"TOTAL RECORDING GrapuicsINDEN DF TLLUstR SHINS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, Z Fonwano, Wars 10 (SE-THIS BOOK FOR GREATEST BENEFT, AND SELF ABOUT LEARNING, out Few chats - Osher stu na Par OVERVIEW OF THE MODERN MUSIC RECORDING PROCS Thi RECORDING: STUDIO AS MUSICAL INSTRUMENT ‘TuEHAS WE WeAR—STUDIO ROLES. The ati he recording The muse predoce. Stuilio work aya sical Maaixc nus nv nie Tuo. "The mportance of hes Music elements you nol ton about Danan one “Toneiultyat a ghee Paar Il: sour SouN axn Anno, Fundamentals of ssi Fudarental ot pychoacoustiss Fudasnetal aun coscepts Past IT: Reconpise Stupiy Hagnwake wx Sosrwase Processing tals Flecroasnisticdvics| Alita domain deve Frequenty domaia devices ss v Gonscer. demi devices = Synhronizationand time code Par TV: ARoUT RrcoRDyNG PRODUCTION AND SrUuDI0 OPsneIONs, Cia stoning Principles of maltitrackccording production Prpredction,2sin planning “ Making ssi readings. ‘Multitck sisi Posiptodtion Skercuphn recording production Surround omg, production and mibing = PV Soni FRIENDLY APRIC, SOME [Moking ns ith the studi, Tings recomfing mince Cony : "TiN WANS TO BEAN ABSOLUTELY EXDISPENSBL INTERN. TN WN FO Be AN ABSOLUTELY INDISPENSABLE ASSISTANT ENGINEER. Total RecordingBinuicerari: oaks Magus. Internet Ano rie AUTHOR, Tors Tora. RECORD LMONSTRATIONCD CONTESTS, Total RecordingAxpecor hu usracrioys xv ACKNOULEDEMENTS. soa Forwas, sw Was To USE THis HOOK FOR GREATEST HENEFTT, ND STUFF ABOUT LEARNING 1 Aout Macha eo 2 lew charts thinking tol 2 low crs ap . 2 Spatial lwchans - as 2 Sequcnta ow carts 3 Other stot - 6 Per I: Ovex oF Ti Monenn Music RcaRDING PROG TE RECORDING: STUDIO A NUSICAL INSTRUMENT (i 7S WEWYEAR—STUDIO ROLES. These The rcondingengincr. ‘The misiepredcr = Studia workasasosal grace MAKING MUSIC INTHE STUDI, “The importance of lis, ‘Musca elements you need to know ait Phong what 7 Dats ee 6 ona — eal thn, tine nti Tr mi " Th pk 7 Antti - n “Tne oer ot igo 8 Studio orchestration A brief Taoist NDI and how to gett tobe nuscal The musical assumptions andersing sinthess and erehesis contol languages Torito wusical notation, yet woot The tt shot ws The relationship betwows musical pesfr-mance end ase otstion. Using MIDI gr TI: Asout Sound AND AUDIO Fundamentals of ac0utie0 0c Thea The experts ature of heating peresption mpos reat noes ad ret msc Audio and aeustio signals se These wave. Frequenes no Aang on ~ Phase Total Recrding iiThe complex periodic wate ‘Waveshape The pcrioiennes noise ad impubes ‘Nae - ‘ ee leaps Seuare snes and pulse waves Duty ete - a - a isctime - Ringing a - Osailossype malisof sqUeR HE oon ee Abr impels distention About appaten! dns of pols on Trupulse response masaerens ~ Thespestaldstiition uf power snd ences Medalation of signals eo oe Mboal amplitude - oo onc Durhearng nnge . Thedesbel ale = Ss CGalealting decibel ‘Dat deel in yea bea . . Fiver aumnution co Deb referees Cain structs. . Tho Genea gan sroctor revealed = Wave propagation one Sound propagation na fee ld Inateverbern! Fel ‘Whe asound strikes asurtaee os Reflect enn sos Dilation Diffusion . cnn Absent Sound though a he About standing waves and eigentones = Fundamental of prychoaestis, Ash The nature of the hearing mechani - cours in psychoacaustics, or The microphone heen Conscusand pre-eonseins perception ‘The ssen-path model of song a “The psychoneouctial qualities of physical properties of sound a The pychusemstic reper of Freqaeney Sn Pl i ation to equeney and amplitude eee The just noticable lence” ND) or “flere nen” w- equeney ne pitelh Other stuffaboutfequenccs and pitches - . The psrehocousti properties of ampice, - ica The seston of nce. Coie bands ss . scascaa Iime-based enters. = Total Recording 50 8 5 98 36‘Th Fal Lowder Contours. PhDs veneer Sones. A, Band Ccighting eure oa. es an Dynamic processing inthe ea enn Tapa thes hie Aha oars levels Innis conn Inaell, Inthe ensronment Aut distortion son ‘The pschoacostie popertiera tne Th 39/20 Ha threshold. won Roederer’ thre anges af cli tie ‘Thoenteal mtermediate ome an exanded ie. The neurological Faction ofthe autor sytern oer line Newrulgial detection of phase ‘The prchoxeustio properties phe Phaseocking and tile ween cone “The pyelnacusticpapeaieeal spas The mechan experiance The great olor, Nearameeoic paces Lange everbrantspces Sil revenberan paces Locakeation Ampitodediference zs css Tine diftewnce Special dere inact Frocadence eect, Law ol Fits Wave Proeaenoeffect avacenrulitinn of formation. no meshing, Range ofthe procedence elect. - asm Spectral studies a tho precedence elt ‘Actial ality loudhpeakers The petepton of tO Detection of ln-Frequence pls by the anitory stern “The psychoacoustic properties of timbre ‘The late loudnes (or power of sac poi nthe sound ‘Thecharectevigiebcniorof the veel nit tarts aml end ‘The changing qualities of audeess al the ditisution of power aero the spectrum overtime The“shape" ofthe mation ofthe vibrating element - “The esmant character uf the hing aod woteias the rusia nstroment Pereived loudness of sound The polar response of sxindsouracat vats eques, ‘The presence carly reflections ina esther space ‘he elatWe pesitions of sound source and stone! and the distance belees then The rvrberimero the space The presence o other wounds Theespectationsol the lstene. o Tol lot M2 103 1s 15 106 7 us 10s. ln ic Lie Lio no Ty 1s us to ns us 1 i 6 in 1G ir in ls. us ls ne 9 ne Trad Resordingbout amplituds londners md hearing damage can - Sond pres ve SPL) Hearing damage Venous types of hearmg poles elated to loudest exposure OSTIA standard for exposure - Ext phigh en nnnennen sPLmcter — - Conta of sou enforcement syste Fandamentl audio concepts = lect one ove lights = . . _ ~ Audio signals opposed to acoustic snd The meaning of speeteations i audi st ai ‘The meaning frequency reponse - . ene “The definition af equeney ‘Tse act test ale equeneyrespense. . aoe nnplications af Fequeney response = “Tie hie Accuney - nasa nits tothe Fsqucny spans es Pre meaning of phase ht - oe “The mttrcof plane = — a Phas shift at a signal Frequent Alte about the perception of phase shit. sanennaassesscesa Pha shift in les “The measurement phove sponse Tine mang of dynamic ange cone - co Signal-toavise ati, heachoom and dyeing ceehace : Ms Leseain theasoostenculim anda! the mirophone M6 Noise Hoos. . anna Headroom, 16 Muse signals ~ ~ 7 Paybacklevels vee ns Ms Scaler vente ml armpliier poser 8, Aplitude components ofan audi sig mec att cen The RMS even with iy peaksand dees sis . : 19 The transient pe oe 5 Ma Deas. a - oe 9 Resclution of adi signal nt) Ma#king nn nie 151 “The meamingel dinero enn enn ss a 135 Harmoniedstiion — 13 ow harmon estortsn is measured and specfied a sea st Ineermodation distortion - nnnnennnenn 156 a IM dstoston i generated 7 Law IM distortion inrneassed and speetiod eon 158, Zewocrossng distention 158 The meaning Of 160 enn 18, ackground, sory nl rapostance ol seco 2 5 = ee 159 Definition af stn, eluding binawal ad surround ~ 160 Total RecordingHos stereo works or The mystery ofthe phantom insge~ ~ nee 6 ‘The precedence elf, spied ro tw loudspeakers - - - 261 The appearance of the phenom immge one nnnnnnnennnnnn fone = The sonie character ofthe phantom image 18. “The treo signa . : 64 (Goveition of diet sound, of cay welections tee AE RTO a Amplitude diferencesn tons sguals 166 Trane diflerence in stereo sige. 7 166 Tae steen phat mgels) = 167 Ambjene and reverberane in eene0 0 aoe 168 The meaning fan out-of polarity signal pain cwceuennnnnnmnnnnnnenaunnnnnninnn] ‘Thesterea playback system 10 Loudspesiseplbcement . 168 The importance of ipenion loudspeaker cnnannnnnninnnicnn nel Stern rom headphones, - co a1 Tent in cneonaontnnarnwanonsianc ane “mm Problems... a ~1n _ Theiss ofbinawcal sam 17 Other sues. ssn eon ~ cel Meno conti & major concern : ' a * 18. Analog dise mastering a4 Sound, or multichannel, ouDd anne ci ae aio IM ‘Aprototype yout . 176 Page Il: Reconanine Stunto HaREAVAR AND SOFTWARE 181 Proceing 000% enn i 18h ‘Analog adie on nn cera namnaire SRE — “181 _ Digied ud 182 The mathhesies.. conn sone] Digital languages 188 (Other types of digtl data weed for musemaking...nn . ss os 188, Digital sain oo - - . Sel) _ ‘Analg 189 AESIEBU gn a sapaoas cal SPDIF ~ - ~ ene _ Optical 189 Proprietary = aici nD What sa bit 189 = What eabptel connec * 189 What sa wor resmsesteaoer cox se) a bits 90 2 Ditto on a von) “Theeffets of truncation in vol Vato diets enone ~ iui — 1 = What sword dod? coon aaa msc 1 Liveacit POM 192 Delis Moduation and single bit Puke Code Modulation ci fn xcs i i cena NE “Teal Recording viSampling tess SS ene rool “Ht, 192 BE _ one ‘ ee a 182 SOME cen ne a 1m SRL 882 HE and 192 Kil 192 Conversion af sampling tet connec 2 . = 195 Oxersinpling i . i 195 E01 een eee semen “Thensturscf digital eros versisamalg enor... reheocecnnanrsel Dettinger. 04 Conceting detected enn nnnnn nn 9s Conecaling uscenectable cos a The desded mute! oe ter see eaceneerserseemeneatred macnn 194 Late) nnn - vn 194 ‘The eal advantage and divaantages of gal audi, . = = - 195 Proton 08 ener neneennninenn initiation scl Digital benefits. = 196 Nondestractie editing noon cone nn sonnel Noisereduction onan ~ ve eer 196 New EQ 196 eR nsec acne naaraatdelDS Digital adits - 5% 196 The sonic contovery we anes ie I Lowleyel distortion and atts one cone enamine dS “Multiple conversions fron analg oda 197 lectroscoustie devices - a a nen send Microphones... a nnn ven oe 198 Basic behavior = 198 “Typat of mechani nn a acetone 198. “The condenses miciopbone coe 18 ‘The dynamiemierphone a 199 The nbbon microphone... ovnnnnninnnnnnnnnnnnannennnnnnnmnnel® Disectionalty _ 189 ‘The omnidirectional microphone ‘The bsiectional mirophone no nnne ‘The candid micrpene Other miophone pate Sensi ue on Microphone selection Loodepeaker ew Basie behaviot z Ladepeaker systems - Grot0¥e wnmnonnsnnnnn ssn Bismplifcation Interaction with smplifier. Speaker types. Ditet ats = = ee Compreion deei/hetts nv ennnnnnnnnsnmnninnns minimum Electrsateseahet.nssonsnnsnnnuninansnnnnnn von ~ Dispersion vi Total RecordingLoudspeaker interaction with rooms. ‘The"Moulton Roam” About headphones... Amplitude dom device. ‘Atenuatos dangle inintinaminciman Valage gan stages. Powe ample (Compardes wn ‘Vebage cooled split (VCAS) Compandses. Compress Expanders. Noise teduetion 8863 nen Gompandein the digital Real nese Frequency domain devices one Filter. Filter orequalizer mode (Cut or eeater equ) nnn Slope a filter one. ~ ~ Phase cespanie Resonance (0F°Q")- Baul sn ‘Sbelsing equliers Patking equalizer. Guphicequilizers Parametric egualiaeo ‘The Voltage controled Filter (YCF) Caasenes - guises and eronoversin the digital elm, ‘Time domain devices. "Time domain toragein both analog ane digital realms... Analog tape recorder... lead foomats “The Malttcackeanalog tape recorder. The Caste deth ene Digital ecorders. DasH Sony Fl and 1630 Digital Recorders Dar “Modula ital multitrack recorders (MDM). Hand disk record ener iene Delay fines - Resets ‘The sul Rangers, Cheruetsnonso ~ - = ‘nonnes,speech ate compreviors, samples te ‘Consoles Orem nn - What isa console, ‘Theeraltanary nature of console Total Recording &Mie pres. (hanoel ders Signal processing FQ. Compre nen ‘Time domain Mixbues and ming. Insestion points. . Panepots. = Basic conclearshitestue. Ixlel Gonzo Console 1242 Ganae Canale 2x22 Gore Conse nennnnen enna ‘tehetn2 Gonca Conde nnnenennnnnnnnnne se ‘Auxikary buses Proand post suullary bus seleeionsan une nn retoms si - Au Hw many buses are enough? The pit” cs 0le anne ‘The YO console ‘The miter and menitos sections and support functions. seni Sobmaster. ‘The mastereder Monitoring. ‘Thescho system: “Talkback and eel Meter. Patch bays Stadio HOW on — ee The punch Block ne Documentation nn Costs Digital pateh bays CORNER en Unbalanced lines. Balanced M28, nnnnnnn sn Unbalncing balanced Lite conan Impedance matching erween compoments Gomecter types nn NLR ‘phone — RCA, ANC. a Grounding seiner Automation Control of analog levels and nutes Levels Mute a0 m ial Recording= Recall ofeonsleettings sioner 2 Digital console glob automation Z Consoles nthe digital rem wen sn se me “Uh cent tate of digital consoles “The Yoaha O2R asa cas study — (Other digital ssuesto think about ‘Canvertereasranaduces. Digital patch bys etches nnn nnmnn a - Metering Levels management eu ase ofmultipe generations of recardings. a anata diking “Thlogstawateh fotos oncveeeeneneene (Clock probler seo nonn (Clock ter Later ennnen en Pan nai . Operating yter volatility Syrehonization and hme €088 eon ime coe Modula digital muleitek syesonittion cnn init The masterdavereltionship «non nnnnn a i sa Parr ¥:AR0UT RecoADiNc PRODUCTION ND STUDIO OnraeTIONS Ciba tenn, Metering ai ats sara Listening to bani rconding in ton Neotfield mixing “The ose of large fullzange reference stu mente ‘ooking back and Leoking ahead Contre ofmonitrs ~ se een od 5 Monitorcqualiztion a ma ee su 35 Mositrle 55 Enel user stems : es sais . - 318 _ “Dh home stern hi 316 The mmo radi 7 16 Headphone enn anaes ve rota 316 oe Carstrecs a ‘The Boom:-boe and Sto TV nner ss Seaneenetee 38 The boom nen - ‘ = 3 Z 318 ‘The bee theater 318 ‘Mixing fora ofthe difrent end-user systems - cnn ne) Other monitoringconcers 318 — ‘sing distortion cues aris guide 318 Targeting your mit an - ei 319 Resolving ncompalbitis between various ends ost in your mites 318 “Tesingyour ios a mia 520 Rules for monitoring nnn a _ om - nna Monn compatiblity 322 - Definitions of A,B, A# Band AB - ase eet “Total Recording xiThe ABB view al stereo 7 ” 2 Listeningin AS a - 25 Thocesthetes of 4B ee 326 Bin chasialececings, 327 Sorround monitoring 5 or 6channels - os nn cone ST ee oo 328 Theecharnel stereo in font. 334 Phontora mages in surtound sound. s aca and What about dispersion? aca i 3353 Thelueofthe sith chime a oe an B38) ‘he surtound monitoring I86¢. 0 eacsnenneenoenennnsnnnninmrnnnc 336 Principles of wll esoring predation 7 Preproduction, ain lanning se - 37 reproduction, ain workings aor tudo non evonne - 8 "The econling stich asoperating room 333 Keepingtrack oftracs, or Theat of Studie documentation nc nnnaewnninnawn coed The take sRect 9) nnn ntnnnntnnnn aL The trade choot . . : oH “The production gd. nnn ssn et 32 ‘Thematering sheet 3h Other nea ite fers aimee eae a AE Some usefl things togetin the habit doing nen ~ - We races 3s. matter of routine We Fe oa ne one conned Tope IDvand bx end nnn ae aunt Session cleanup aiteup and arcing _ oasaanaa ss Poor Man's Astomtion [nnn sirname peseeneu TS Poor Marts Atcaation I 8 “Talbback mie etiquette fr the raring engine oon so 7 cen SH ‘Making basic ecorings nw. ne ne rennenneennna AF Levels management drng tracking HS Mierophone ueagein tracking 8 on: ome saan Ditet bases anne som orem ee 2380 Alot stereo mictopbeme srys a stereaphoni microphones. ce ~ 350 ‘Spaced pat. sn nninnnisnnnennnne ~ 350 ‘The Decea Tee 330 Coincident pais ” . The XY configuition oe a = ‘The MS configuration 351 gk to ih 2M eons ennnenennannnnnmnninnnnniniinnmnmsann - Nearcoineident configurations a = ORTE ‘Tony Fcllners Phased Arey” Specialy steren nies = Shun 250 mao Mok V Antena mio . aan Head Acoustics “Machen Head” misrophone.. Schoeps phere KFM 6 microphone Crown SASS mio Bone enn Stereo mikingin ses cece sua Microphone applications in ive recording and with ange ensorbe a Total RecordingRecording wn location senscnnnnnnnenein 37 Double MS stereo raking - - 37 Acsbisonies Bformal skin . iene 358 ‘Spal comments on the miki vais instrument types. paseaaat i 39) ams & percussion som se 2389 Acoustic as von sn ee) Acoustic gitar. ne) Pinner caso 360 Voie soneannemnneena = 300 Woodnings eaemnmreenese 361 Brass — vn ahesensenrmareR Ree 36l Strings — - ~ sonnnnnenen 361 Sammary ofmixophone applications wenn 361 Signal processing al the racking Sage isa oe 362 Overdubbingsesions. itinnonn BBL Microphone apalicationsin verdubbing sessions. . sae 12 Cue mines onan sorgeammacmmcmnaauaaNER Bounces reste - a) Multitrack mining com nnn 368 [Levels managenent during icing nnn wan BBS Spectra management. sess Sea Parametric equalization ee taicatemsaaacaaaa NO Compression atimbee 3 : 372 Mix vahies in pooch recordings ene . 374 aca ~ coe ‘Te kick rumbest relstionship 34 Studio treks annem catamarans Ducking i nee Pitelied ik cram — Tightening submix a ven “The synthesis phenomena . = ~ Kick drrnbassin ap and hpihop recording... . a “The phantam image Soros i sisi The we fea dele ne nnnne meen 385 “Time and pace = vnnnnnn nnn 389 Running everbleve conn 300 Reverb te ns smnnnen . 