Production and Recording- Task 5

I decided to make a Dance track for this piece, using logic. I started of by using a sample i had recorded when doing some other recording, which was just of someone talking. I decided to base the climax’s in this piece around this sample. I wanted to create an interesting start to the piece so i decided to do some simple Volume, Panning and Reverb automation on this sample to start of with, i feel this works very effectively. Also towards the second/main climax (Drop) i had a go at doing a technique which is very popular in modern day dance music, this is to build up the sample by cutting it up smaller and smaller then gradually letting it build up to its original full size then letting the sample play on its own, then letting part of it be repeated with the rest of the music, when using this technique you have to make sure you coincide it with the climax’s within the piece, i think i did this very effectively.

I then created a bass sound using loads of automation, mainly automating the Cut off of the synth i used, the Volume and A High Pass Filter in parts, i was very pleased with this warping type sound i managed to create from scratch. I then started to work on the drums, i wanted to do an interesting modern day style of drum programming with lots of glitches and parts that almost trip over one another, i set about doing this by using techniques such as velocity ramps, reverb automation and panning automation, I think i managed to create some interesting drum sequence’s. I used a variety of drum hits, some were logic presets and i loaded some in.

I also used Klopfgiest to add some different textures at the beginning of the piece, i automated the velocity of each hit and the volume and panning. After i got all the sounds i desired i started to arrange my piece properly, this mainly consisted of getting the climax’s (the drops) in the right places, and making the automation follow this arrangement to ensure a piece that flow’s and is pleasing to listen to.

I am very pleased with how this piece has turned out, it is exactly the kind of thing i was going for and i think it demonstrates many interesting techniques within logic.

Production and Recording -Stereo Mic Techniques

Stereo Mic Techniques

For assessment 3 in production and recording we were asked to explore and compare different mic techniques, we decided to use the AB technique, the XY technique and the NOS technique. We recorded one recording for each of theses techniques with three different instruments, Guitar, Drums and Marimba, this gave us nine recordings in total.

For the three different techniques we used the octava microphones in a cardioid setup. For the first recording of each instrument we did the AB setup, so we could use this as a reference point to compare the other two techniques to. We started by recording an acoustic guitar with the AB set up with the mics about 2 feet away from each other. Then we did the XY setup with the mics at 90 degree angles facing in wards, i played the same guitar riff for each mic setup. Finally we did the NOS set up with the mics at 90 degrees facing outwards.

The AB technique seemed to pick up more low end than the other two techniques, this was nice as it gave a warmer overall sound, also the sound seems clearer than the others. The XY technique gave a more distant sound, and an interesting over all natural room reverb which you did not get with the AB recording.  The NOS technique also had quite a distant feel to it, also it seemed to pick up a little bit more high end than the others with another nice natural reverb sound. Overall i think the AB technique proved best when recording this guitar as it had a naturally full and warm sound, i think the AB and the NOS recording would go well together, with the AB being more profound and the NOS being a nice natural sound.

Below are some pictures:

XY setup , NOS setup and the AB setup:

For the next set of recordings we decided to record the drums, as i mentioned earlier we are going to use the same set of three techniques (AB,WY,NOS) for each instrument, as we felt this would be the most efficient way to study each technique and evaluate which technique is best to use in a variety of situations. For the AB setup we had the mics 3/4 feet apart, and the XY and NOS techniques were the same as before.

This time i found the AB mic’s were a little to warm and low-end heavy, even when experimenting with High Pass Filters i felt this sound was still too low-end heavy. The XY was OK for the drums but again i found this sound to distant as the mics were not pointing directly at the kit, overall i fell the NOS technique was most efficient for recording the drums as the overall sound was very nice and the snare sounded a lot more profound in this technique, i think this was because the mics were pointing at the kit and also i feel this technique caught a better over all room sound. The sound using the NOS technique was slightly distant but i think if i tried it again i might have placed the mics slightly closer to the kit.

Below are some pictures:

The final instrument we decided to record was the marimba, this time we decided to have a 2 meter gap between the mic’s in the AB setup as we wanted to catch the full range of the marimba’s sound, this proved quite effective as the AB recording was once again very warm and caught the full range of sounds made by the marimba. The XY wasn’t very good for this instrument, the sound was weak and un-appealing. Again i found the NOS technique to be the best for this instrument, although the sound is again distant the clarity of the sound is perfect for the marimba. The AB technique was also good in some ways as the sound was very clear, but a little too warm.

