Production and Recording: Task 5

Production and Recording: Task 5

I decided to base this task around some one shot drum hits I had recorded at the end of one of the band recording sessions. I loaded these 7 samples (kick, snare, open hi-hat, closed hi-hat, ride, ride bell and crash) into a drum machine as I thought this would be the best way to trigger and process these sounds. I wanted to use minimal processing on the kick drum so I ran it through a saturator to ‘beef’ up the sound, a hi pass filter to avoid making the overall mix of the song muddy in the low end and a little compression to give it some punch. For the snare I only added a saturator and compression for the same reasons. I added a random modulator on all the hi-hats and cymbals controlling their pitch, this gives a really interesting effect in the piece and avoids the problem of programmed hi hats sounding boring and mechanical. I then copied this setup and added a bit crusher to it to give a larger range of timbres to use. I copied the setup again and granulated the samples to give a glitch effect that is popular in many modern dance music styles. I then put a very subtle limiter on over all the drum tracks to tighten their sound.
The piece mostly features pads and plucked sounds based upon classical string sections. I added auto filters to a lot of these sounds, which gave them a really convincing morphing effect. The more pad based sounds pan slowly between left and right and the plucked sounds move faster between left and right, I found automating the panning like this really suited the particular sounds. In addition to string section based synthesized sounds I have also included natural string sounds, these did not suit the auto filter morphing effect. Instead I used a suitably natural sounding concert hall reverb that I found in the Space Designer plug-in, this provided a nice contrast later on in the piece.
I created the bass sound from scratch using a software synthesizer using two saw waves which I detuned slightly against each other to give a nice phasing effect. I ran these through a Comb and Band pass filters in series. I then modulated the filter cutoffs and oscillator amplitudes using LFOs to give the sound more movement. This sound was then run through a tube amp emulator and reverb unit. Finally I duplicated this sound and put an auto filter on each, one with low pass and the other hi pass to tighten the sound and give it yet more movement. Once I got each of these at a level where they sounded balanced I grouped these two tracks to make it easier when mixing the whole piece.
Finally I wanted to add an extra emphasis when the bass comes in so I bounced a single hit from the kick drum with a long reverb on it. I then imported it back into the project, reversed it and placed it just before the bass line kicks in both times. This sounded ok but it was too muddy and I didn’t feel it stood out as much as it should. I added a high pass filter to remove most of the low end to clear up the sound. I then added a sharp EQ spike just above 1K to pick out some higher frequencies; this gave it a sound I was happy with.
I added a Match eq and adaptive limiter on the master out to tighten the overall sound and to catch any peaks that may distort.

Stereo Mic Techniques

Stereo Mic Techniques

Task 3 for production and recording required us to experiment with and compare different stereo micing techniques. Using AB as a control technique we compared its effectiveness with XY and NOS for the recording of 3 different instruments using the Octava microphones in a cardioid setup.
For our first experiment we used the acoustic guitar, we set up mics in AB about 2 foot apart form each other. We then set up mics in XY at 90-degree angles facing inwards and NOS at 90 degrees facing outwards. We thought it would be interesting to see the differences between the two as one faces inwards and the other outwards. AB technique seemed to pick up more low-end frequencies to give a warmer sound, which I liked. However XY and NOS seemed to give more clarity to the guitars sound, which is also desirable. The NOS seemed to have more warmth then the XY while still maintaining clarity of recording. While being partial to the sound produced by the AB technique I think that the NOS technique would be better in more situations for a lot of people.

AB technique

XY technique

NOS technique

Our second experiment was with the drums using the same techniques. We wanted to use the same 3 techniques on each instrument as we thought it would make a more interesting experiment if we could not only compare the effect different techniques had on an instrument but also compare the effect of the same techniques on different instruments. For the drums we set up the AB technique with mics 3-4 feet apart as we wanted to give a clear stereo image that would be good to use in conjunction with other close micing techniques to give a warm tint to the overall drum sound. This time clarity was not as important to us as we wanted this recording to have nice ambient qualities. Once again we found that NOS technique gave us the sound we were looking for. I think this is because the mics are pointed directly at the instrument so we were hearing more from the room then with other techniques.

AB technique

XY technique

NOS technique

Our final experiment was with the marimba. We once again set up mics in a wide AB setup this time positioning the mics about 2 meters apart as we really wanted to capture the full stereo range of this instrument. Once again we found that we really enjoyed the sound that was produced by the NOS technique. However I felt the wide AB technique gave a really clear stereo representation and had really nice warmth to the recordings.

AB technique

XY technique

NOS technique

My Final Post

Finalizing my pieces

The past week I have been in the 5.1 room at uni a number of times, smoothing out my surround automation and tweaking bits where and there.

I added a synthesized part to Guitar Study to underlay some of the guitar sounds at the start and end of the piece. It was difficult getting these parts at the right level, as they needed to blend in with the other sounds rather then becoming its own distinct sound object.