7) Reverb at freuen tic - - 00 Predely meen 7 sac illusion, choraing annem = 381 Gated reverts nen ~ a ae 31 a : 39 Milipieseecbs acssicininaaeaasimanic — together mth | snitch. wth per ther eushing oO cam ‘sterinted pole, output, or grand = io, audio device | typical Nalt-nonnated” arp OP so with input | patching comection, ‘sith utp > with “normal” signal Gace ecnatva Bow. which is patehe se pet (rough * “itcrupting eek") toan impot triangle (els) of >—o0 shape indices evie with gain Ge_amplifen) Figure 1.1: Symbols ane comventions vaed in duo flow charts Lateron, well get to what some of the jargon means, bot the above symbols are pretty comarnon. Using these sym- Dols, try dravings flow chart of your guitar amp, or your stereo receiver, for instance. You may be surprised by what you lear, Drawing such a flow chart, by the way, is part ofa technique called “black box analysis,” in which you determine how some deviee or sjstem must work by your careful observation ofits behavior. Particolarly in the analog realm, t technique isextraoidinarily useful. [Fyou were to sit down with your receive, test oscillator anda pair of headphone and determine conclusively what the signal flow through the receiver is, you would find that your knowledge ofthat receiver would be greatly enhanced! Its the best way I Know of toleam a new piece of geat. Makea list ofall the inputs and outputs from the device pls s ist ofall the controls. Work out the flow chart, making sure you account for ever thing. Devise tests to prove that your flow chart is correct, Learn and enjoy! Sequential flow charts Sequential flow chats, sometimes called “loge ties,” are maps of altemative paths of actions and ther conse ‘quences, Such flow chatts are routinely used by computer programmers to think through the logie of the software “Total Recording 3code they are writing, Below is a sequentil flow chort that has been rattling around the industry for years, courtesy of the Audio Village, suitably edited for family reading Master Trouble Shooting Chart bia witht (ves aes theca S.No] | You donb tot ‘hing work ves ide i fram theboss! Don't moss with tt Can Beit ‘You poce bastard (res Yoru ek tlt Figure 1.2: Sequential flow chert for trouble-shooting u peas of equifment. Fach diamond-shaped box represents a tworchoice decision, based ona query of condition. I the answer iss, doone thing, ifthe answer is no, do another The square boxes usually describe an action that must be taken before the rest decision point i eached. In this example, many ofthe boxes contain editorial omments. 4 Total Recerding‘The construction of sucha flow chart forces us to reduce all eomplex actions into simple ones that can result in yesino decisions In this case, the chart advscs us to throw outa broken piece of equipment if we ean get away with it Gr fixit if we can, and not to mess with it iFit's nat broken, Worthy, ifynieal, advice, actually (Often, such flow charts use reiterating loops that cause us to step through an operation, adjusting something and then going back tothe beginning to step through the process again, until the whole sequence of steps lads uslogtcally to the finish, Plog in! Replace fuse. Ye it patched to Patch to Figure 1.3: Sequential flow chort with lop Total Rewarding 3Other sTuFF Knowledge docsnt exist in a vacuum, Naturally, Pd like to think my book contains all of the information that you'll ever need, but I know that it docsrt. So, I've got to recommend that you also read other books, magazines, and Intemet listsers. There isan immense amount of useful information floating around, More importantly, the compar~ :son and filtering of information from various soutees is one of the most useful ways you have of building wpa celiable fund of knowledge. As you read and compare notes with colleagues, youl get a sense of who knows what and how such. In the bibliography, I've included a ist of books and magazines T think are useful ‘At the same time, things are changing so rapidly that you have to constantly re-evaluate the validity ofthe stan- dards, the presumptions and the ranges put foxth in books like mine. ‘The magazines and the Intemet are the best places to do this, but you've got to take them with a grain of salt, because there's also an awful lot of kiose tall and ‘more than alittle nonsense in those magazines and chat groups. ‘Enough! Time to get int it! Enjoy! e Total RecordingPART > OVERVIEW OF THE MODERN RECORDING PROCESSTHE RECORDING STUDIO as MUSICAL INSTRUMENT You probably already know this: the recording studio i musieal instrument. If you're reading this book, you must be interested in the field, and are probably involved in it, maybe intensely After working with ot of pope just staring out in this field, ve found that itis the simplest eoncepts that are often least understood, the sip, fundamental eoneepts that reside inthe big picture, the averall perspective. So, Ud like to take afew pages to step back and look at the primary functional qulities ofthe recording studio and our work with- init ina general way in the hopes that it may make things alittle clearer the next time you get mentally lost and say to yourself, “What the hella teally trying to do here. ‘The modem recording studio is remarkable development, in all ofits versions, over the past half-century. It has become a central clement in the way music is mack today, and represents onc of the most interesting clements in the ‘whole contemporary music-making process. While we tend to think of studios 2s colleetions of hardware, in Fact they ae realy solutions to solve some musical and technieal prablems. The present-day studio configurations are really shaped by that problem-solving evolution, and itis useful io consider what these musical and recording problems are. Consider Les Paul, who was the first’ musician to do multitrack overdubbing, For all intents and purposes, Les invented the multitrack recorder, o that he could play multiple guitar parts togethce with himself. suspect the idea just grew out of having a tape reearder (which was still big deal in the early 1950), playing along wit the playback of a recording he had just made, and trying to record thase two parts together on another tape deck (sound with sound, it ‘was called later on, inthe cary ays of stereo record). Les found that what he really needed was a way to put paral- lel paths of recordings on the same pieee of tape so that they would he forever in synehtonization. As T understand it, hhe got Ampex to build cight-track head stacks for his tape transport and just hooked them up to eight sets of recondplayback clectroncs, For reverb, he had added an extra playback head downstream along the tape path for tape echo, He had to figure outa switch to allow him to listen to the playback on the record head while he recorded other tracks —avhat later became known as sel syne (scleetive synchronization) or scl-ep (selective reproduce). As he gained eonteol ofthe technology, Les and his wife Mary Ford created a substantial string of recordings that ‘mostly consisted of four tracks of Les playing guitar and four tricks of Mary singing closely harmonized voeal pats “These records were quite afresh sound at the time (Iwasa kid, and still remember them), and they were quite suc- cessful commercially. Keep in mind that Les and Klay were very fine musicians and they were using the technology to their advantage. How High The Moon, thei fist such effort, is zemarkably tight and swinging. [n any case, this proto- type multitrack studio (in Les’ garage, if F've got the story right) was the place were Les and Mary made their music And that isthe purpose and function of il recording studios: to make music The studio evolves to mect the needs ofthe srtsts and producers who use it to make music. At the time that Les did his pioneering work, commercial studios had 2 configuration that served to record live musie performance. There ‘was a big oom, whete musicians played, that stoad in for the concert hall, which it sometimes was. Earlier when eleetrical reeordimg came along (inthe 1920s), the engineering staff had found it was useful to put their equipment in a room separate from the space where the performaniee was occurring so that they could listen to their loudspeakers without interfering with the performance. This became the control room. The engineers set up a microphone or two in the studio, the musicians adjusted theie playing positions and levels to get the right balance, and then they reeotded. Afterward, the conductor and producer convened in the control room to havea listen to how the recording sounded This configuration of big performance rearn with small contvol room i, of course, sill with ws, inorder to accom rodate the recording of live 2eoustieal performance. At the same time, the control room has evclved, picking up Les Paul's multitrack technology (it took about ten years to catch on—his recordings were originally regarded as clever novelties}. Most recording work now takes place in the control room, ancl a emparatively small proportion of the music-making effort occu inthe aeoustic space Another forse leading temsard the macern studio is the synthesizer. The same creative urge that drove Les to play leeack parts drove others to seek to ceate new voices and to simulate traditional ones. At fist, the idea was purely ‘eperimental—to ercate music using non-traditional sounds. In the 1920s, dragging airplane engines on-stage and fir- ing them up atthe climactic moments ofan experimental orchestral picee was quite the rage. Then there came some purely electron instruments, such as the fascinating Thetemin. In the 1950s, ecocdings of industrial sounds spliced Total Recording 9together into assemblages of recorded musie wor a big thing (it was called musique coneréte). Also in the 1950s there \was an effort to simulate the sounds of acoustic instraments and an orchestra via research instruments called music synthesizers. Then, in the 1960s, Wendy Carlos connected this smthesis process to the multitrack recording process (Ghe was prebably nat the fist to doi, but she sure was the frst to get serious pble attention) with the now-leg- endasy Switchod-On Bach recordings. Carlos not only recorded independent voices, bt they were snthetic vices as wel, voices erated eleetconiealy. Ip some respects they resembled acoustic sounds, but mone often they mimickee the funetions of acoustic voiees and the essential characteristics of instrumental sounds, so that there were brassy sounds, for instance, but with litle or no attempt to sound exactly like trumpets. IF you go back and listen to Switched-On Buch or the Les Paul and Mary For maultiteack recordings, you will hear that they ate remarkably well done. They don't sound like crude experimental pioneering works, They sound assured, focused and together. The reason for this s the consurnmate musicianship and vision that supported those pioneering technologieal efforts One ofthe pop artists to rally make the studio his own from the beginning is Stevie Wonder. In his recor there isa loose relaxed swinging qualily that i really hard fo achieve in the studio—t requies going beyond getting the ovetdobs right and ll the notes correct and in time—the playing noust get so relaxed that even the averdubs begin ‘to swing and the musicians begin to generate as much encrgy and enthusiasm in an overdub booth as they do when they are on stage ina small club with a eally friendly erowd, when the sound is right, the house isackingand they ean really get it on! So, the studio isa place to make music, pute and simple. But the music made there isa different in some ver important ways. Les Pal, Wendy Carlos and Stevie Wonder all must have noticed (a have many others) that list ing to records is an exciting and satisfying way to enjoy music, and that making records is a good (and financially rewarding) way to make music, Recorded musics music that comes out of loudspeakers, and if we are smart abou! it, ‘we create such musie specifically for loudspeakers, we eveate musi that really sounds good over loudspeakers. That ‘effort isnt particularly easy and the techniques are ait diferent than they are for making musi the traditional live scoustieal concert hall way: Todo this, we have to be really good musicians, with a really strong artistic vision. We need to know how to play the loudspeaker which is now eur musical instrument. The way we play it is via the recording studio and the synthe size. And the erat of playing the stucio ane making relly good music come out of speakers what this book isabout The studio differs from other musical nstroments ina lot of ways, including the major fact that musie mace in the studio is usually made in bils and pieces instcad of in real time. This characteristic of the process is unique in the history of musie-making, and i allows the stistto deer decisions about how the musi should sound fram the point in time where the music is performed to the point in time when it splayed back for the audience. And equally signif cant inthe history of music, that playback is by a unique and remarkable musical device: our loudspeaker By now, the multitrack way of making music is fairy obvious and intuitive to all of us who do it. When Las Paul started fooling around with tape recorders, it wasn't. Many professional musicians and producers in the carly 1950s, Iheld users of multitrack recording in contempt, regarding the technique asa haven for poor musicians and asa sub tute for musical performance erat, But inthe same way that producers began to appreciate the flexbility they gained with the use of multiple microphones mixed live to stereo {instcad of jus sticking one microphone out and negotiat- ing about balances withthe performers), they alo began to see what could be dane by string the individual channels cof sound on separate tape paths, for mixing ata later time. And with the availablity of sel-sme, the attraction of hon- ing performance via overdubhing beeame irresistible Since that time, we have really embraced the revording studio, on alllevels, sa wonderfully powerful extble 2nd exciting place to make music. The one-man-band eonecpt, a single individual or perhaps a small group, producing large, complex and lavishly scored and performed recordings, blossomed. By now. the studio has become the place to create the music that comes out of loudspeakers, music that wll be distributed on CD, cassette, by radio and televi- sion. At its best, itis singular, powerful and exciting music and itis made comparatively inexpensively (try hiring an ‘orchestra if you don’t believe me) and effectively by a broad range of poople trying every conceivable way toereate et- ‘es, more exciting sounds and music than ever before. use the term “reccr to includes corded wedi, including CD, canette, UB, ete 0 Tal Recording"The recording studio has also spawned an entite set of support industries, including manufacturers of recording ‘gear and synthesizers, software publishers, educational and press service industries, promoters, agents, publishers, entertainment lawyers and, nat to forget, record companies. Since 1966, the industry has exploded (these were approximately 300 recording studios, including 2-track setups, in the United States then—now there must be hun- dreds of thousands, especially if you include all the PortaStudics) THE HATS WE WEAR—STUDIO ROLES ‘When we deserbe the people who work in the studio, we usually refer tothe types of people found in th large professional studio, including the Recording Engineer, the Produces, the Ais, Sesion Players, Sound Designes, the Sequencer Programmer, a Studio Manager, a Maintenance Engineer and, oF course, the Owner. When we teach people about this business atthe eollege level, we views these roles as professional jobs in a professional environment: However, in real life, the roles arent eut and dried and the skils needed for each of these roles is changing rapic- Iy—many of the specific technial skill we use today probably weren't needed five years ago and others won't be nec ed five years from now. Also, you will probably serve in all of these roles from time to time, offen from sheer desperation or lack of funds, and not because that was whet you set out todo, Most of us stated out with a musical vision and