Below are some pictures:

Acousmatic Compostion- Final Post 2

I have now finalised my second final piece, i am very pleased with it and i feel it has stuck very much to my simple plan. I think i managed to create an interesting contrast to my first piece, this time instead of taking major influence from any other composers directly i let everything i have learnt and listened to for this module wash over me and i let my mind wander a bit more and composed a piece with my own ideas on there own, i think the end result was effective and i think i managed to stick to my plans and ideas i stated when i first started this piece.

The one thing i would change is again to have more time in the 5.1 room, i think i would have benefited from doing the arrangement in the 5.1 room as well as the panning automation and some volume automation’s. Also i would have liked to use a few more processed sounds within the piece although i do feel i created enough textures within this piece.

Here is a stereo mix of my final draft :

http://www.divshare.com/download/7351419-a2d

Overall i am very happy with my compositions for this module and i look forward to experimenting with acousmatic music in the future!

Acousmatic Composition-Automation

I have now finished the volume and panning automation for this second piece, i did all the volume automation first, i tried to again follow a few techniques with a few more interesting different ,ones as well just to help contrast my first piece. Most of the volume automation was very simple and occurred over long periods of time rather than being erratic. One technique i tried and found very effective was one i had slightly touched on with my last piece but it was not a main factor when composing it. This technique was to copy the same audio sample to another track and transform it again using different process’s, then automate the volume for one track normally then layer the other track at exactly the same time but do opposite volume automation’s so the two samples wave in and out of phase with each other never playing at full volume at the same time. There is a screen shot example here to show you this process in this composition :

Volume automation for two audio tracks.

The panning automation was again an exciting but hard task for this piece i didn’t want to spend as much time on the panning this time but i did end up spending quite a lot of time in the 5.1 room at uni adjusting the panning automation and the arrangement of the piece, when hearing it on a proper 5.1 system i started to realise issues i could not hear at home as i was using headphones, this was a great advantage in getting my ideas across appropriately.The panning automation is quite self explanatory and simple in parts but very erratic in others, i automated every track individually to make sure i made the most of the space throughout the room, i think i did this well. Here are some screen shots of the panning automation :

Panning automation

I am very happy with how this piece has turned out and i will post a final post next!

Acousmatic Composition-Arrangement 2

I have just finished arranging my second final piece in logic, I’ve found it a much quicker process this time, i think it is the way i am going about putting this composition together, baring in mind the sketches i had done before i remembered that i found it very productive to arrange a piece quickly in one sitting and then to come back to it the next day and see what could be changed etc. to get some good ideas when coming to do the piece i am working on now. These ideas were to use simple transitions and layering of a smaller arrangement of sounds to create an interesting piece within a small space of time.

I decided i wanted this piece to be more of a sound-scape and a more drone piece with rhythm’s accompanying. At first i was just going to use drones and no rhythmic elements but then when messing about with plug-ins in logic i created a very interesting rhythm which seemed to fit in naturally with the piece, from then on wards i built the piece up and layered the drones and rhythmic parts together carefully to create a naturally evolving piece which i feel was my initial idea.

Below is a screen shot of part of the audio drone and rythmic layerd together:

Rythmic Layer at the top with the drone underneath.

In my next post i will discuss volume and panning automation!!

Acousmatic Composition-Sample Transformations2

For this piece i decided to stick with the idea of just using one sound source as i found this is the best way to create my idea’s for acousmatic composition, but in contrast to the first piece i decided to only use one recorded sample and use ixiQuarks and logic plug-ins to transform it in anyway i saw fit.

I started by creating some rhythmic pulses using ixiQuarks and some logic plug-ins such as rephraser, i wanted to have underlying rhythms throughout the piece but i wanted these to phase in and out and i didn’t want them to be apparent all the time.

I transformed many more samples including some other rhythmic ones and i also made some drone type sounds using the same samples but transforming them in many different ways. I feel i now have enough to work with and get started on the arrangement and sequencing in logic.

I will post about the Arrangement of this second piece next !!

Acousmatic Peice 1-Final Post

I have now finished my first piece with all the panning and volume automation and the arrangement/sequencing finalised, i added a few synthesised versions of some of my original ixiQuarks sounds when finishing working in the 5.1 room as i feel this added to the over all textures of this composition, i found it difficult getting the right levels between the original sounds and the synthesised versions, but i managed to get my desired sounds in the end and i am very happy with the end result of this composition.I think it has portrayed my ideas and influences in a very effective manner without being too alike to anything i have mentioned as my influences it still has direct quality’s related to the ideas i have posted about previously, but i feel my composition really is my take on these ideas.

