Introduction to Sound

1. Introduction to Sound class website: http://dubble8productions.com/sound1.html contact instructor - erik spangler: erikspangler@gmail.com

2. additional web resources: • www.lynda.com/Logic-Pro-9-tutorials/essential-training • www.soundcloud.com/groups/ida-202-mica • www.radiowicv.com • www.ixda.mica.edu/soundart

3. branches of sound work: • field recording • found sounds & abstract audio collage • ambient soundscapes • experimental music notation • beat-based electronica • live electro-acoustic performance • studio recording • radio narratives • film scoring

4. How do you want to use sound in your creative work? What skills do you think will be most useful for you to know?

5. hardware & software resources for the class • Portable audio recorders: Zoom H2 & H4, Marantz • Various microphones (dynamic cardioid, condenser, shotgun, etc.) • Logic Pro audio software (main editing environment) • Ableton Live software (live performance) • Akai APC40 Ableton Performance Controllers • M-Audio Oxygen 8 MIDI keyboards • Korg Kaoss Pad (KP3) effect/sampler • JunXion software (sensor mapping) • Turntables & DJ mixer

6. similar & contrasting sounds

7. in what ways can two sounds be different?

8. Qualities of Sound Perception(terminology of acoustics) Elements of Music(musical terminology) • Frequency (Pitch) • Amplitude • Phase • Direction • Distance • Timbre • Pitch (Melody/Harmony) • Dynamics • Rhythm • Form • Texture • Timbre

9. Envelope: the life of a sound • Attack = the initial start of a sound • Decay = initial fall-off in volume after an attack is perceived • Sustain = length of a sound being held • Release = the end of a sound

10. Sound Waves • Waveform is the shape of the vibration cycle, resulting in a particular sound quality, or “timbre”.

11. Sound Waves • Waveform is the shape of the vibration cycle, resulting in a particular sound quality, or “timbre”.

12. Sound Waves • Waveform is the shape of the vibration cycle, resulting in a particular sound quality, or “timbre”.

13. Sound Waves • Waveform is the shape of the vibration cycle, resulting in a particular sound quality, or “timbre”.

14. Complex waveforms

15. Units of sound measurement • Frequency measured in Hertz (Hz). 1Hz = 1 cycle per second. Ideal human hearing ranges from 20Hz to 20,000 Hz. Frequency results in perception of pitch. • Amplitude (or volume) measured in Decibels (dB) of Sound Pressure Level (SPL). Human threshold of hearing to threshold of pain is 0 dB SPL to 120 dB SPL.

16. Sound as represented by spectograms whale

17. Human voice

18. Sound Waves Represented in Music Video byVideo Artist Bob Jaroc

19. What is the difference between “analog” and “digital”?

20. Analog Recording Stores the audio as physical information. Examples: • Physical textures on a phonographic record • Fluctuation of a magnetic field strength on magnetic tape (cassettes, VHS etc).

21. How Digital Sound is Recorded • Sound is stored (sampled) as a series of 1’s and 0’s (bits). • The recorded sound is sampled thousands of times each second to compensate for the thousands of vibrations the human ear can comprehend. • For Example, a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz is CD-quality recording, that means 44.1 thousand samples in a second! • Bit depth refers to how much sound can be represented during each sample. • Amplitude range is condensed, most often in 16-bit resolution (allowing up to 65,536 values to assign to amplitude at any instant)

22. How Digital Sound is Recorded(continued) • Analog to Digital (A/D) converter translates electrical signal to numeric values • Digital to Analog (D/A) converter translates numbers back to voltages

23. Digital Sound Recorders • DAT (digital audio tape) • Minidisc (miniature CDs in a plastic shell - “legacy digital”) • Flash recorder (e.g. Zoom H2) • Audio Interface (connected to a computer via USB or FireWire cable, taking analog audio inputs, converting to digital audio; sending analog audio back out to speakers)

24. Here is a pile of sounding objects... • How would you organize these sounds into categories? • Let’s improvise a piece with 3 or 4 groups of sounds, lasting about 2 minutes. Focus on contrasts between the groups.