thought that multi-track recording was a great way to realize that vision, Being a studio maneger was the furthest thing from our minds, but when we decide we really need to get organized and print track sheets, Studio Man- ageris the hat we've just put om "These oles desctibe some very useful things about making music in the studio, and if we understand the rlesitis ‘much easier to understand what we ate really doing. Keep in mind that the lines between these functions get pretty blury in seality and that whem we are making rousic in the studio we will wear al of these hats, sometimes several at ‘Te ARTIST ‘As the Artist, we are the person who is performing the music. We probably wrate and arranged the muste, orate making it up in the studio as we go along, We may be part ofa band, we may be the leader ora sidesman, or we may be ‘aonesnan band or synthesizer player. We may think of ourselves as composers or sequencer programmers, ‘When we are inetioning asthe Artist, we are the onc actually making the music, creating the actual sounds and arrangements of sounds. We have two really important tasks: first, to have teally good music (Fhat's our ‘composer/arranger task) and to create really greal performances (that’s our performer tas). These are absolutely ert tall IF we don't succeed at these, the rest of the project can be abandoned right nowt Nobody ever bought a dull recording just to enjoy the signal-to-noise ratiol® Music is powerful, emotional stuff especially rock and rll, whieh i supetheated and emotionally on fre) Ns the artis, iti our job to make great music. No more, no less! ‘THE RECORDING ENGINEER TThe Recording Engincer label actually deseribes a specific job role: the person who actually opetates the equip- iment ofthe recording studio. As the Recording Engineer, we listen to the acoustic sounds, select and set up micro- ‘phones, maintain control over signal levels and settings, hook up synthesizers, sequencers, computers, et in the Studio. We also operate the recorders sed to the stare the sound, conduetoverdubbing sessions, mix the resting tultitiack tape dawn toa stercaphonie or other master, and edit, mix, and otherwise fix the master tape recording for seas the source for ll subsequent production runs for CDs, castes, ete. “The engineer may have many other tasks, and there are many variations ofthe rol, including sound renforee- ‘ment, maintenance, mastering, ete. But the core fills operating the substantial sources and systemsof Lhe mak fitrack recording studio to create a recording of music that when played back by the listeners really moves them, rocks them, touches them, blows thie minds and otherwise caches into their hearts and souls In short, the engineer is not a technician o a seientst, and the job isn't scienee or technalogy—i's at. The recording engineer uses seienes and technology to gt music to eome out of loudspeakers. He or she is making the loudspeakers sing! 50, 2s engineer Bruce Smeten allege to have put nobody leaves the recording session using the console! Pari I Overview of the Modern Music Recording Process crtTne music provucer The Musie Producer is much like the director of film. I is his or her vsiem of the final recording that hopefully will be realized, and equally itishis or her responsibility to make that happen. As the Produce, we make itll happen For tis to secur, we must be able to make many things happen. We choose the musi, the att, the atanigc= iments, the recording studs, and the engineer. The masie must be composed, developed, wchearsed and performed. We decide when the reeonings good enough. We isten to the engineer mis, guiding him or her to satisfy ou vison. The Producer must really how recorded musie, havea clear and Focused sense of howrhis or her recordings should sound, and know how to communicate that sense tothe Engineer The Producer must know howto get the performers to perfonn at ther best in the studio, when to suppor, when to antagonize, when to try agcin, when to take a break, te, The Producer must beable to visualize and keepin mind how the final producti going to sound while listening to the tracks, the overdus andthe various disparate elements ofthe recording ‘The Producer most be oennized and keep the project moving. The Producer must be responsible forthe money, and for paying the bills asthey ae mcuszed The Procnces in shot, eames the wultiple burdens of vision, respensibility and communication, Te assumption ofthese burdens fres the Artists, Engineers and others to eonecntrate and focus on their tasks, clicvig them of dis tnactions that would otherwise interfere with thei elfrts tooblain their best periormances. As mentioned above, these roles get mixed up moe than lite bitin real life. Sometimes, this gets cally con- fusing because the roles really hve different functions and value systems, and what is appropriate and good in oe role may actually hurt our performance in another. Far instance, {have found it extemely dificult to engineer ses- sions whete Fam producing my own musi, The value systems [use fo engineering (Keeping contro of the pinsical systems and maintaining good recording craft interfere with both musical and prociction decisions and | Ra tal too eayy to get lost in pursuit of tecnica details, so that [have to constantly guard against the tendency to do it all inyself, less have virtually umestrcted time, which turns ou to bea very expensive iy. So, thin ofthe roles as functions that have tobe falilled in adr fr your work to succeed, and tw to Keep clear in your mind as you go along which fametions you ave working on at any particlar moment. Ako ty to keep in mind the balance between those functions so that your decisions taken a a whole (for example, do you keep fing with hhum problem, work on the lies, oro another lake while the band shot?) work most successfully tveard the waliza- tion of your goals STUDIO WORK AS A SOCIAL GRACE (One other sue that needs tobe mentioned here i the interpersonal aspect ofthis work. Ifyou ane working 2s 0 synthesist in a completely private project studio, the effort is very much a solitary one, and it requires that you develop ‘considerable sl iance, the ability to eiticize your own work, and a compte arsenal of musical anc technical kil, not to mention creative vision If you work with others ina band or production team, you may need to trade some af the self-elianee and master-ofall-trades abilities for some interpersonal skills. Studio recending is really a team effort and it demands the ability to work effectively im a team. This means the ability to permit your efforts to be merged with those of others, to sacifice or assert where needed, and to support and empower your teammates in their efforts. For this reason, the ability to work with people isa key job sil for both the Recording Engineer and the Producer, and really desirable forthe Artist If yon want to make great music in the studio, i eally helps if you ean work effec tively with people, especially great people MAKING MUSIC in the STUDIO Normally in books of this sor, this is where we start talking about technical isues like mierophone placement, equalization and mix levels, and about session procedures and our collections of studio tricks, Instead, Id like to focus fora while on the musical issues that relate to why we do this inthe frst place ‘The frst thing to acknowledge is that the studio ist a very good place, atstieally or emotionally speaking, to ‘make music. The at of stripping music apart, of folating its elements, of removing its emational and social uncerpin= ‘ings so that we eam get more technical control of i, tends to filler the emotion out of the music. The joys of ensern- ble playing are muted at best inthe studio, and the still, silent emptiness ofthe studio that greets a voeais trying to 4get iLon is often daunting. Also, the ability to icolate pasts tempts us to try to make those parts letterperfeet and we ‘often bog down in a search for note and liming conectness that defeats the more important spontaneous enusical 2 “Total Recordingintensity It cam be easy to wieck a track by puihing in a litle fix fora tring err only o find that you've ereated a bigger problem of some other sort. At the same time, those isolated tracks ean be tough forall but the most expet- enced and hardened studio players olisten to with equanimity—al ofthe wats are exposed. “This is especially tue with sequencers and sampled sounds. They ate aleady simpliied models ofthe rea elex iments of music (the procestes of growth, change and contrast within sounds and putters of sounds), and they encourage by their design, an alimos careless ease in realizing the notes themselves, while rendering it doubly dificult tomake those notes expressive. The result is often fst ating blandness and flatness the resulting music So don't expect it tole casyTo make powerful and expressive music inthe studi you wll have to inet ten times se mich intensity focus and emotional free as you do on stage, and you wll have to work ten times as har to make your tracks swing, Think of the studio san emotion filter, and accept that to get emotion to come out of the speakers {you will ave to puta tremendous amount more emotion into your recording efor, So,1'like to stare by looking at the central musieal elements inherent in the recording process and the roultitrack mission, It has been my experience that if you con get your head staight about this, then its much easier todo the {ecording workin tracking acl overdul sessions that leads to a successful mix? We wil start withthe words. ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF LYRICS ‘When I fist ask my students to tell me what they think is important in a recording, they wil talk about the drurn mix, the great reverb, and the intensity of the rhythm tracks but they almost never mention the words. hiss a prob Jem that many musicians have, including reeording enginee's and producers. Its the problem of listening tothe words ina reeording. ‘We musicians tend to go “inside” the music when we listen. We hea: the orchestration, the chord changes. the ‘hythmic pattems, the quality of playing, the intonation, ete. We also hear the singer, but what we usualy end up listening ois the cuality of vice: ts timbre, expressiveness, and phrasing, We don't hear the words, We dot this way because we are musicians. We have an affinity for sound itis part of our very being, Listening to musical sound is hike breathing. itis utterly natural for us and we go inside the musi without effort or thought, as part of our natural talent. Meanwhile a large proportion of the gieat mass of listeners out there hear things differently. They go inside the words instead, just the way we go inside the music. They have a word sensibility that is equivalent to our music sensibility "This means that to be successful producers, we've got to expand our aesthetic: sensibilities. We've got to listen to the words. Most of our listeners hear those word, Loud and clear. So, if we are going to reach those people with ovr recorded music, we are going to have to Focus on what they hear We can't just assume that they heas what we hearin the music, ike what we ike. Pat ofthe answer, of couse, lies in simply being aware ofthe problem. That awareness by itself will cause us to compensate forthe ias.Just thinking about the possibility that maybe our audicnce hears the words more than we do should bea help, But there are some specific things we ean do, and some approaches to “producing” Iris that cam be ahelp One obvious thing we can and should do, of course, is always have a lead shect with lyrics omit standing by wher we mix or are preparing to mix a song. Even better, we should memorize the lyrics. Even better yet, we should spend Some time thinking about those lyrics, We should tryto go inside the Iris the way we go inside the music. We need to Tet the lyrics resonate inside; we need to understand their images, feelings and associations. Once we have mntemmalized the lyrics, so that they are part of us, we wil be in far better shape to approzch the task of mixing the song, in which they reside "The second thing we ean do, of course isto study Iyies and poetry. You might want to particularly focus on Iyies in song writing, There are some good books and courses out there (I recommend Pat Pattison’s Better Lyrics Through Seience). The goal of al of tisis to sensitize yourself to words, poems and images, so that they begin to have sone of the same magicfor you that the music does. lacking sessions ae the early seston ono revording production when the basic dythm tracks are econed, before nerd begun ‘Overdebe ae aeitionalreocdings ante other tacks (veal, bem pass ee) dane while Hstening to the rythm tracks. Mixdown i ‘nh the “base tracks” created in tracking and overdubbing ressans ste mee int stereo or afer release format. Postproduction Includes all ofthe work done after that, sach editing, pemasterng and wastring Tart F- Overview of the Moder Music Recording Process B‘The next, more concrete, thing we can do isto pay attention to the level and intelligibility of the vocal tracks in the mix. know it sounds really obvious, but there area lot of recordings that suffer from the problem. We get so caught up in uixing for musieal impact that we tend to balance the voeals alittle too law, to a point where it has become alias a stvistic Feature of rock and roll that the Iries re had to hea. A useful test here i to check the mix turned down 20 €B ancl ask yourself ifyou ean easily, leary and naturally hear the words, without looking atthe lead sheet. Also, ask your test listeners if they con understand the words, partieuanly tthe lower level ‘Another, more creative, thing we can dois to start actively “producing” the Ities, which means earfullyintegrat- ing the langtiage, images, atabiguites and resonances of the words with te langage of the music. How this is done is byond the scope ofthis book, but there are some generalizations that ean be mde. To begin with, the words have both explicit mcaning ("Baby. ove you, yeah yeah, yeah!”) and a kind of implicit message ("I want fo gotobed with you, and Pn singing this song to talk you into it). Much of the power of the lyrics comes from the way that those explicit and implicit messages relate. Sometimes, they ac in actuel conflict, so that the surface message of the lyrics (Baby, Hove you, yeah, yeah, yeah”) goes one direction while the sub-text is saying just the opposite ("Baby hate you, woe, woe, woe!”). Often, to, there isa bittersweet quality to good lyrics, so that within the explicit message ise, there are conflicting messages. I've always really liked, for instance, the hard-boiled sweet-talking blues Fine: “You're 0 beautiful, but you gotta die some day...Soc mon baby, give me sore lovin’ along the way!” By the same token, the music ean be thought ofa another yer of sub-text, a commentary on oparllel expression of the same, related or conficting feclings and images. So, as you produce the recording ofthe song, you think about how you are going to support the lyrics, comment om thera, undercut them, or play with their ideas tn this way the entire production can be thought of as having several simultaneous and different levels: > What the singer is saying, > What the singer means, > What the musie implies the singer relly means. ‘These issues ean be approached in many; many ways, and part of the power of the artform les in its ability to ‘convey extremely complex and ambiguous emotions through some deceptively simple and uncomplicated materials Wis centrally important that as part of producinga successful recording, you try fo pick up.on what your re aude ‘ence hears when they listen to your recording, and that mesns understanding the words to the song. Your musician friends’ friends may give you a much clearer and better idea of how your music is perceived in the larger world than you ‘0c your musician friends can possibly provide, simply because they hear the words before they hear the music (MUSICAL ELEMENTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ‘Masi i such powerful stuf that mostly we take its effect for granted. I played music for ten years before I finally Ihad a teacher (in college, afer Vd become a music major!) who began to show me what music was really made of "Thanks to him | eame to understand that musio isn't nates and rhythms. A couple of years ago, I got brave and tried to say what | think musics, ina paper I presented for the Audio Enginecring Society. 