CC1 - Week 3 - Spectral Analysis

In this weeks lesson we were shown how to use the spectral analysis program named Spear. As part of our task we had to use our original paper sounds from last week to create an additional six samples, using techniques such as time offset and stretch, transpose, pitch shift, and general cutting and pasting. I basically did random things to my sounds, with no specific outcome in mind, as this would give me a better idea of what techniques produce what sounds. It is really quite amazing what sounds you can come up with through spectral editing.

This first sound is probably my least favourite, as it is not that different and not much is happening. I mainly used the frequency transpose and a bit of cutting and pasting.

Sample 1

In this sound I quite like the harmonics. I think this is because i cut the word slayer into the spectrum, which instantly makes it an awesome sound. I also used frequency transpose and copying and pasting to make a large mass which I could cut holes into.

Sample 2

This sound is pretty crazy, I did a lot of time stretching at different frequencies on this one, as well as a bit of frequency stretching.

Sample 3

I am not really fond of this sample, as it is quite short and once again nothing amazing happens. In this sample I used frequency transpose and shift as well as cutting holes.

Sample 4

I basically went crazy with the frequency shifter and time stretcher in this one, although it didn’t really turn out as well as I thought it might.

Sample 5

This last sound is my favourite as it sort of sounds like something out of a sci-fi/ horror movie or game. I time stretched two sections massively (so they were about an hour long) and then cut and pasted several sections again and again. At the end of the sample I used the sound from the start of the sample, and used time stretching to shorten it, then copied it over a range of frequencies. I also had to cut the end off this sample due to it being over an hour long. As i did not know how to do this using Spear, I used a program called GoldWav instead.

Sample 6

Hit up.

AA1 - Week 3 (2) - Studio 2

In this session of Audio Arts, we were introduced into the workings of studio 2. We were told the start up and shut down procedures of the studio, which was the mains power, the computer, the power for the racks, the amps, the ‘tools processor, the desk if its not already on, and finally the speakers. We were also given the start-up procedure which is often used in larger studios, which is DORA.

As part of this week’s assignment we had to spend 3 separate sessions in studio 2, although we were able to negotiate that we spend one 3 hour session in pairs, which was handy for me as I am working a lot of the time on weekends. Doug and I went into the studio, equipped with a bass and amp, a guitar, a crybaby and an amp modeller. We initially DI’d the guitar, looped an apple drum loop and laid down a rhythm guitar bed. After this we added a bass line. At the start we miced up the amp (in dead room) with a shure beta52, but due to the quality of the amp (or lack thereof) we decided to DI the bass as well. Using the ‘tools mixer we also added some effects such as EQ and compression to all the instruments.


The final audio sample is here

I believe this was a successful session and has given me a fairly good idea of how to run both pro tools and studio 2.

Forum - Week 3 - Compossible

In our last forum, we were given the interesting exercise of playing a song which lasted for 45 minutes. There were people singing, people playing percussion and people reading excerpts from books. It was not written as normal music though, only that we were to perform the action within a certain time, e.g. 2’30” – 3’00”. This was a very different exercise, and I can confidently say I have never done anything quite like it before. Although we were not given a specific reason of why we had to do this, I believe it was once again to give us a wider perspective of ‘what is music’. It was interesting to note some peoples reactions to this activity, some people thought it was a complete waste of time, whereas most others where indifferent. I personally was one of the indifferent people, although I thought it was an interesting and fun exercise, I think it would be more practical for us to be having forums on subjects more directly related to music technology.

Peace out.

Forum - Week 2 - Originality

"I am the originator." — Little Richard


In this forum we had a discussion on the originality of music. Stephen Whittington led the discussion, which was an interesting two hours, full of music of vast varieties. Two of Stephen’s quotes which seem to have popped up a few times now, are “I want to be like everyone else”, and “If you steal from one its plagiarism, if you steal from many its research.”

We were then played several pieces of music, some of which were pieces made out of pre-existing music, but chopped up, and others which were ‘original’. We were posed the question of which of the pieces were original. I personally believe that they were all original, even the pieces which were created using other peoples music, because even though they did not write the music, they put a different creative aspect on it, henceforth making it original. But then there is the philosophical question of originality, are any of us actual original? By typing originality into the almighty Wikipedia, I got the following: “Originality is the aspect of created or invented works as being new or novel, and thus can be distinguished from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or derivative works. An original work is one not received from others nor one copied based on the work of others. The term "originality" is often applied as a compliment to the creativity of artists, writers, and thinkers.”1 Although this meaning does support my belief about whether work is original or not, there is still that great philosophical question looming all around us. I could go into a debate about whether anything in life is original, but that would be more of a discussion for a philosophy 101 blog than a music tech blog.

