Music Tech: General Production

• Echo Chambers were used to generate the first artificial reverb


  1950s
• EMT 140 plate reverb was heavily popularised


  1960s and '70s
• Early MIDI


  Up to a maximum of 16 channels
• Early synths


  Monophonic, only able to play one note at a time
• Envelope Generators


  Contain 4 adjustable parts: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
• Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

  • Has 1 pickup pattern
  • Less sensitive at the lower end but is a little bit better at picking up the higher frequencies
  • Require power to operate
  • Typically 48V
  • Referred to as phantom power
  • Relatively expensive
• Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

  • Can be relatively bulky
• Low cost condenser microphones

  • Can suffer from poor or inconsistent frequency response
• Ribbon Microphone


  • Uses a thin metallic strip (ribbon) instead of the heavy duty magnet and coil of the dynamic mic
  • Can move faster in response to high frequency acoustic sound
  • High Transient Response
  • Due to the ribbon being so thin it can be easily broken
  • Don't need internal or external power to operate
  • Moderately expensive
  • Have a relatively flat frequency response
  • Sensitive across most of the frequency field
• Early film music


  1. Live bands playing to the video on the screens

  2. Improvised based on what was on the screen

  3. Studios would suggest pieces of music to play to the film, but they were not scored
• Thomas Edison invented the Kinetoscope where film was turned by a crank


  1889
• Thomas Edison invented the Vitascope, of which film could now be projected onto a wall


  1896
• Edwin Porter produced and directed The Great Train Robbery


  1903
• The Great Train Robbery


  • 11 minute complete story
  • First successful Western
  • Beginning of film as an art form
• The vitaphone was invented and the first talking film was The Jazz Singer


  1927
• The Jazz Singer


  Sound and film can be synchronised, although it used two separate machines that had to be coordinated
• Both talking and musical backgrounds in a film became possible by a soundtrack which was a strip on the actual film


  1933
• MIDI Controllers


  • Controller messages are used to manipulate the sound of instruments that are selected in a MIDI configuration
  • There are 128 available MIDI controllers
  • Using MIDI Controllers can create dynamic changes in timbre, which can add realism and interest to an otherwise dry medium of performance
  • The available extent of control will depend on the sophistication of your MIDI devices
• Flanging


  • Combines two copies of the same signal with the second delayed slightly, to produce a 'whooshing' comb-filtering effect
  • The process originated before digital effect boxes and computer editing were available
  • In digital implementation, the software or hardware device uses an LFO to vary the speed of the delayed copy's playback
  • Higher LFO rate/speed creates more rapid shifts in comb filtering
  • Higher LFO intensity/depth creates wider shifts in the comb filtering
  • Higher feedback will make the comb filtering more pronounced
• Chorus


  Originally took its name from the way it made one voice or instrument sound like a chorus of them
• Phaser


  Similar to a flanger, a phaser is an audio signal processing technique used to comb-filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum
• Tremolo


  • Refers to periodic variations in the amplitude of a sound
  • It results in a fragile, shimmering haunting sound which is often applied to clean electric guitar or rhodes piano coupled with reverb
• Additive Synthesis


  • You can recreate any sound by layering sine waves
• Frequency Modulation Synthesis

  • Carrier: The sound that is being modulated
  • Modulator: The sound that is modulating
• Granular Synthesis


  • Takes a sample and cuts it into smaller parts called 'grains'
  • Grains are then blended together to make a new sound which can be looped or manipulated through the granular synthesis
  • Based on the same principle as sampling. However the samples are not played back conventionally
• MIDI


  Musical Instrument Digital Interface
• Dave Smith developed the common language used for sequencing (MIDI) along with large synth companies such as Roland and Yamaha


  Early 80's (1983)
• Main MIDI messages


  • Note/Pitch of the note
  • Velocity of the note
  • Note On/Off
• Early MIDI channels


  Up to a maximum of 16
• Early synths


  • Monophonic - Only able to play one note at a time
• VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter)


  Removes harmonics out of a sound
• Cut off point


  The point above which frequencies are filtered
• Resonance


  Accentuates the frequencies at the cut off point
• Main types of filters


  • LPF (Low Pass Filter) - Filters out the higher frequencies
  • BPF (Band Pass Filter) - Lets a particular section of frequencies through
  • HPF (High Pass Filter) - Filters out the lower frequencies
• Types of envelopes


  • Amplitude Envelopes - Adjusts the shape of a notes volume over time
  • Filter Envelopes - Adjusts how the filter behaves over time
• LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)


  Uses a low subsonic frequency to modulate a sound
• Things LFO can be connected to


  • Filter to create a 'wah' effect
  • Amp envelope to alter the volume to create a tremolo effect
  • Oscillators to alter the pitch to create a vibrato effect
• Glide/Portamento


  The glide between notes
• Main types of microphones


  • Dynamic
  • Condenser
  • Ribbon
• Dynamic microphones


  • Fairly Inexpensive
  • Can take a beating without breaking
  • Unaffected by changes in humidity
  • Don't need external or internal power to operate
  • Can withstand high SPL
  • Have a resonance peak in the mid-frequency response
  • Sound waves make a coil move around a magnet surrounded by a thin metallic sheet to transduce acoustic energy into electrical energy
  • Has a poor transient response as it takes a lot of energy to get the coil to begin to move