'm kind of proud of it, and would like to share it with you here: “Music is nota waveform, but a psychological and spiritual construct within aur minds and hearts. The wave- form and its physical dimensions are simply cariers of musical information, while music itself lies within Aigher reals of processing in the mind. the processing of patterns, the mindplay of neural teraplaes ancl asso= ciations, aad the rysterics underlying our emotional, spiritual and physical eepances to physical stimuli.” Tm proud of that. It speaks toa higher truth that we ive with all the time but usually don't talk about, Music is powerful medicine for the mind and soul, sent from human ta human encoded on patterns af sound. Creat wousicians are the ones who give the most life znd intensity tothe pattems of sound they send: the Charlie Parkers, the Jimi Hen- ddrixes, the Count Basies and Ray Charleses of our lives. Music resides mainly in the soul of the performes, certainly ‘much more so than in the notes on the page ‘There is anather layer of complesity that we've got to consider. Music has two sides Iyrical side that is eelated to speceh, to talking, to the homan voice, and a physical motion side that is related to movement, to dance, to repeating niotions, to our heartbeats and pulses, to work overtime, to machines, " Total RecordingJn.a simplistic way, we can think ofthese sides us sor of yinfyang of melody and rhythm, pattems of pitch ane patterns of time. They usally cxst simultaneously and interactively, and often are used in tension against each other In the past century, particulary, the ehythmic side of music has developed strongly, in mimicry of the machines we svork and play with, in mimicry ofthe big clockwork sceiety we live in and the mechanistic organization of our Hives. A Tatge part of our musical universe includes “machine” music, music that is essentially the mechanical working cat of pattorns, invoking the part of cur mindplay that delights in watching things work, just like we watch those bolls run down the tracks in those silly mechanics! seulpeures in our mote cultural aicports ‘Music's inftastructure consists of two sets of elements elements of speech and clements of movement. The speech elements are the patterns of melody and pitch, the parts of music thal standin for words for language, When Telodies ete perfomed by instraments, they area kind of symbalic speech, a kind oftelking in pure evotion, without ny specie word meanings to get inthe way ofthe emotions themselves. The resulting emotional impact i, as we all Ihave noticed, immensely powerful Buti important fo understand that melody’is not simply a patter of pitches and durations fame in frequen cy and time. Thot pattem itself is only the framework for real melody: WWe all ave fariliar with eomputer-generated Speech, and delight in mimicking the emotionless drone of “The number is fou. You are comet.” a5 realized by micro- processors embedded in “educational” toys. That digitized speech is equivalent to the literal notes and durations of fatated or mechanically sequenced melods, [tis obviously and painfully incomplcte—it remains just the skeleton, with no bod, no sou If you wart to create real mclody, yu have to tae this framework and ut it asthe basis for making the wordless ‘emotional speech that is realy music, and that means ereatinga fiow of sounds, from low-torhigh-to-ow and soft-o Toudetorsft that speaks in human feelings. And this is what I earned from that college teacher L mentioned above * ‘melody is flow of sound over time, an that flow consis of transitions from note to not, phrase to phrase feeling to feeling so that when you gt itright, the Histeners hear your heat speak and become tonched by the shape of what you. are playing, ‘This is immensely difficult to talk about intellcetually, but is central to artistic expression. When we try to aetually play musig in fet, we have to tcanscend the intllectualization oft. To be successful we have to go beyond the exccution of technical passages ond the “correct” realization of dynamics, articulation and tempo indications. This isof course what is mcant by ‘playing with soul” which i just about impossible to fake, asthe zgame makers with their talking microprocessors have discovered ‘Why do I talk about thisin a book about recording? Our training has misled us. Musicians ave been taught by the rituals of practice to secka perfection of notes, and the constiaints of technology have taught us recording engineers abe equally obsessive about maintaining the technical quality of our aft. So, two of the principal participants i this process, the performer and the enginect, are conditioned to deal obsessively with issues of quality that ate only tangen- tially related to the tea] creation of music. Two things are important to keep in mind: (2) that our obsessions with tcchnical perfection can get in the way of creating recordings with musical value, and (t) tat synthesis (and especial Ip sequence programming) is ffectel by the same issues end must be equally or more concerned with the expressive qualities of music, simply because these things ate so hard to realize when working with that technology ‘With all this said like to briefly ist and discuss of some of the elernents of musical performance and some underlying musical truths about them. First we'll eonsider “speech,” or melodic aspects of music, and then the motion, machine, shythmic aspects. ‘tin owner was his names passionate ight ern (by the time T ke him) vainst whose primary cai to fave was that he Toundea the Bedapest String Ort! argucby the bos chanber music gro inthe 20rh Century. He was bth oterselyemolnal and ali se time gorously gia a analytical. He integrated these reo qualities seals and give me a tremendous lit vp ato 8 J adersanding ef must He os lke a thunderbolt fo comnfed 51s kd ike meres rom the midnest. crating moment that ‘Shpliies what ar talkimgabost hore cameina ston |observed (his essons were allopen andl us students nereencouragedto tin ith dach other in leson) same when nother stent, while plying dficul pasege, min a not and stepped in sgt with him TUL“Why did you stop?" yelled Hauser nith annoyance, “Tssrened up ane ised the Bela.” responded my fellow student to which Hatser responded with vome eal hea, ‘Toa gives damm sboat the note, jus play the muse” Part i: Overiew of the Modem Music Reconing Process 6nronarron Intonation has todo with “playing in-tune.” But pleyg in tune isnot such a simple concept, due to & couple of problems. The itstis that our tempered tuning system isnot realy "in tune,” s0 that the processes by which perform- ers make intonation decisions (aniving at “beal-ree” intervals, fr instance], are partially inhibited. ‘The second probe Tem is that really fine changes in pitch are pereeived as changes in tone quality* The thied problem goes back to the fundamental issue about melody as speeeh—speech does not really have discrete pitches, and melody, to be truly expressive ulilizes a wide range of choices about intonation, including sliding about around the theoretically “conte” pitch (this is what vibrato is, for instance). PHRASING Phrasing has to do with the way a melody is performed: the shape of the dynamics, the timbre, and the aticula= tions. It is equivalent to the expressive reading ofa sentence aloud, Iti the primary level at which emotion is injected into melodie performances. Phrasing is onc of the most important aspects af musical performance and itis one of the primary places whete musical perforiners express their own musical personalities. usaro Rubato (the sight changing of tempo for expressive purposes) isto pulse what intonation isto pitch. Is the qual ity that adds expressive intensity to rhythm. fn much eassieal musie performanee, rubato is a major inherent part of the performance, so that tempos ae always fesinga litte bit, but usually arcund an underlying steady pulse. [n pop, jazz and rock, rubsto is often used as an emotional tensioner between the melodic instruments and the shythm sec- tion, where the meloci parts will drift off the beat and then come back for dramatic effect The reason I'm including it under the “speech” aspect of musics because itis the “speaking” quality of rhythm, as opposed to shythm's “mowing! or*dancing” quality Dynamics Dynamics have toda with the changing of loudness eves, as part of phrasing and ina larger nayas part of musi cal piece. They also have todo with psychological quality of emotional intensity. The changing of emotions intensity {s a major element in expressive performance. At the same time, one of the characteristics of rock and jazz has been the tendency to play at singe level (jazz = mezzo forte rock = fostissimo). Recording, due to its own dynaic tations tothe limitations of many playback spaces, nto the competitive nature of radio brondcesting, ha also tend ced tolimit dynamic changes (this is, for instance, exactly what a compressor docs) Hew ‘case where musical practice and recarding technique have cornbined to limit a major expressive element Happily, it is no longer necessary to use technical constraints to limit dynamics, so our concerns ean now be musical, i we will relax ou lunatic obsession with getting maxirmurn levels onto our CDs ia the mastering, process! Iti possible to mimic loudness change, and generate the same emotional effect, by changes in performance intensity and quality, and by changes in levels of distortion (clean sounds softer, distorted Sounds louder) A dsossion ofthe histor of tuning seteme, aneltheimpliitions a them, ie waybayond he scope ofthis book, Suffice ita thatthe pure” interval elated to"jutt"tntoration end the sample ltienshipe ofthe barmenicevertene eres 2:1 = actave, $2 = pest, fit, 43 = poreot fourth, 54 = major thi ele) ate different fron the equal tempered” interval dene from the belt root of 2, ‘which i what we wie today. These “equal eraperecintewscan be eat heard ae cifferent,prtcalar when layed ae chord, dit the secondary beating that occurs, Thishas signcant rarieatons for both synthesis and rcoréing, For unter informatien, consulta ‘asi book on aousties (Backus and Rosing bath se good) ‘found this out the hard way some years age Eat in ry work with anleg sts. was working wi aythesizr prototype that seemed to charge timbre when the envelope changed fom allel to decsy. When {took thi wp with the designes, they found that there was no change in waveforn, only tiny ehange in Fequeney (a. 1%) Interesting they had aie tronble hearing the change Has talking bout, while ited gotten so annoying tome eat | could bac stand it! Once they comscte the ancmal that caused the fequencs 0 ‘change as aunetion of the envelope the problem went avey- See my discussion ofthis undet the heady ofthe pryoacoustis of he ‘quency Te Total RecordingconTRAST Contrast is primary aesthetic tool for expression, The shift of mood, of dynamic, of tempo, of pitch, ete isa major and powerful element in music making The transitions between contrasting elements, the way we get from loud to soft sow to fst, ete. are major tools for maintaining interest. Music really resides inthe fnansitions themselves, transi- tion between notes, phrases, sections, and even pieces. RHYTHM, TIME, MOTOR IMPULSES The other key element in musie, equally important and powerful, is the motor or pulse aspect of music. Rock and je particulary, have emphasized this feature, zo that it has become absolutely eritical to the musical landseape ‘MIDI and the current crop of sequencers, ae ideal for such music, predisposed to the repeating loop. the layering of Toops, and the working out of pattems, Such music tends toward strong, driving shythims and high eneigy generated by the cumulative effect of repetitive pattems, usualy layered in increasing complexity as the music progresses PULSE Pulse is what makes our bodies move with the music, and it has powerful ots in aur ancient history and evolu- tion asa species aside from all the obvious issues pertaining to sex, pulse allows humans to move together in syn= crony and to have the combined strength of giants, Pulse allows us to time ourselves, pace ourselves, manage things that are tao big in time to do “all at once.” “Musiefsas much about humans moving and humans doing things together a tis about speaking in the language of pure emotion. The two are related, of course, bu itis easy to see them as balancing extremes, a the yin and yang of tnusie Pulse therefore, must be treated with the same care and intensity that melody is. And because pulse is aboot impact, about repeating impulses (min-explasions if you wll, i is about loudness and emotional intensity. In mult track popitock recording, pulse is absolutely critica. ‘THE POCKET “The “pocket” is a slang term fora steady, focused, together beat. When players are “inthe pocket” they ae 80 together that rmsealy they become one, the some way that they can beeome one in phrasing, and in pitch. When a ‘ythm: sections “in the pocket,” their energy becomes completely synchronous and focused, which gives tremendous nergy and focus, a8 well freedom, tothe other players. It permits the melodie players to playoff the beat far more effectively, because he tension created by that foeused beat iso absolutly clear and intense. Atthe same tine that the pocket i so important, the ability to play atthe seme termpo, bt slightly offset in time relative to when the “center” of the beat ocews, is an important music skil.'The moot anc fee ofa piece canbe dra~ thatiealy changed by “playing in fron of” or"playing behind” the beat. Sequencers have some realy interesting eapa- Dis inthis egne. ANTICIPATION SURPRISE The tecnigueof teaching” the listener to expect something to hoppen at a certain time, and then surprising him or herby ether having the event happen eal ate, or not at als eally basic o all ime-based arts, Mostly, the eaching” has altcedy been done by the syle of musio if we're doing a blues, for instance, the listener wll already now that bar five will be subdominant, and if we wish to bend his or her mind all we have to dois anticipate or delsy the subdominant or do something else entcely (this might be called the "Gotchal” principe), The reason itis s0 itnportant rhythmically is boceuse our bodies have inertis—iyou are moving to the music, the surprise or offset does something veryspeci to your nervous system, ithas a suddenly undo a whole aray of patterned responses an create jenew one. whieh is fun, challenging, and exhilcrating alla onee. This is why [was disappointed that disco never got into compound meters lke 54 oF 7! We cauld have ad some serious Fun! Part I: Overew oj the Modern Music Recording Process aTONE QUALITY AT A GLANCE ‘Timbre isone ofthe places where recording and music technology have really had an impact. The control of tonal values has become a primary tool inthe toolbox of the recording engineer and the produces, and it s the very stuff of Life for the sound designer. TIMBRE, ONCE OVER LIGHTLY We will discuss timbe in considerable detail later For now timbre is closscally defined as “the quality of a sound. that distinguishes it from other sounds withthe same pitch and volume.” Pitch andl loudness are both subjective see sations, and so too is timbre. Our ability to distinguish timbres is remarkable, and itis based on a broad array of acoustical parameters. The simplifying assumption that timbre is equivalent to waveform andior harmonic structue isa major misconception "imbre, as the identifiable character ofa particular sound or voice, is dependent on the following characteristics, emong others: > The relative loudness (or power) of each partial in the sound; The caracterstie behavior ofthe sound ait starts (attack) and ends (release); The contours, over the time during which 2 sound ceeurs, of changing qualities of loudness and the distribution of power across the spectrum (related to envelope) The “spo” of the motion ofthe vibrating element (related to waveform); The resonant character ofthe housing and matesals ofthe vibrating element (formant); The foudness of the sound, due to equslloudness contours and fo changing, linearity of the vibrating system; The polar response or dirtionality of the sound source at various frequencies, +The presence af erly reflections in the spaces >The relative positions of sound sourec and