25. soundscape • Theory of soundscape developed through Acoustic Ecology movement, led by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, in the 1970’s • Schafer categorized environmental sounds as if elements in a musical composition: • Keynote sounds may not always be heard consciously, but they “outline the character of the people living there” (Schafer). They are created by nature (geography and climate): wind, water, forests, plains, birds, insects, animals. In many urban areas, traffic has become the keynote sound. • Signal sounds are foreground sounds, which are listened to consciously; examples would be warning devices, bells, whistles, horns, sirens, etc. • Soundmarks derived from the term landmark. A soundmark is a sound which is unique to an area. In his 1977 book, The Tuning of the World, Schafer wrote, “Once a Soundmark has been identified, it deserves to be protected, for soundmarks make the acoustic life of a community unique”.

26. further categories of sound: • Human • Machine • Nature

27. Viewing:Listen by David New (documentary on the soundscape ideas of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer

28. Sound Walk exercise(Walk in pairs on a short route of your choosing within the dimensions of the map below. Take 10-15 minutes)Person #1: Walk quietly with an audio recorder, listening through headphones to the sounds in the immediate environment outside the Brown Center. Person #2: Write down every sound that you hear.

29. Settings for the Marantz flash recorder • Use an external microphone (or a pair, if recording in stereo) for best results. If using on your own you will need to check out mic(s), XLR cables, and mic stands or a boom with (stereo bar is available to attach a pair of mics to a boom or mic stand) • Bring your own batteries (AA x4) • Headphones plugged into Line Out jack • From MENU button, hit Enter to select the following settings: • INPUT- Mic • OUTPUT- Line • RECORD FORMAT- PCM-44.1K (or other format such as MP3, if desired) • RecChannel- Mono (if using only one mic) / Stereo if using two mics, LEVEL CONTROL- Manual

30. Settings for the ZOOM H2 flash recorder • Bring your own batteries (AA x2) • Flip switch on left hand side to ON • Use the top left and right arrow buttons to select a built-in mic pattern setting (either Front 90º stereo, Rear 120º stereo, or Front and Rear together for a 4-track surround recording*) • Adjust mic gain with the switch on the right side (choose from low, medium, high) • Press Record button once to monitor signal • Press Record button a second time to begin recording • Press Record button a third time to end recording

31. 1. How many sounds were created by technology?2. How many sounds were created by the natural environment- animals, weather, etc.?3. What was the highest pitched sound that you heard?4. What was the lowest pitched sound that you heard?5. What sound was the most pleasing? What sound was the ugliest?6. Which sounds happened only once?7. Which sounds were the most constant?8. Which sounds would you describe as signal sounds?9. Which were the keynote sounds? Sound walk analysis

32. in-class work for project 1-Record as many examples as you can find of a single sound type in the local environment. Then find and record as multiple examples of a contrasting sound type. • Think of different ways in which sounds can be contrasting: ringing versus dry, high-pitched versus low-pitched, simple versus complex, short versus long, near versus far, etc. • Copy recorded .wav files to a folder, in preparation for importing them into Logic Pro.

33. musique concréte Recorded sounds of the environment (urban, rural, industrial, domestic, etc.) treated as abstract sound objects to be manipulated freely.

34. Audio examples by composers of musique concréte: Pierre Schafer Pierre Henry John Cage Amon Tobin Pierre Schafer at work in his radio production studio in Paris (late 1940’s-50’s)

35. demo: 1. Importing field recordings into Logic Pro 2. Editing audio regions 3. Transport controls 4. Automating volume, panning, and reverb 5. Exporting project as .wav

36. SIMILAR & CONTRASTING SOUNDSProject 1 criteria • Record multiple examples of 2 contrasting sound types. • Edit and arrange the recorded audio to compose a piece using 3 - 5 audio tracks, in the style of musique concréte. • Create sequences of similar sounds (e.g. different recordings of door sounds), while also highlighting contrasts between the sound types. Think about the idea of conversation between different types of sound. • Incorporate volume adjustments, panning, and selective use of reverb to create a sense of space. • Alter sounds beyond recognition occasionally by chopping off beginnings, reversing, splicing, etc. • 1 - 2 minutes long.

37. journal #1: Creative goals, obstacles, and observations on the experience of creating Project 1 (submitted via email, with link to page where I can listen on soundcloud.com)