The main things i would consider changing listening back to this project is maybe to have added another big climax towards the end or at the start to compliment the main one in the middle which i talked about in my last post, also i would probably spend another day in the 5.1 studio but i did not allow myself enough time so towards the end it was slightly rushed, but i am still very pleased with the end result.

Here’s a stereo mix of the final draft :

http://www.divshare.com/download/7349406-373

Acousmatic Composition-Panning Automation

Today i finished my panning automation. I decided to write some notes down with rough idea’s for my panning automation instead of starting it at home in logic because i wanted to do it all in the 5.1  surround sound system at uni. I spent two days in this room doing the panning for both my final compositions. For this first piece i spent more time on the panning automation than anything else, because i wanted to make sure it followed my simple but effective approach, i feel i have achieved this very well with the main parts to my piece well defined and profound in the right places, and subtle  in the other parts to create the exact atmosphere i was going for. Again i took major influence with Denis Smalley’s composition ‘Pente’s’ i wanted to almost recreate the build ups and releases that he uses in his piece.

I feel i should make some comment on some of the main phrases in my piece with regards to the ‘build ups’ i have talked about and references to ‘Pente’s’ that i have made so far. The most obvious and i feel the most profound one builds up from the start of the piece and climax’s at around : 1 min 27 sec’s, this was to be the middle and main climax in my piece and i decided the best way to make it stand out was to have a very long build up to it and an extended tail off time. This was where the panning automation became very important as i wanted to further extenuate this ‘climax’ by using 5.1 panning to throw the sound slowly around the room towards the climax then at the actual climax throw it from one side to the other to make use of the space within the piece and mainly to define this point.

Throughout the rest of the piece i have used various panning techniques, including ideas considering the volume automation, in some parts i found an interesting idea was to slowly pan the sounds from one side of the room to the other whilst the volume was either inclining or declining. In other parts i have used some very erratic panning which i felt was effective because it contrasted the slow panning during the build up parts and volume inclines/declines.

Most of these panning techniques were realised whilst practicing ‘make-shift’ live diffusion at home.

Here are some screens shots of some panning automation :

1 Min 27 Sec’s Panning Automation.

An example of three audio channels panning automation.

An example of my panning automation.

I have now almost finished my first peice i will write one final evaluation post!

Acousmatic Composition-Volume Automation

I have now got everything arranged in logic and have been doing some volume automation as i go along and now i have just finished doing my final volume automation’s, i am now just smoothing it out and basically finalizing it. I have used volume automation religiously as i wanted to try and restrict myself to just sequencing, volume and pan automation to try and involve some modern day ‘Tape Music’ style techniques.

Here is a screen shot of 3 tracks Volume automation:

Volume automation in Logic Pro

As you can see in the screen shot the volume automation is pretty standard but i believe it works very effectively, my main concern was to make sure the build up’s and stabs of different sounds were defined enough within my piece and coincided with the arrangement of the piece.

Next i will post about my panning automation! Exciting stuff!

Acousmatic- Peice 1- Arrangement

When arranging my samples for this piece i went back to Pente’s by Denis Smalley and listened in detail to the way his piece’s are arranged, like Pente’s i decided to use a drone sound with some pulses at first to build up slowly. I like to use this technique as i think this is one of the most effective ways to introduce louder/more profound sounds.

Whilst arranging this piece i discovered a number of things, one main point i feel i have to comment on is the use pulse sound i created, this sound comes in at the start of the piece and i think it really helps to extenuate the ‘build up’ ideas that i mentioned earlier, this accompanied by the drone sounds in the back round i think create exactly the type of sound ideas i was hoping to achieve from the outset.

Here is a link to some information on a technique i became very interested in with regards to the ‘Pulses’ i mentioned above Link :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_(music)

I think i became interested in this ‘Pulse Music’ idea when listening to my favorite composer Steve Reich’s various pieces which i think are one of the best examples of ‘Pulse Music’. In particular ‘Pulse’ which is part of the ‘Music for 18 musicians’ which i went to see being performed by the London orchestra, i feel this inspired me. Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reich

‘Pulse’

I am now starting to experiment with volume and panning automation, i will post about this next!