listener, andthe distance between them; >The reverberance ofthe space >The presence of other sounds, >'The expectations ofthe listenes. ‘Tirabre is complex and multieeted. Also, our perception of timbre is effortless anel unequivecal, even while the physical forces that drive it are literally chaotic. An extcemely high-level auditory processing mechanism for timbre resides in our brain. There ate multiple, compound interactive mechanisms in the mechanical and neurological sub systems of our hearing system that combine with memory elements in the cortex and limbic ystems oF oat brain to give us cur sense of timbre, ‘What does this imply? That the manipulation of single physical elements will have only limited usefulness in cone trolling timbe, and also that questions of how physical values change overtime are probably as important asthe phys- ‘eal values themselves ‘STUDIO ORCHESTRATION ‘The quality ofthe arrangement ot scoring ofa piece of music is a subject beyond the scope ofthis book. However, in the studio, the management of timbre is one of the key contributions we make to the success of the musical score and its perceived character The process of multitrack recording, with its use of elose mirophone placements, sound effects and the obsessive attention to details of timbre, san act oF seoring al by ita. The tendency to change record ings and add or delete materials esa function of studio production contributes to this. Such activites lead fo a mane agement of recorded musical sounds, which Pve come to think of as studio orchestration, the actual realized scoring of 2 piece of music on multitrack tape. Its ilurinating to follow the musieal development of Quincy Jones as en arranger moving into the studio (cf. particularly some of his eatly film scores—Rumning Mon and The Hot Rock—and albums such as Walking in Space and Gala atari) American Hestage Dictionary, el al) ‘Tnow, anon You dnt know what a parte yet! Keep the faith! Well ge tot “Lknow, Ikon! We have discussed polar esporse. A "polar response” is amtensrementdecription ofan instruments sound behavior inal ducetins, st various equ, 8 Total Recording‘The array of decisions surrounding the recording snd mixdown of a particular tack isa prime determinant in the musical scoring of the overall picee, and as such it gives che enginecr and the producer unexpected power, control and authority in what was previously the donvain ofthe composer ot arranger, particulary in terms of the tinnbral impact of a perticular sound, voicing, or namic, The set of multitrack eecording is, in many respects the act of arranging A brief look at MIDI and how to get it to be musical MIDI is another musical aspect related to synthesis. MIDI, or Musical Instrument Digital Interface, has had & profound effect on both synthesis and studio operations and sirlarly profound ifscmawvhat troubling impeet on the hhahure of musicianship in the studio. MIDI's use leeds to some key insights about the nature of making msi in the studio, Bu first, we need to consider its origins “The most important thing that Bob Moog did, back when he developed the amalog voltase-controlledsythesizer inthe 1960s, was to ereate a control language that was simple, robust and effective. There was nothing particular new about his oscillators, filters and amplifiers a the time, but the synthesizes that eane ost before Moog particu larly the ones built by KCA in the 1950s that came to be housed in the Golumbia-Princeton Hlevtronie Music Labs, were quite dificult, essentially impossible, to play. Sounds wer treated as static abjcets and were created one at 4 time, using punched holes ona paper tape. Given the editing imitations ofthe time, this was nota particularly muse cal way toereate music ‘Moog contiolled the behavior of his audio devies via changing [XC vollage,sothat the frequeney ofan oscillator or filterand the gain of an amplifier was varied by changing a DC contro voltage applied to the device. He untied the behavior of these devices by creating 2 remarkably compact language that linearised the exponential behavior of musi, defining the ratio of Ze (whiel in musics equivalent to a octave, and in audio to 6 dB) asa change of Ivo IF we wanted to go up an octave, we increase the conteol voltage by 1 volt: ditto if we wmted to go up 68. This was realy simple anc clogant in application. Itmade the rmusical se of voltage-conlelled oscillators, ites and amplifiers ‘comparatively easly and intuitive. Once we got a handle on the system, it was really pretty easy to get souncl, And given the right devices for generating control voltages (Keyboards, envelope gencrators, LFOs, ete), we evuld realy have» pretty good time playing. ‘As time passed, however, and multiple manufacturers got into the act, it got litle fostrating, because devices dide’t all track contol voltages exactly the same, some manufacturers used slighty different voltage conventions ke 1.2 volts per octave), and this made the interea nection of difering systems extiemey difficult “MIDI came about asa response to these expressed problems, It is a digital control language that defines notes, events, and a variety of control parameters, a wells palches, that was quickly and broadly embrace by all synthesi er manufacturers. It expended on the analog control system and raised it toa higher musical level. By adding mlti- plexing (by the addition of an address to each word of data). it permitted polyphonic and mult-timbral eontzol of Quite complex sjstems, Because it was digital, it opened the way for elaborate sequencing possbilties that el psed the fixed-stage analog sequencers that used to just generate parallel strings of contro voltages that wee would use to contio| oscillators, filters, amplifiers an to trigger envelope generators ‘THE MUSICAL ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING SYNTHESIS AND SYNTHESIS CONTROL LANGUAGES “Thistle bit of history is interesting forthe commonsense and intuitive way it defines some basic elements of inusic, The premise underlying conventional music synthesis i thal the synthesizer note is the smallest carnplete ‘musical element. thas a piteh (equenes), timbre (wavefon), loudness (ainplitud}, envelopes (shapes overtime o amplitude and spectrum) and tis oriented i time relative to other notes. ust ike notes onan orchestral score. Tehelps thatthe development of multitrack recordinglovercubbing oscurtes in pacllel to this. Inthe multitrack ‘world, music is thought of a paralle! streams of signals from individual instruments that are “mised” info a vstual, stereophonic ensemble, Such workd-views of music ae comfestable ones tous now, and they ar diretl reated in a ‘conceptual way; to th orchesteal core of notated music Part k Overview of the Modem Musie Recording Process 19‘TRADITIONAL MUSICAL NOTATION, YET ANOTHER CONTROL SYSTEM An orchestral score, ora lead sheet, cr any pioce of notated music for that matter, can be thought of as set of fily detailed instructions to a pesformer or performers. These instructions inchide nate choice, timing, loudness, etc, fatal of the values that are included in a MIDI data stream, In most cases, the instructions ar lined up in parallel for imliple performers, so thatthe conductor and/or composer ean sce at a glance the vertical, or harmonic, relationships of the various simoltancous combinations of sounds. Timing, since Beethoven, has been spelled aut in beats per ‘minute, sometimes with Italian adjectives like molto Vivace or Largo This convention of musie notation has been around for so ong and is sa decply ingrained incur culture that itis thought ofa “the music” even though is just dots on 2 page, Composing music is generally thought of as the act of making up and writing down such dots om a page, dots that performers will subsequently convert into music. Even musicians who don't read music often think this, anc many use MIDI for the express porpose of converting a pertect- ly fine performanee into dots on a pagel Answay, the assumption i tha if the dots are any good, the musie the per- formers play from the score will be realy good ‘THE TRUTH ABOUT MUSIC Infact, ths sa very constrained view of musie, and itis peculiar to aur culture and time. Music notation isan at fact of Western religious history (it vas instituted by the Roman Catholic Church in about 900 AD for the express purpose of limiting the performanee liberties that singers were taking with religious musie at the time). No other cvi- Tization, so far as Thnow, hes developed such a notation system. And, as a result, other musics have developed in remarkably different ways from the Westem tradition, although it is probably fairer anal more accurate to say that notated Westem music is the “remarkably diferent” tradition. Without notation, some basie Western musical ideas such as modulating harmony and tonality, imitative counterpoint, the orchestra, the large-scale multi-movemicnt “opus,” and the grand opera, would never have happened. Notation is extremely important, even essential, to our Wa cof musielthinkingancl ta our warking concept of susie But it is useful to keep notation in perspective, Notation és nothing more than another control language, one that is used to coordinate groups of performers in time, so that a given musical experience can be repeated over and over again with reasonable consistency and reliability. But, notation isn’t really music, There ae better ways to conceptual- ‘ze musie, Some of ther are essential to our artistic health. We ean make the commonsense observation that musics carried via sound and its corollary that until we're making sound we aren't making music, We ean go further and observe as I did earier that music is some higher-level expression of human emotions, feelings and breinpley through musie-as-spezch and music-s-mation. In this view of misc, the sounds themsehes (ie, Hse musical events) ate cate riers of music, while musi itself Kies within higher rls of processing in the mind, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSICAL PERFORMANCE AND MUSICAL NOTATION Here is where itis useful to reconsider the relationship between “the music” and the music. "Those dots on a page ane thie equivalent of rigidly quantized MIDI seote. IE we play the dots “perfectly correetly.” which i to say evaetiyas they are written, then we will get as unmusical and offensive a performance as the similarly instructed MID) sequencer gives us. In both cases, it is bad musicianship. In the ease of the MIDI performance, we blame the sequences, even though itis our own bad judgment that leads to the deficient performance, Real music is NOT made up of eighth notes and the like, and if we fool around with stich things, we ate going to reed serious performance help to get some real music out of them. Good performers look at the notes and intuitively ‘guess at the musi residing in the heart and mind ofthe eomposer who wrote those notes and just play it. Thisiscallec expressiveness, musicality, phrasing, ete It seems to happen effortlessly, magically Infact, the performer is creating the music as he or she plays, ereating music that happens to be compatible with the printed seore. ‘This art of performance isa rich, powerful und deep one. Itis am ar that doesn’t lic in the notes, but in the transi tions between the notes. in the pattems of change in the notes, and the patterns of patterns of change. And this i where our view that notes ae the fundamental clements of musie fouls us up. Musio isn't about notes, but rather about getting from one note to the next and frem one fahrase ta the next. Performers do this intuitively in the tems of iusie-as-speech and musie-s-motion | mentioned above, ‘Meanwhile, beeause we were thinking about sound-as notes when we crested synthesizers, ve have ereated a syn= ‘thesig@MMIDI system designed to deal with just the notes themselves, not the transitions between them or the micro 20 Total Recordingand macto patterns of timbre, articulation, timing and pitch that constitute musical phrasing. This makes it more than a litle harder to get synthesizers, computers and MIDI language to play musill It's interesting tonote that after Moog sold his company, he went into the business of trying to create more expres- sive and physical controllers, because he perceived that this is where the real development problems for synthesizers Tic, When we stat thinking of sounds, notes and shythens as simply vehicles for musical expvession, making music gets alot casierand the process begins to make a lot more sense. (One of the most important things we must do in recording s to get the performer to infuse his or her souncls with as much feeling ond emotional intensity as possible and then to eapture those sounds in a way that loses as little ofthe cemation as possible, because we're going to need all the emotion we can get when it comes time to mix ‘USING MIDI TO COMPOSE GREAT NOTES ase GREAT MUSIC Fortunately, MIDI has the timing, amplitude and tnibral contol eapabiities to represent relly musiel perform ances, which isto sy its considerably more “rnusial” than dots on a page. There iso reason tall that we ean cre= te both stunning aca of notes and fabulous performances using syathesizets, MIDI and computers Composers heat in the mind's ear the way ther imagined notes will sound when played by an imaginary great performer ‘Their goal, however they approach i is to organize the musical events to pve the performer ax much hance as possible to really reach the sudienee. They do tis intuitivels, by the shape of melodies, dmamics, hythims and the structure within which notes are created and placed. MIDI is, today. a great place for composers t fst these ‘melodies, shythms, ete expecially nthe belief that when they’e done composing ane heir competion comes to be performed, a relly good performer wil la every beautifully and powecully ‘On the other hand, the performer has to go inside the music and wear it. In lve performance this becomes kind of intense petsonalization that happens as holistic experience. “Cetting it on” is out phrase for desetibing the process of walking the tightrope in sound and time thats musical performance, getting ll the elements of timing, phasing, pitch, execution and emotion to happen as scomless holistic global emotional whole for the audience. I's aot of fun when we get it ight! ‘Here's where MIDI offers usa huge opportunity—the chance to create gteat performances offline. inthe privacy oF or own sui, by allowing as to shape and elit all he above elements, polishing and refining performance stl itglisten Uke a Mozart phrase —o perfect we ean't imagine it not being just chat way To do so requires that after we get the notes ight we must start over again on the MIDI mp, working ike the :musial equivalent ofa sculptor who has completed the rough shape of his statue and now hs to polish and tein it 9 a high gloss—sort ofan out-of time equivalent to music performance. And i doing this, wehave to ep both the Ii- eal (peech) andl physical (movement) elements of our music cleatly in mind, shaping both so tht the one speaks to ‘our listener" heats and the other to ther bodies. Thisisa lot of work and in many espects just playing live is uth alot easier and alot more fun, ifwe have the per formance technique. Icon, so I've got to doit this way and I soapect that lot of you may be in a similar situation But just because we don’t have the physica chops doesnt mean we cant do t. We've got toleaen to think like a pe former, do al those physical performance things ofF line. I's a difficult and challenging, bu very rewarding, mental The fist things that we've got todo the work. We eat expaet the MIDI software to doi for us. “Humanizing” and “randomizing” features ae altempls to “loosen a perlomance, make it sound les like dots ons page. But those features have no more soul than the quantized performance did. We are the ones who have toinject the soul, a note at, atime. ‘That’ right. We have to edit every note! For time, loudness, duration, maybe pitet And that’s not all: When get done, we are going tohave to go back and doit al gaa, probably several times, unt the performance reall erobs cur test audiences Ina ger sense, we have to shape the music at both micro and macto levels. hy musical wait, no two notes are ever played exactly the some, no phrase is ever repeated exact: Musi gros, transforms, moves, wriggles, evolves and changes, The soprises inthe