The main problem I had when working on Kinetic was that there was allot of low-end frequencies towards the start of the piece. I really enjoy these low rumbling frequencies but it was difficult to find a compromise between allowing these frequencies to take over and removing them completely. In the end I found a balance that I was happy with, there is still allot of low end, which could be mistaken for unwanted rumble but this is exactly what I wanted from this sound.

As I have mentioned before my Kinetic piece is a study of kinetic energy through sound. The piece grew from a sample I recorded of a jack adapter rolling back and forth across a dip in a plastic chair. While I was collecting possible samples for the piece this one interested me in particular as it seemed like a pure representation of energy in sound. I explored this further by transforming the sound in supercollider. I triggered the sample a number of different times some faster then the original recording and some slower. This resulted in some awesome sounds, which I thought were really lively and interesting. The final piece explores this energy from all angles and perspectives. The piece begins and ends with obvious examples of various types of what I would consider ‘natural’ energy for example low rumbles of thunder and the light fluttering of many leaves. The middle of the piece intends to explore more synthesized forms of energy harnessed by man, channeled through circuits and wires.

I am pleased with my pieces overall, I like the contrast between the Guitar piece being drawn out and drone like (I would love to have made this piece 20-40 minutes long, however I don’t think it would ever have been marked!)And the Kinetic piece being full of little clusters of rapid movement. If I was to make them again I may have gone about it in slightly different ways or if i had more time I would like to have refined them further, I still feel certain sections are too disjointed.

Automation of Guitar Study and more

This week I set about surround panning my guitar piece, which I have been working on for many weeks now. As with my other piece the sounds themselves more or less dictate how they should be moved, I just try to achieve the movement they suggest. After some consideration I have decided to finalize my pieces in 5.1 surround format rather then 7.1 as I had previously planned to. This is partly because regular access to an 8 channel system is difficult and party because I think it will be easier to make the movements within my piece clear.

My Guitar Study Piece attempts to show the listener an electric guitar from different perspectives then one would normally expect and to explore the harmonic content within the sounds generated by a guitar. Imagine a guitar 100 feet tall, and then listening to it being played from different strategic positions as it is played in different ways. From being situated behind the guitar hearing low waves of sound, to sitting upon the neck near the headstock hearing higher and more rapid attacks and finally being drowned in waves of huge distorted tones.

After playing the piece in class today I was encouraged to add some more subtle elements to my piece to give it a more pleasing colour over all. I have started experimenting with adding some synthesized elements to the start and end sections with some good results. I am hoping to get into the studio to do a proper mixdown in 5.1 format which I shall post here asap.

Panning Automation

Very exciting day today!!! as I started to work on the surround panning for my Kinetic piece. I hope to show the fully automated piece in wednesdays class. Even as I started to automate phrases across my makeshift 4 channel setup I could feel the piece really come to life. Some of the sounds I am using lend themselves so well to this sort of surround automation, most of the time it seemed as though the sounds are telling me how they should move through space rather then the other way around. This is a very rewarding style of composition indeed. I used a basic theme of sounds entering from the back of the space and leaving through the front. While a majority of the larger sound objects do this a few of the smaller ones seem to be on their own trajectory! Which keeps things interesting and plays on the listeners expectations.

While doing this It seems to me that I could maybe simplify the piece somewhat, as i feel if i removed some of the layers the sound objects would have more space to occupy and thus make the piece more effective. I shall be interested to hear if other members of the class agree on wednesday.

Drafts of my Final Two Pieces

Julio wanted us to post drafts of our final two contrasting pieces this week,

Draft number 1 (<<CLICK THERE) is my guitar piece (which has been heard by everyone far too many times by now I should imagine!) This is still the version I played in class last week, there are some issues with finer form details here still. I am going to be attempting to unify this piece fully over the Easter break.

Draft number 2 (<<CLICK THERE) is a new piece which I have started today. It is a study of Kinetic Energy through sound (Kinetic Energy? Whats that? CLICK HERE). It was made using one recording of a cable adaptor rolling back and forth across a chair, transformations of this were made in SuperCollider. I am undecided weather to use more sound sources or stick to just one as I already have many sounds from this one source. I look forward to playing this new peice tomorrow through the 8 channel rig.

My Sketches to date

I thought I would take the time to upload some of the things I have been working on in this module with short descriptions, so here goes…

Guitar Study 1

This is the first sketch I made using my collected guitar sounds, It is an atmospheric piece using a lot of reverbs and delays mixed with other effects. I chose not the play this in class as I was much more interested in play my second piece which i had done later in the week. I also feel that this piece relays far too much on using large amounts of reverb and as such none of the sounds I had made really stood out to make an interesting piece. With that being said I do still like allot of the sounds I made here so I think I shall be using some of them in my final piece.

Guitar Study 2

This is the piece I played in front of class in week 5, using the same material as in Guitar Study 1. This time however I was sure to not drown my sounds in reverb and instead got a much better balance between the sound object’s specialization and making them stand out. I was much happier with this piece and it got a good reception in class. I am looking to use some of these sounds again in my final pieces. Sounds I will definitely be look to use again will be the watery sounds around 30 seconds in, the larger deep stabbing noises from about 50 seconds in and the feedback from about 1:50.

