning. We also discussed a few potential points to consider in regard to our own compositions. These were:
Using moments of silence – We’ve discussed the use of silence before in terms of structuring a piece for ease of listening, but this time we talked about performance with diffusion. More specifically – using moments of silence to reset the faders so that the next sound can come from another direction.
Alternating between sudden swells and longer notes/sounds – to give contrast
Using swells of sound that build up in energy until a point where they “need” to be released
Repeating rhythm structures – so that each instance can come from a different direction.
Three groups have been assigned this week to prepare a presentation for next week, one of which is Igors, Michail and myself.
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