nay the music changes through the couse ofa piece ae an essential element of per focmance at. So, at the note level, we need to shape the process of how one note eannects tothe next. Ata higher level, we have to shape how phrases work how they’ speak interconnect, and make a larger musical sense. At the high- ct level, we hine to shape the sections of the piece into a meaningéal, exciting and moving experience. We have to “Tal Recording ashape our performanee, shape our music, We have to ade laughter. We have to add love. Adda dash of pain, Add sad- nessand jo Finally we\e got to be obsessive ahout this particu in the stun Fone orders who di maybe 150 passes ota dopey little 8a lead in the middie of three-minote pop song, [wes satisfied after bout the fifth ty, ‘but he kept plugging and plugging away. le got the fist four bars to be realy beautiful by about the hundredth poss, and then io! the eemainder a little quiches was eghausting, but he was right and ] wes too cas satisfied. Those eight bars ace rally strong, so that wen I ear thorn now they are simply and tery right, just lke Mozart or Miles They speab,they illuminate the rest ofthe song. And, interestingly, they dnt sound labored a ll, but fee sd nate ral. That's what we have todo, hunched aver our miserably unmusial software, keyboard and editing screen. In the ‘words of producer john Boylan, we have to go fer spontaneity, no matter how long it takes! Total RecordingPART > ABOUT SOUND AND AUDIOFUNDAMENTALS OF acousTICS Acoustis isthe branch of physics that deals with sound. Weare primarily interested in musical sound, paticular- Ip the way it behaves as a fomotion of the recording processes. ‘Sound in airinvalves the propagation of patterns of changing ai density that are detected by our ears. Those pat jing density are Lnown as sound waves.” Phey have several primary characteristics frequencyspectru, amplitude and relative time, Sound waves travel through the air at a constant speed (about 1130 feet per second at room temperature). moving away from the source of disturbance or excitation that caused them. When they strike surfaces, they do several things: bounce off, pass through, get absorbed by, difftact around, How much of each they da imany given case isa funetion ofthe frequencies present in their spectrum, as well as the size, shape and materials of the surface they strike ‘The molecules of air themselves do not move though space from source to listener, They simply moxe back and forth in thor particular region asthe patters of compression and rarefetion pass bs. They vibrate im space asa fun tiom ofthe passing sound energy At the ear, the vibrations of the ar molecules cause the ear dram to vibrate in sympa thy and set into motion the complicated sequence of events that lead to our sensation of hearing” The audio window In teaching I use a concept called the “audio window,” which can be roughly characterized asthe set of physical anges within which we peteeive sound, Thisis a useful way to think about the phiysieal limits of musical sound Too shor to hear a9 ae Too loud to oleate 2D mictoseonse i Dann Too on Ampitode ‘olen Ausinte Sound Tovtew oo high tobe toa 201% preguney Ly whe. passer \ Time XN “Too sft to hear (ott Figure 2.1: The cuiio winden—frequency versus amplitude versus tine, Audible sound exits within this set of ranges, but docen't completely fillt (especially at low froquencies and levels), The relative proportions are not well represented —the Frequency range isa thousandbtovane, while the arlitude range isa millon-towcre (a thovsane) timer greater) and the time range is about heif-a-million-t-one. ‘Then are mumerous mys to apprcoch this intext, and Tauggest yu do some outside reaing onthe subject as wel, my coverage wil focus on the audio” aspect of axcustice I partcualy eeommend juan Rosseters“Totcduction ta the Physics and Psychophys of ‘Masic™ (you can find cop) an Tam Ressings "The Scie of Sound as good stating points ial Rewnding BTTve included three axes in this window, which represent frequency, amplitude and time. The horizontal axis of this window is frequency, and its range (20 Hz. to 20 kEHz—1: 00) is the audible spectrum or range of frequencies that our ears can detect. This spectrum isthe framework upon which piteh (tielody) and timbre (sound quality) are Thang. [ts probably the most important element of the window, musically speaking, and in recording we must take immense care not to change it inadvertently orto lose part of it. The vertical axis of this window is amplitude, and its huge rmge (0 4B SPL to 120 dB SPL—:1,000,010} presents many ofthe primary enginecting problems we hve both in musical acoustics nd in audio. fis inthis ange that eoa- cepts such as signal-to-noise ratio exist, long with dynamic range, headroom, noise floors, heaving damage, ete. The “depth axis ofthe audio window represents time, which is probably the most confusing aspect ofthe win. dows, because of peculiarities in the way we petevive the passage of time neurologieally in our hearing system. In an ‘ease, sound consists of events of various durations, and the shortest duration that we can detect isan event that is at least 80 microseconds long (equivalent to ane cycle ofa sine wave at 20 kz). At the other time extreme, events become continuums and cease tobe events as such, Ihave anbitrarily labeled that limit a about 10 minutes ‘THE EXPONENTIAL NATURE OF HERRING PERCEPTION “Thenext thing you've shoul ow is that ve hearin relative proportions, net absolute quantities (wich is to sey: “We hear exponentially, not lineasly"). The basi unit of frequency, for example isthe cetave, which sa doubling of frequency Octavesall have the same apparent eimensions for us humans, but in fet each higher octave has twice the range of frequencies" Ina linear quantity system, midway between 20 Hz. and 20H. 1s approximately 10H. In an exponential sytem, the midvay point is approximately 600 Hz pea ee ae) lyme lpi sheng ne quae (le nee grant tts spt le hein ing Exponent iE ne a pte Cc Figure 2.2: Linear and exponential (sometimes culled logartimic or leg) scales showing the range between 20 He. and 20 BE. divided into 1 units, The arithmetic isa litte sloppy inorder to make the scales a litle moe user- friendly: ‘The bottom of the three seiles isthe most important one for us here, because it represents the 10 actaves of the audio spectrum—the raw materials of frequency out of which we build music In terms of amplitude, the exponential unit we use isthe decibel. Decibels are closely related to logarithms, and they cepresent ratios of power (and inditeetly of amplitude or prescure). A decibel represents a power ratio of about 1.2511 and a pressure ratio of about 1.12:1.3 decibels represents a doubling of power and 6 decibels represents a dou- bling of amplitude or pressute, 10 decibels (which is 10 times the power) represents, approximately a subjective dou bling oF loudness for humans Tn terms of musical time, our basic unit of expression is the whole note, which may have any assigned time value, depending on the meter and tempo. Again, our musical system is broken into proportional note values: halfnoes, {quutter-notes, eighth-notes, et [n physical time, our expressions are all linear, and related to seconds. For audio, such of our considecation of time will use milliseconds. “For example, one actave above 10 He. i220 Hs, The difersee between them i, af course, 10 Hete. One cetve sbove 10,000 He. is 211000 Hz. Their dilferenc, san clave 10.000 Hone thousand times the diference ofthe int example % Total RecordingAudio and acoustic signals “There are a variety of particular types of sound waves. These are discrete types of patteans of vibration, and they a characterized as “signals” of sounds with specific meaning or character Such signals exist nol only in ei, ut in ther media aswel, particularly clctrical media, The clectrical equivalent toa sound wave is known 2s an audio sig- nal. Weare going to discuss several particular types of waves: the sine wave, the complex periodic wave, impulses and aperiodic waves THE SINE WAVE “The primary building block element ofthe frequency domain isthe sinusoidal wave (sine for short). The shape ‘and motion of this wave isthe most fundamental periodic motion inthe universe, the motion of single frequeney. ts contour of pressure change overtime is the side view of a spiral. ost nos eve = nfo Figure 2.3: I Els. sine wave with parameters of period, frequency, amplitudes), phase pointe shown In the illustration above, note that we ate expressing changing pressure (on the vertical axis) over time (on the horizontal axis), In actu] aig, the motion of air molecules isnot up and down (s0 itis not like the motion of waves on the surface of water), but instead back and forth along the axis of the sound wave travel eine sede restive mesiate bby Thee kernel “ Figure 2.4: Pateras of airdensity in a lateral plane wave showing the buck end forth motion of a molecule. In physics, the motion ofthe air meleeules along the path ofthe sound travel throug the airs called a “Tongitw dinal” wave, while the motion of arising and falling surface of water as waves pass by is called a “transverse” wave tis important 1 keep in mind that sound waves are no invisible “snakes-in-the-ait” that undulate up and down, We just use drawings of lransverse waves as an easy way of “graphing” the physical change of the wave's energy overtime. Part I: About Sound end Audio aThe sine wave, along with all ather types of periodic waves, has three primary characteristics: FREQUENCY This is an expression of the rate a which the sine wave rpaats. Each individual wave has a given length, called its peste. The numberof such periads in a given imit oF tims (for audio we use seconds) is the frequency, expressed in {3eles per unit time In our eae, they are tamed Hert, which tands for “eyeles pe second.” Tlumans can hear sine waves in ar over a frequen range ftom approximately 20 Hertz (eyeles per second) to approximately 20,000 Hertz This | 000: sangeis own as the audible spectrum. Sine wave froquencics outside of this range (ubsonie and ultrasoni) ean’t be head directly by the eats, Iti useful to know the rnge of time periods and wave-length in air of these vanousfrequencis also Eat 200 0s 10.00 mm 00 0 7000 em em 0 Figure 2! he equey, period an wavelength of the audible spectrum in ane-octave increments ‘The highest frequency we can hear (20,000 Fz, approximately) has 2 period of one wave every 51 millionth ofa second, and its wavelength in airs seven: tenths of an meh. At the middle of the audible spectrum, a 1,000 Herta tone hiss a period of one wave every one-thousancith ofa second and a wavelength in air of approximately one foot. At the bottom end of the spectrum, the lowest frequeney we ean hear (20 Hertz) has a periad of one wave every 30 Hho sandths of sccond (03 seconds) and a wavelength in air oF 56 feet. It's worth noting that the highest frequencies have wavelengths that are smaller than the size of the smallest sound sources we tse, while the lowest érequencies have wavelengths that ate anger than the largest instnaments we make ‘These Facts will ive important implications later on ‘The subjective sensation of differing frequencies is, of course, a sense of “highness” or “lowness” of sound, and there isa strong correlation between frequency and piteh. However, note that pitch and irequeney are not the same thing, and there is no :1 correlation between them. The pitch A440 is not a 440 Hertz sine wave, and in reality there may be mo energy at all at 440 Hertz ina particular AH pateht AwPLITUDE. Amplitude is a representation of the range of pressure variation of the wave (cxpresed as Pascal, dynesfem™ or snicrobats in airand a ols in electial signals ). Unfortmately theres no singe, unequivocal measuce of amplitude tf a wave, because the pressure is constantly changing. Common expressions of amplitude are the “peak-to-peak” ‘luc (the range from the lowest density tothe greatest density), the “peak” value (the range from the average density to the greatest density usually ho of the peak-to-peak value) al the RMS ("Root-Mean-Square") value, which ia complex term related to the amount of difference from the average density overtime. Fora sine wave (and sine wave nly, the RMS value is.707 ofthe peak value The RMS value is particulary relevant because it represents the quiv- lent tothe power generated by direct curtent power for any’given periodic signal, whieh isto say that a Dineet Current (DC) soltage with. 707 of the pesk amplitude ofa given sine wave will generate the same zmount of power asthe sine wave would So, amplitude can be thought of nd measured ina varity of ways, and in genera it san expression ofthe magni tude of foree or energy that generated the sound or that isbeing transmitted by the sound wave 6 Total ReadingAmplitude i coughly elated to the subjective sensation of loudness, and has.a direct exponential relationship to power (the power varies as the square of the pressure variation) ‘The range oF amplitudes we humans can detect is huge (approximately 10,110,000), «fact that causes some of ‘our most serious enginecring problems in audio. Particularly, we are able to hear extremely soft sounds (for instance, the sound of a single hydrogen molecule bouncing off our eardrum is detectable!). Our “threshold of hearing” (the softest sound we cam detect—at | EH) is IN2 Easeals, which is 200 trillionths of average atmospheric pressure! ‘We will discuss both the physies and the psychophysics of amplitude and loudness in considerable detail ter, PHASE. Phase is am expression ofthe cyclic, or periodic, nature of a wave. Any point in time of any given eycle ofa given wave is expressed in degrees. A complete cycle or wave has 360 such degrees, Phase deseribes the eltionship in time betucen component parts of a wave andlor the offset in time between a wave and its delayed reiteration (such as a sefleetion), usually expressing such relationships in degrees. ‘When two waves have absolutely identical frequencies, so that there is never any change in their relative phase relationship, they are said to be “phase-locked.” When they have very similar, but not idential, frequencies (for instance 100 He, and [0] Hiz.), thei relative phase constantly changes, so that there is ongoing phase shift over 36 ‘This leads to the aueible phenomenon called “beating.” As the waves go in and out of phase with each other, they altemmately eanecl and reinforce, causing a variation in amplitude. At 0/360° they reinforce each other, causing a 6 dB boost (assuming they are of equal amplitude), while at 180°, they cancel, causing en infinite crop in amplitude. ‘The rate at which they vary inamplitude isequal tothe difference i frequeney of the tito waves. and is called the “beat fre- “quency.” Beating isa primary tool we use to determine “in-tuneness,” and it sa fundamental physical behavior that ur hearing system uses to analyze the behavior sound. We will discuss and refer to it in considerable detail late. At the same time, our hearing snot very sensitive to relative phase of two independent Frequencies or sounds. But phase is critically importznt to our ability to localize sound, and isthe basis of many psychozcoustical phenome Further phase shift (the offset in time ofa given sine wave asa function of signal processing) is inherent in equaliza- tion (both digital and analog). And while such phase shift is not particularly auibe by itself, upon recombination with its source (ie, mixing an equalized signal with its unequalized source or a delayed signal with its undelayed source) itean yield extremely audible audio artifacts! Jn suomaty, sine waves ate the simplest building blocks of continuous sound, presenting energy ata single Fre- ‘queney. They are conceptually useful for the consideration of real sounds, which are complex sounds that may be thought of as amalgamations of many sine waves of different Frequencies, amplitudes and phase offsets. Meanwhile, the primary dimensions of sine waves called frequency, amplitude and phase are primary charactesisties of any contin= uous pericdic sound. ‘THE COMPLEX PERIODIC WAVE In the real world of sound, virtually ll periodic sounds are complex. Sine waves ae, in reality special eases gener= ated only by test equipment. A complex periodic wave can be thought of as any epeating pattem of presure variation that is