Back to originality in music, although I believe most of the music played to us is original, I do not believe that the majority of music is original, because how can one be truly original when you must follow the rules of counterpoint or jazz. The reality is that so many songs simply use the 14736251 progression, or derivatives of it. To be truly ‘original’ in music, one must throw off the shackles of theory and embrace doing what feels right to them, not what they feel is ‘meant’ to be the right way.

I can think of several prime examples of people who have created good original music without the fetters of theory, two of which are Brian Eno, in his ambience works, and Malefic of Xasthur.
Anyway as you can see from this I really don’t understand the point of knowing theory when some of the best and most original music is created by people who break the ‘rules’.

If anyone wants to have a discussion on originality in music with me, feel free, as I would be interested to hear your views.

Until next time.

En Taro Adun

1. Originality, Accessed 14/03/07, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Originality

CC1 -Week 2 - Paper Sounds

For our first actual creative computing assignment, we were to record the sounds that a piece of paper could make, and then use tape effects, such as reverse, fade in or out, or cutting and splicing to make several samples up to 20 seconds in length. I promptly booked studio 5 and headed up there with Rode (cheers Darren) NT5’s. Once I worked out that I had no idea about how to get a signal from the desk to the computer, I decided to plug straight into the M-Box. After this I simply opened up Peak, set everything up, hit record and went at it like a bull at the gates, recording a variety of paper sounds. I had planned to go in on Monday, but when I got there, I barely had time to finish one sample before I got the call to go in to work – bloody Adelaide cup. So instead I was forced to complete the rest of my loops on Tuesday, within a two hour break between my lectures. After I had worked out that you had hit bounce after applying a plug-in, I came up with the following results.



Sound 1:
For this sound I recorded a paper being snapped (folding together and pulling apart violently). For this sound I simply cut and spliced and then pitch shifted it upwards – way upwards.

Sound 1











Sound 2:
For this I once again used the sound of paper being ‘snapped’ (although a different one this time), and then cut and spliced, and also reversed parts of the sound. I then massively downshifted it using the following settings:
• Render quality: max
• Pitch -2400 cents
• Effect blend 70%
• Smoothness 61%
• Tightness 85%

Sound 2








Sound 3:
For this sound I rubbed the paper between my hands, and then once again used the pitch shifter (I’m loving this pitch shifter aren’t I), and also used the gain change to remove several louder parts of the recording






Sound 3







Sound 4:
In this sample I flapped the paper, reversed a section, used a gain change to remove a louder section, pitch shifted it, and used an EQ to remove excessive low end noise created by the wind of the flapping paper.
Pic

Sound 4











Sound 5:
This sound was of me punching the paper, and this time I did nothing to it except a slight gain change in a few places, and a plug in called the mad-shifta, as you can see below.

Sound 5












Sound 6:
The last sound is of me ripping the paper, which I chopped and pasted several times to make it longer and dodgier. I also pitched it downwards, changed the gain in a few spots, then faded it in. After this I wanted to do an automated EQ sweep, but as peak is not able to do this, I jumped into logic and automated a parametric EQ to do a waveform sweep over the loop.

Sound 6

AA1 - Week 2 (3) - Session Planning and Management

I have decided after much debate to revolve my plan around the American death metal band called Nile. “Nile is a brutal/technical death metal band from South Carolina, USA assembled in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian mysticism, history, religion and art.” ^1. Nile contains three permanent members, Karl Sanders on lead vocals, lead guitar and additionall instruments; Dallas Toller-Wade on guitar and backup vocals; and George Kollias on drums. For recording purposes they would have Karl playing the bass. As many of Nile's songs have different samples/instruments, i have chosen to base my plan on the song User-Maat-Re, off the Annihilation of the Wicked Album.

Equipment List:

• Karl Sanders: ²
• Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100 heads
• Marshall 1960 a/b cabs with 70 watt celestions
• Dallas Toller-Wade
• Unable to find any information, so I will assume he uses a similar amp to Karl.
• George Kollias ³
• Drums
  22"x17" (x2) Kicks
  8"x7" Tom
  10"x8" Tom
  12"x9" Tom
  13"x10" Tom
  14"x14" Floor tom
  16"x16" Floor tom
  14"x6,5" George Kollias Signature Snare
  12"x5,5" SP Snare

• Cymbals
  AAX Stage Hats 14"
  Signature Max Splash 7"
  AAX Metal Ride 20"
  HHX Evolution Mini Chinese 14"
  AAXtreme Chinese 17"
  AAX Dark Crash 17"
  Hand Hammered China Kang 8"
  AAX Splash 10"
  AAX Dark Crash 17"
  AA Mini Hats 10” (half open)
  AA Mini Hats 12" (closed)
  AAXplosion Crash 18"
  HHX Evolution Chinese 18"
  AAXtreme Chinese 19"
  AAX Metal Ride 22"
  AAX Stage Hats 13"

4. George Kollias Kit

Session Plan

As I have used so many tracks on the drums (if it were up to me I would have a lot more due to the size of the kit) I would record them separately with the bass player playing just loud enough for the drummer to hear, so I can get the best sound as possible from the kit, with as little spill from other instruments as possible. I decided not to use room drum mics, as the drums are fast and technical, and need to be as precise as possible. After this I would record the two guitars together, with them playing to the drum recording. I would then re-record the bass this time with a mic and DI so as to get no spill from the drums. Finally I would record the two vocal parts separately in the dead room, followed by any other instrumented parts, such as the Bozouki or Saz. If it was needed for some reason, at this stage I would also re-record the drums.