Guitar Study 3

This was the piece I played in class week 6. It was again made from the same sounds use in my last two sketches. This time however I was using transformations I had made using the IXI Quarks software. I was proud of this piece and there are parts I would like to use in my final pieces. I would like to use the atmospheric sounds from near the start. I especially liked the Violin style sounds from about 1.00 in and I would like to use elements from my final buildup from about 4 minutes until the end.

Guitar Study 4

This was a quick piece of work I did following Julio’s Kick-Start the Muse podcast. This time I had collected some new sounds,  taking Julio’s advice on using some plucked sounds from around the headstock of my guitar. I was not particularly happy with this as a piece, or even a sketch however I think (as the podcast suggested) it did create some nice ideas which can be implemented into my final pieces. I liked the way these sounds sound very much like a Piano, I am looking forward to adding these to my Violin like sounds (I wonder how many more instruments my guitar can imitate). I also really like some of the effected sounds in here, most notably the bell like sounds at around 39 seconds.

Week 6 – More Sketches

This week was another interesting week with people showing their work. Josh had made an excellent noise based piece which I thought was really cool, He had used some really harmonically dense noisy sounds and payed attention to structuring and arranging them appropriately which I thought made the piece stand out. Another piece which stood out was Kiki’s time inspired piece, I thought this had a strong concept which can be an important tool in making memorable music. While I thought some of her sounds needed to be more disguised to the listener this piece, with some work this could be really good.

I got the chance to play my latest sketch in my guitar project. This weeks piece was based around transformed sounds of my guitar using IXI Quarks (an excellent program which can be found here http://www.ixi-software.net/content/software.html). I received some useful comments on how I could improve upon this. One feeling is that my pieces are too noisy and neglect higher pitch registers, This is something I am going to take on board while working on my final pieces, while I do not agree whole heatedly on the noise issue (I personally love noise artists, see Merzbow for a good example of this), I am going to be making an effort to include a larger range of sounds to maximize the impact of the noisier sections. Another feeling was that some of the sections I make take too long to develop. This is again something I find hard to agree with totally as I am a fan more drawn out drone type music and a few people seemed to agree with me here. What I shall take from this however is to make sure that I use these drone techniques more sparingly in future.

I am going to leave this weeks entry fairly brief as I am planning on uploading my tracks to my new Divshare account which I shall post in a different blog.

Week 5 – Diffusion of our own work

Week 5’s lesson was an exiting one as it was time to start playing and diffusing our own music and hearing what other students have done too!

Chris B.D. had created a piece by recording conversations in his kitchen. I thought this had the makings of a brilliant piece, the vocal sounds which had been cut up, pitched and processed made some wonderful textures which sounded really cool when sent around the room. I think with a little more work this piece would be well worth an entry in the upcoming Bourges competition.

I got the chance to play some of my experiments with guitar sounds through the system, this was a really fun and useful exercise. Allot of what I had done sounded allot better through a bigger system and it also highlighted which sounds needed to be worked with further. Julio commented and I agree that some of the sounds lacked warmth which is something I need to address. Hopefully the upcoming TutorialCast on mastering will help as the mastering side of things is something I really need help with.

Week 4 – Normandeau Study

This week we were required as a group to choose a piece of acousmatic music, study it and present/diffuse the piece in class. I was interested in looking at Normandeau’s Chorus, however my group compromised and chose to look at Robert Normandeau’s Claire de terre. The piece is broken up into an Overture (Ouvertue) and 12 movements, we though this would be a good piece to look at as the separate movements make compositional features such as structuring devices very explicate. This also made it very easy for us to pick specific sections to attempt to create different diffusion strategies for. We looked closely at Overture, Montage ryhthmique and Micro-montage. When the class started it turned out that another group had chose to look at Ouverture, So we instead focused on Montage ryhthmique (I believe we ran out of time before we could look at Micro-montage which was a bit of a shame as it’s possibly the most challenging movement of the whole piece as it is very short and chaotic).

Montage Ryhthmique was an interesting movement to try and diffuse, as the name suggests it is rhythm based. This gave me two different ideas as to how to go about diffusing the section. The first was to try and move the sounds around in a rhythmic fashion (eg make my fader movements in time with the pieces rhythmic elements) and my other idea was to assign different rhythmic elements to the different areas of the room and show how they changed this way. Both methods seem like they would be extremely difficult to execute well, unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to try them out as we ran out of time. Another thing to come out of these experiments builds upon an awareness of having to keep power in our diffusions. A great technique for this is to never have faders at absolute zero, rather it is better to keep a small amount of sound coming from all speakers and to really drive the speakers you want to have the focus. This way the room is kept ‘warm’ at all times yet still maintains a sense of movement in the diffusion.

Thats all for this week I think (I was going to go onto talking about my plans for choosing materials and the sketches for next week but I think I shall save that for another entry)