comprised of two or more sine waves. This encompasses broad range of sounds, cbviously. The point about such sounds i that they are periodic. They have a readily identifiable repeating patter that is theic fundamental per oe WAVESHAPE Complex waves, then, have energy at multiple frequencies. The period ofthe longest repeating pattern is the peri ‘ad ofthe “fundamental” frequency of such a sound. Al other frequencies are above the fundamental, and are ealled “overtones.” They will have varying amplitudes and may o may not be “harmonically” related to the fundamental “The relative loudness of the various overtones in any complex periodic sound is 2 major contributor to the quality navn as timbre, and is the relative loucnesses of the various overtones that we are changing when we use equalizers and filters. art Ui About Sound and Aualo 2Figure 2.6A: Various vomplex waver: vo sine waves ar octave apart, triangle wane, square wave smooth wave, ple ‘wave, and acoustical source wave, Various markers show period, peak-to-peak and apprezimte RMS amplitudes, phase points Jn the lustations above, we se representations of a varity of complex sounds, shown 25 “waves.”"The vertical axis in the drawings is presure, and the zero line is average atmospherie pressure (in ait) or zero vlts (in audio). This Kind of drawing isa "time domain” draving, because it expresses physical behavior a funtion of time (the horizon tal ads) A ave is sid to be “symmetrical” when its positive atd negative patterns ar identical. The sive, triangle and square wave ae all symmetrical. The sentooth wave isnot, because its negative patter is reversed in time. The 30 Thial Recordingpulse and the sampled wave shown are obviously asymmetrical. This distinetion will become important when we con sider harmonic overtones. There is another way to graphically express such waves, in the “frequency domain.” This drawing isa greph show ing loudness (om the vertical axis) over frequency (on the horizontal axis). Reconsider the above wavefomnts 2s shown in the frequency domain, 4 Siew @ 500 ae re lane Figure 2,6B: The above complex waves show as spectra fora 250) Hz wave (41m. percd), using an octave seale for frequencies. The more complex spectral reprsentations areabpreximations only to give you the ides Here we can see the “overtone” concept quite clearly. sine wave is energy ata single fequency, The triangle sajnate and sawtooth waves have an aray of regularly spaced overtones with distinct patterns of loudness dropping off for each succesive overtone. The puke wave has cemparaively litle enexgy atthe fundamental, and the sampled art I: About Sound and Audio al‘wave has an irtegulor array of overtones, Note that all of the waves except the sine waves have multiple frequencies, all ‘except the octave higher sine ae identified as having » fundamental of 250 Hy, an all have different timbres, All have differing distributions of energy actoss the spectrum. ‘With this in mind, we should consider in some detail the overall audible spectrum, Later in the book, we will dis- cuss the other isues of timbs ‘As [mentioned above, there are I) octaves in the audible spcetram—the raw materials of frequency. These ten octaves are all we've got, and each one has its own particular characteristics, quality and musical significance. Let's — take a closer look anvnee Steet: Ft baie Chrno eso ets en dee. Masa wnt Soatcpeevie s eae permite einen ne pane eit ents Saineceaess AES | ecstasy rf | ements cet mils its, eae oo Bgigenine er erasape Toclrades Gia acacet sides pet. Mee fone nee: Bm eden cess sCinn nslcbariatent ce Cre be ntenge Spee feta tw ‘aug. Lowe Suaeaan yc acc. fattened nemntetet fF Figure 2.7: The ten oclaves ofthe cuca spectrum. Given both in tarms ofthe ISO centr frequencies (on lft) and boundary frequencies. Bach octave has its om particular qualities, musically acoustically end psychoacoustic 32 “Total Recording1 2040 rae nompitched ——_ Intesound,unptcbed lows, "big natutl sounds, bassioond i thundssearthques Te xa Was Tine, Rass ewer bs, ation of meal pen Sone foundation, — _ 3 we Tw ‘Baritone, Tenor Upper bass, harmonic eundation octave 7 Vea) Wide Mudeenge- Thickness cubbiness, thumps “Tenor goensmece in steven ever 5 ssa ‘Alte, Sopa By iiss, alles, rounded. Warn © IK wR ‘Soprano! Tipper pitches, major overtones Forms nants 72K «1a523K ‘overtone Herds bite, tena oodness, deintion Poantom amaze eas 7 ase ig ‘rerio Presence, edge of easone, rghine, spesch recogitioncass _ 7 vas ‘overtone Highs, tebe, metal baghtnes, sbianee, brine ek 0a ‘atc high Pare highs alive hs sr: overtones Upper edge.” Figure 2.7B: The tem octaves of the aad spectra, with a few more particulars about the musical, acoustical and subjestine qualities of eech octave. Abs, I've given the approsinarie wavelengts of fleguencies in coubled vith a basic knowledge of how diffraction and reflection work, is primary information for understanding ‘ecnstcal problems in roms sch octave: This, ‘There's Jo to talk about here. Musical fnctions exist in various ranges, overall apparent loudness very mueh a funtion of ha these octaves are treated, and both the specific tonal qualities of various instruments end the overall aqwabty and character of the music is determined by the distribution of energy among these actaves. This s where ‘equalization comes in, ofcourse. But we should look at some other musical issues too. The first has to do ith the nature of pitched rusia sounds Such sounds all have “pitches,” like G above Middle C:"These pitches are assigned the frequency number af the fare damental frequeney of theic waveform, even though energy i broadly distributed above that fundismental, “The range of such pitches, in actual musical practice, is about the same as human voice anges, or from about Low C fapproximately 65 Hz.) to High {approximately 1050 1), about four cetaves. So, the musical sound identified as having a piteh of Middle C does not just exist at 261 Hz., but rather exists as an amtay of frequencies whose lowest snemiber is probably 261 Hy. and that stretches acrossall the andible octaves above 261 Ile, Posibieven probably, the ‘bulk ofthe phrsical power of this musical sound les in octave bands far from Octave 4 The point about this is that pitches (as distinguished from frequencics) are subjective mental eonstracts we use for cxgenizng our oven sense of the “highness” or lrwness” ofa sound and patterns of hihness and lowness (rele) ‘They don’t represent the frequencies prevent in those musical sounds. Such fequencis include, as we've steady noted, the overtones or harmonies othe sound. To reiterate once again {this is quite important, the assigned “pitch frequen- 6" iscalled the “fundamental "The physieal power ofthat musieal sound i the sum of the powers ofall the harmonics, and that posters distributed across the spectrum as function ofthe relative power of ach ofthe various harmonies. ‘Now let’s take a look ata patticular middle G sound. We hear by octave (actually by Yao of an octave), which is ta say that each doubling of frecuency soumds like the same frequeney magnitude to us. The shorthand expression for this is to say, once again, that our sense of pitch is exponential rather than linea we hear proportions rather thar {quantities Meanwhile, the harmonic series of overtones is linear All this is to suggest to you why the overtones, wien shown in an exponential (also called “logarithmie") dispay, are spread apart at ow frequencies and increasingly bunched at higher frequencies. For typical mmusieal penodic Sounds (such as sawtooth waves), the number of harmonies in each octave (going up) doubles, so that the furdamen- tals the only overtone in the lawest octave in which the sound is present. The nest oetave up has two overtones, the ‘rt I; About Sound and Audio Bthird one as four ovestones, the Fourth has eight overtones, and so forth, If you follow this out to extremes, a 20 Hz. saiytooth wave will have 500 overtones in just the octave from 10 kHz, to 20 KHz! In fact, you can easily ear the prese tence ofthese overtones! A Figure 2.8As Harmonie structure ofa ypical musical sound. The fundamental frequency is around 260 He, Middle ard apprnximately 60 harmonies are shown Poe Den rca Tao po ee ae Figure 2.8B: Power spectrum for the above sound, showing the approximate summed pouver levels i each ceteve of the ube spectra 1,000 mizraWVatts equals 1 milla, whichis going tobe close to atypia! “Line” level imam audio sytem. Figure 2.84 shows the fundamental and overtones ofa typical musical sound (imaginary inthis case} and Figure BB shows the power spectrum for that sound whose fundamental, approximately 260 Herz, is Middle C. As noted lbuve, each successive octave has twice as many harmonics, Note that the power scale is exponential, as isthe fe {queney sale, The total powers the sum of the harmonics’ values, and the power in each octave isthe sum of values of Tarmonics in that octave. The total power of this sound is around $50 mieroWatts, with the bulk being in Octave 5, and the rest evenly distibuted over Octaves 4, 6,7, Sand 9, plus litle in 10. Even though the individual upper har- monies have much smaller power outputs, there are many more of them. From the example, it should be elear that although the pitch is Middle C, litle energy is present at that frequency and much of the power ofthe sound is spread arose several octaves further up inthe spectrom ™ In Fact, more than 902 ofthe powcr lies above the octave i winch the fundamental resides. Also, for this particular sound, there s noth- ing goingon in the bottom tinee octaves \idleC produced by = diferent instrament! ill have the same “Middle C Prequency” but adiffeetdistibution of power acres the spectra, En Total Recerding‘THE HARMONIC SERIES With the above information in mind, let's look at the actual harmonic components of an overtone series. This iva fascinating bit of phsies, where some of the bedrock elements of music, mathematies, and physics reveal themselves with rather stunning clay ‘Any vibrating element that generates a periodic sound has a natural resonant frequency; This is the frequeney of the “fundamental.” The vibrating strings the clearest example: it tends to vibrate along its entre length, and its reso nant frequency is determined by the length, tension and mass ofthe string ‘The string alsa tends ta vibrate along half its length as wel, and xe of ts length, ofits length, and so on. These are natural, common tendencies for any vibrat- ing system. This leads us to the insight that vibrating elements tend to vibrate at Frequency F (their fundamental ces ‘nant frequency), 2F, 35 4K 5H, OK... NE These are ealled “whole number integes” of the Fundamental Let's consider a string vibrating at Law C. It has a fundamental frequency of approximately 65 He, Below is table showsing the fist 32 harmonies (including fundamental). Notice that the first 6 harmonics spell out a © rnajor chord and the 7th harmonic adds a flatted seventh. Over the fourth octave we have an array of eight roughly cliatonic har= ‘monies and in the fifth octave we have sixteen microtonal harmonics. aemenic re 32 g 31 ‘nisroonal 30 1962.19 B 2 5679 rmicroronal 2 185138 Bia (oo! tempered) 7 116597 taieroronal 1a wirotonal 5.16 rmierotonal 150975 a 50435 rmisrotonal z 13894 Ee (nt emp 5H rafeotonal 18.15 a 3 tttst ae 104650 oo a 7 ae oat i tae t tF # aa it stat t : Set 5 z e a € 5 a a fe e a € ea é heft 32 harmonies of low C, by faguency ond note name ert Ik About Scurd and Audio 6I. we notate the first 16 harmonies on a grand staff they would look like this: bin © Figure 2.10: Grant Staff showing frst 16 harmonies from Low C to high C, with anmotaticns for the ambiguous tuning over. ‘There are many implications to this series. Most importantly it reveals the basi ratio set for musical intervals: Octave = 2:1 320151 43 0r 13311 Major 3rd = 54.01 12531 Minor 3rd = 65 02 12:1 ‘These tatios are the “pure” ratios of just intonation and modal musical structures. Equal-tempered tuning changes all oF these just little bit (except forthe octave) in order to allow for tonal modulation from key to key? Fur- ther, the harmonic series reveals the phiyseal hasis forthe trad, dominant 7th chords, the principles of modulation from key to key and the diatonic scale. Earlier, we mentioned that symmetrical waveforms had an important charzeterste in cogad to the harmonic series. That characteristic is that symmetsical waveforms generate only the od-numbered harmonics. Such wave~ forms tend to be more “harsh.” as there are no cetave doublings in symmetrical wavefomns. Look again atthe table above. The edd harmonics are matked in bold, “Asymmetrical wavefurns have all Harmonics prevent, by contrast which makes them tend to sound richer, ess harsh. Interestingly there i no waveform that generates only even harmonies (although you'll run across a lot of snythology that suggests that tubes generate even harmonics, hence their “warm” sound). Ifyou bother to workito and create an “even-harmonie-only" sound, you'll find that such a sound has no fundamental, but has 2 symmetric ‘waveform [with only odd harmonics) starting an octave up from the non-existent (because it’s odd!) fundamental ‘Nonchatmonie oveitones also exist. They cecur due to the nonsinear behavior of some materials, particulary metals, that generate “harmonics” that aren't “whole-number-integers” of the fundamental, Percussion and brass instruments particulary exhibit such behavior. Furthes, there is a whole family of “intermodulation” overtones, that are “sum-and difference” tones of the vious armenies present. Vibrating solids, again particularly metals, generate such sounds, bells and chimes being excellent examples. In such cases, pitch is often ambiguous and tonal qualities are both extraordinarily ich and quite clangorous. When an instrument’s sound has many harmonies and intermedu- lation artifacts, the result is extremely complex and rich overtone stroctutes, ‘Diferencas in ting jeter ave quite audibles lead to sgfcanly diferent kines of music. Turing based onthe ratios he ha ‘mem eves ely has some onderful quotes that we dan often ge to ear in pap rusic Much county and folk musi ses such fumings. Equal temperament, being» compromise system, is inherent always itl out of tune (which is part of why brates are so popular they mack the ou-oFfunenesl. Craig Anderton once characterized eqaaltemperament as the masial equivalent of junk food Te always thought it was fair assessment % Total Resording/APERIODIC SOUNDS: NOISE AND IMPULSES ‘There is another family of sounds to consider that arc rmsicelly just about as important as pitched sounds but “often forgotten or devalued in the face of our fascination with the various musical phenomena related to periodic fre eerste family of sounds that have no period, which isto say no pitch, There are two basic types of such cous: random motion, whieh is called noise, and spikes of energy, which ave called impulses or transients. Both types of sounds are central to music, and are tightly integrated with periodic sounds in our musical aesthetics. NOISE ‘Random motion is exactly thet: motion that has no particular pattern over time. It is unpredictable™ and con- stanfly changing. An interesting aspect is that such motion is always with us physically electronically and acoustically, as¢ fundamental function of thermodynamics. Noise can be thought of, in this tegard as the general ongoing release cof thermal encty. 'ASsuch, noise is universal in our experience. The only “noiseless” environment is one without heat (which means temperature ofabsolute zero, ie, 0° Kelvin, or 44 Fahrenheit). What this means, ina practical sense, is that noise tunderlies all that we doin auc. In typical passive audio eireuit, fr instance, the level of thermal noise in the wires is approximately -125 dBM.