The following is a preview of the song as recorded on the Annihilation of the wicked album.

User-Maat-Re

1 Nile, accessed 7/03/07, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_%28band%29

2 FAQ, accessed 7/03/07, http://www.nilechat.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7707

3 Set-up, accessed 8/03/07, http://www.georgekollias.com/

4 Pictures, accessed 10/03/07, http://www.georgekollias.com/gallery/kollias_gear_4.jpg

Forum - Week 1 - Intro

In the first of the music tech forums for the year, we all introduced ourselves and were told a basic outline of what we would do throughout the year. We are basically going to watch several seminars from the teachers, and will then host our own seminars on pre-decided topics. I am slightly unsure about the topics though, although this is mainly with the gender in music technology seminar. I can see no reason why this topic needs to be discussed, as it seems obvious that the gender of the producer would not have an impact on the record. I am also slightly confused by my topic, “To build or to destroy?” – Construction and Deconstruction in Music, although I am sure I will work out what this means in due time.

In the forum we also had interesting talks about a couch, but that is all I will say on that topic, peace out for now.

CC1 - Week 1 - Basic Overview

In our first lesson of CC, we did what we did in every first lesson, we went through a basic outline/aim of the course. Unlike most of the other initial lessons though, we actually got through some material, which was talking about DME systems (Desktop Music Environment). We talked about the two levels of a DME, the software level, and the hardware level (the hardware level is controlled by the software level).

We also discussed the operating system used on the computers here, which is OSX 10.4, or Tiger. We were shown how to access the AMS (Audio MIDI Setup), and in general how you would go about creating a MIDI system.

We also ran through some basic terms like the buffer, and how it is possible to change it to solve various audio problems.

This week we were meant to do our blog on a group task of creating a MIDI network, but as the computers were down, this task was not really feasible, so I will simply leave this blog at having said what we went through in the lesson.

Peace out.

AA1 - Week 1 - Facilities introduction

In our very first session of Audio Arts, we were initially taken through the basic course outline and what was expected during the year. Following this, we were given a quick lesson on basic studio etiquette, such as how to roll up various leads correctly, and were also given a few tips, such as to make sure that a boom stand is not touching the floor, but is using only its three feet. On top of these basic tips and a quick tour, I have also informally taken myself on a tour of the EMU. We were also drilled with several general EMU rules, which are as follows.

1. Mobiles phones are to be off at ALL times.
2. No food/drinks anywhere in the EMU areas, except the kitchen.
3. Always completely pack up the studio areas when you are done.

On top of this we were given a general OHS outline, such as to not lift anything too heavy for you, how to lift objects (bend your knees), and to not touch anyone who is slumped over, due to the possibility of electrocution. We were also advised to not leave any leads suspended in the air, as a precaution against tripping, which could cause both injury and expensive hardware damage.

The facilities involve the main recording area; studio 1, which is the primary recording studio; studio 2, which are adjacent to this main area and studio 5, which is the primary interactive studio. Studio 5 contains an electronic drum kit (which could be used to record both audio and MIDI) a MIDI controller keyboard and a hardware synthesiser. There is also a dead room, which is used to record vocals and any isolated recording, a storeroom, and a kitchen.

One of the major problems with the EMU studio is the dance floor which is located directly upstairs, although I have not personally heard the extent of the noise, I can imagine it could be quite disruptive to a recording session. A possible solution to avoid this problem would be to post a timetable of dance sessions in the EMU office.

I would also be quite concerned with the possibility of someone walking in on the recording session, say if they go to come in, and the light is on, they leave and come back in an hour, and the light is still on, they might just walk right on though, thinking you may have just forgotten to switch it off, which could be quite hazardous to a recording. This could possibly be fixed by setting up a link from the computer, so that when you are in recording mode, the light goes on, but when you are not, the light goes off, although I have no idea if such technology exists.

I am really excited to actually get into the studio and see for myself what the acoustics of the dead room and the main EMU space are like, and also to familiarise myself with the hardware and software located throughout EMU.

Until next time.

Nathan Shea

¹ Studio 1, Accessed 5/3/07, http://www.emu.adelaide.edu.au/resources/guides/spaces/studio.1

² Studio 5, Accessed 5/3/07 http://www.emu.adelaide.edu.au/resources/guides/spaces/studio.5