® Such a figure determines the softest or smallest signal level that can be generated or transmitted by the circuit. In acoustics, noie s the random motion of air molecules bouncing off cach other. In nor- imal Westem Civilization environments, the noise level of very quiet spaces is much louder than the softest sound (0 4B SPL) that we can hear, as much a 50-60 d8 SPL. (or 30 dBA SPL") Rendom motion is an essential part ofthe behavier of musical instruments. Some instruments’ sounds ae essen- tially random motion. The snare dium and the cymbal are obvious examples. Less obvious isthe “breathy” aspect of some low flute notes. That breathiness is random motion of air around the mouthpiece of the ute. Similar examples abound in our musial experience Bven less obvious is the chaotic behavior of the beginnings and ends of normel pitehed musical notes, As an instrument starts to sound, there is typically a short period of time before resonance has cceumted and periodicity has been established. ‘The instrumental sound during ths period is charactersteally nose-ike. This is particularly notice able in brass instruments.” Similatl, as periodic sounds are stopped, the damping motion again introduces random ‘motion to the vibrating element 20 that noise is introduced. Fivally, some random motion is usually an clement at some level in sustained periodic sounds, So, noise is integral to sound and to music Noise also exists as test signal and is wath discussing in those ters, Simple random motion turns out to be equivelent in spectram to an infinite nurber of sine wave generators ran- ‘ning at an infinite number of different frequencies atthe same amplitude. This isto say that noise, in its basic form, ‘has equal power at cach frequency ot inall equal frequency bands. Such noises called “White Noise,” and its equiv- alent to white light” ‘White noise has increasing powcr in cach successively higher octave. This i because each suocessive octave has tuioe the numberof frequencies present in it, sot wll have twee the power output for white noise asa signal, which istosay that white noine has rising 3 dB per octave fequency response slope Random, ov unpredcable, cation ia paradox. Random metion het certain predictable characterises, ani twas ou it has pe= dlictably distinctive apd knovable qualities ee any periodic motion. Wha random abou tis that we cannot predict the rate or direc: fiom ol motion stacy given moment of ime, and tat over helemger teem no percdie patter wil emerge Tink about it. Vkes! The atual eletica nose Moris function ofthe resistance ofthe eu, the bandit and the temperture “'Mfostf the energy sucha level represent at ow Frequencies, owhich humansarecompsrctivly insensitive, piel at low eves Forthisreeion, ve use a coveaton eure fr dteibing low-leve! signals called “Aeighting "Thiscure tums down low frequencies to pptcamatcly match the frequency response curve of our alfocshuman hearing 23 leel of 40 cB SPI. This isexpressed 28 GBA. A> weighted messuemente are act appropriate for high (io) signal levels This is true toa pont where in music sythess, most “brass” synthesis patches inehude a brief burst of noise is during the early attack pation ofthe sound. sequal white ight spose andam metion across the portion of the ckectromaguetic spectrum that we eall"light.° Whew, Part He About Sound and Audio aBecause humans hear exponentially and perceive all octaves as being equal in pitch range, it is reasonable to med ify noise so that it as equal power per octave. "This is zecomplished by filtering white noise with a falling 3 dB per ‘octave lowpass filler The resulting signal is called “Pink Noise,” and it isa fundamentally useful test signal for us. As such, it merits some discussion, Fink Noise is random motion with equal energy per octave. This quality makes it resemble musie in many respects, while also causing each octave of the spectrum to be approximately equally Loud to hunans.” ‘At the same time, beeause pink noise is random motion iis constantly varying in amplitude and is therefore a “dynamic” (er changing) signal, which isboth useful and perplexing. tis useful because it mimics music im its dynam jenature, and perplexing because we cat strictly sets eve, since the levels aways changing! ‘When we fry to observe the RMS level of noise with a VU meter, we notice its constantly changing over about a two dB tange. Ror noise level measurements, we use a sound level meter with a so-called “slow” integrating time (Gsbich usually averages the levels measured over the previous 10 seconds, giving more weight to the more revent lev- els) Such a meter changes ts readings vey slowly, and when you apply it to music it becomes abundantly clear that it isnot accurately representing the loudness changes that we are heaving. ‘Because pink noise is constantly chaning, neither the RMS or low average levels represent the manizour instane tancous love, or peaks, of the noise. The difference between the average levels ard the peak levels of a signal isealled its “erst fuctog” and it isa useful concept for us in music. For pink noise, the erst factor is approximately 12 dB, svhich isto say that the highest peak levels ofthe pink noise signal wil be 12 4B greater than the RMS evel or the slow level. Such a cest factor makes noise very useful for testing the headroom of a system in 2 way that is relevant for musieroxording The erestfacor of musics widely variable, depending on the style of music. Sustained, fullsounding music hasa comparatively small crest factor, while percussive music and music with open textures and rnuch audible reverberance tusualy has a big erest factor. In recording, we can control the crest factor with a compressor (that's what the “ratio and “threshold” controls, used together co, Tm any e2se, pink noise is extraoidinaniy useful for studying audio system behavior. At the same time that ity dynamie behavior resembles musi, the eorstaney ofits frequency output, with equal power in each octave band, Slows us to quickly and cosy observe the frequency response ofa system, while the system i actually perating ina ‘way that resembles music playback. What this means is that iF system can satisfactorily transmit, process, andor ‘ore pink noise at its nominal operating level, then such a system will probably do the same for music. IMPULSES ‘The other group of non-petiodic sounds ta consider are impulses. Impulses, as said above, are spikes of sonic or cleelsonic energy. They are charaeterized by an extiemely short rise or attack time (usally instantaneous, in au terms}, no significant duration of energy output overtime, and a rapid decoy to zero energy. They ate al the opposite {end of the signal contingum from sine waves, Whete sine waves represent a singe fequency repeating continuous ‘overtime, impulses represent all frequencies simultsneously, for ne instant. “The rchitess oftheir harmonic content isan extremely important spect of impulses’ musica character. This ich- nness,combined with their exposed on-off temporal nature, makes them extremely auclible. [talso makes them both an tssential ingredient in the wecipe of musical sounds, as well as somewhat troublesome and dificult to wenk with in fudio terms. Finally, rmpulses present some interesting psychoacoustic loudness problems. Th music, of course, impulse sounds are the basis for musical time, for percussion, for the “motor” o: dhythm-dom inated aspects of music, and forthe propulsive quality of such music. In popular recorded music, impulses may even bbe the most important musical element. “Tao, Hho. We have talked boot low pss iter yet You ean ater ship ahead to Lok them: up, or kop the faith un we get there This statements subject to a et of qualifications, Lack up the discussion oflowdnes to easier the pyshoacoutie inplication of noise, Were inquiektand here! 38 Total Recording‘SQUARE WAVES AND PULSE WAVES Let's start with the square wave. This isa waveshape over time that consists (in electricity) of alternating positive and negative current low, with instantaneous transitions between the two states. For such a wave to exist in ait would ‘require some rather violent conditions, invalving the notion that your eardrum would be altemately held in a pushed: in position and then held in a pulled-out position. Fortunately, the compressible nature of air coupled with the limited excursion capability of loudspeakers nakes such an experience unlikely, although you eauld probably do it with head. phones if you were both really determined and really crazy An interesting demonstration, if you have a so-called “direct-coupled’” amplifies that will pass Direct Current (DC) anda sub-audio sine/square wave oscllatr, isto use the oscillator to drive a loudspeaker (not too loudly, please) vith the gril cover removed, and to observe the motion of the woofer With the sine wave ranning.at, sey, one Hl, you ssl hear nothing but you will see the speaker come moving in and out ina smooth, sinusoidal motion patter. Switch toa square wave and you will begin ta hear a series of clicks (onc for each transition from in-to-out and out-to-in) at twice the frequency of the wave, and you will see the woofer snap in and out, holding its distended and sucked-in posi- tions between clicks. The clicks represent the portion of the broodband energy inherent to the square wave that is in the audible specteum, rated to the concept of overtones. (One of the interesting things about square waves has to do with the relationship between peak and RMS ampli tude or enctgy In the square wave, unlike any other wave, the RMS value of the amplitude is equal to the peak value, because the amplitude of the wave is never less than peak (or negative peak, which is the same thing for the RMS eal- culation) As a result, the square wave has the greatest power autput of any wave (of equal peak amplitude}. This is easily observed by comparing the loudness of a sine wave toa square wave of equal amplitude. The square wave is dra matically louder: Dury cycLe In its most traditional guise, the square wave spends equal amounts of time inthe postive and negative (orcom- pressed and sarefed, in ar realms, The transition to the opposite state occurs halfway through the period hu tadi- tional engincering the positive partion of the square wave is known as the “duty” eyele, nd the square nave is said to haven 5 duty vce TE is possble to vary the duty excl proportion of dhe wave. In such a case, the square wave becomes no longer scjuate and is ealleda“pulso" wave. The duty cyele is expressed asa percentage ofthe time the pulse wave isin the pos itive cal, Varying the daty eyl called “Pulse Width Modulation ™ Se Wir Squore ond pulse waves, with markers identifying their percont duty eyles. Part I: About Sound and Audio 9Such modulation mimics phase or Doppler shift in the acoustic realm, beeause as the duty cyele changes the changing waveform resembles tivo square waves of similar frequeney going in and out of phase. This is an effective sig nakprocessing trick in musical synthesis. RISE TIME, ‘The rise time of a square or pulse wave is the length of time that it takes forthe transition from positive to nega tive (or vce versa) to occur. In theory, the transition is instantaneous: in reality of cours, it never is. Thisis related to aaconcept called “slew tate,” whieh refers to how rapidly voltage change can actually eccur ina given audio deviee, This, isusually expressed in volts per microsecond, and in turn may affect the bandwidth, or high frequency response, ofthe audio system. The ability of 2 systeny to slew quickly (ic. to change voltage quickly) is essenlial to oblain accurate voltage tracking and repteduetion of an acoustical signal trace. When a limited slew rate causes the sjstem to fall behind the signal presented to ta type oF intermodulation distortion occurs called “transient intermodulation distor: tion” (TIM). This is primarily an issue for power amplifiers, which may have to rapidly slew across 20 0 30) volts under a difficult load RINGING Another form of distortion encountered with square waves is called “singing,” which refers ta the generation of high-frequency artifacts asa function of wave trace avershoot at the end ofeach transition. Figure 2.22: Ringing and oversfool in u square wave OSCILLOSCOPE ANALYSIS OF SQUARE WAVES: Given these various characteristics of square waves, it is possible to see a great deal about the behavior ofa system by observing what happens to 2 square wave passed through the system. Howard Tremaine, in the original Audio Cyclopedia, devoted a page to diagnostic oscilloscope displays of square waves, showing high andilow frequency rlloft and boos, phase shift, ringing and other phenomena. This is an extremely powerful yet basic approach to audio sys- tem analysis, particulty when used in conjunction with your ears % Total Recording7 a igikeging ten = LP Ft Figure 2.13: Some dizenosticoxillescope displays, fora square wave input (fiom Tremaine) [ABOUTIMPULSES AND DISTORTION Impalses can be thought of as square waves with a really short duty cycle. Impulses, by their mature, are the signals in audio most likely to overload any given system. As. result, they are the signals mos likely to generate harmonic dis- tortion, Fortunately, there are some mitigating features to this, especially in the analog realm. ‘The fist issue is that harmonic distortion adds harmonies toa sine waveasa function of lopping off the top of the sinusoidal wavefonm (“clipping”). In the case of the impulse, it aeady i flattened off on the top and extremely rich in harmonics. As a resolt, clipping of an impulse is not particularly audible as distortion, until it becomes quite massive. ‘The second issues that the human auditory system doesn’t detect distortion until it has actually been around for Few millisceonds, Ifthe transient has a duty eycle of less then 10 millisceonds, any overload is simply not going to be heard by humans. jure 2.14: An impulse aid a negative impulse. Markers show te time needed for cudible distortion. Part I About Sound and Audio aJn the digital alm, extreme overloads, even af quite short impulses, may cause the processing or conversion algo- rithins* being used to generate other quite audible artifacts. For this reason, impulses must be tiated moce conserva- tively in the digital realm. ABOUT APPARENT LOUDNESS OF IMPULSES Related to the above is another peculiarity of the human auditory sytem in regard to impulses. Humans perceive loudness partly asa funetion of Kew ong a sound happens for. [mpulses, being short, are perceived as relatively soft for a given amplitude. This can lead us into some serious abuse of both the audio system and our hearing—in the quest for more loudness, we don't lengthen the impulse to gt more subjective loudness, bu instead increase its amplitude, creating serious overload forthe system and possible overload for our hearing jure 2.15: Various durations of sound and their relative subjective loudnesses (rom Hes) IMPULSE RESPONSE MEASUREMENTS With the above in mind, we ean now consider, bref, impulses as a measurement tocl. An impulse, or spike of nergy. is another one of those ideal signals that abound in any discussion of physic. Itis in theory, an infinitely loud signal for an infinitesimal length of time. hn fae, finite impulses arc used as the conceptual bass for a variety of meas urements of both electronic and acoustical audio systems, Reverberation, for instance, can be thought of as the *impuls response” ofa room. This sto say that reverberation is am expression aver time ofthe resonance of the room toall fequencies inherent in the impulse (ie, 2l equencies). Through Fourier Analysis and a variety of algorithms derived from such classical analyses (most commonly the so-called Fast Fourier Transform or FFT), impulses can be used to conduct measurements in the time domain (impulse response) and frequency domain (frequency vspunse and phase response). ‘The comparatively low-cost and popular acoustical analysis method called MLSSA (Maximus Length Sequence Signal Analysis) or MES (Maxirounn Length Sequence) isa measurement algorithm derived from impulse cesporses, Jn summary, impulse signals are both an integral part of musical sound and also an alternative way of approaching the understancing of sound from a time basis, as opposed toa frequency basis, Ata basic level, the two views ae inter changeable and may be thought of as simply different perspeetives ofthe same material. Al signals exist in related, time, al signals have frequeney and all signals have amplitude. How we wish to think of signals a any given moment depends on what we are trying to do with that signal at that moment, We will discuss ths late in tems of modeling and signal processing. From a musical standpoint, impulses are the foundation of the time-based motor qualities of musi, while sine waves ae the Foundation of pite-based melodic qualities of musi. THE SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION OF POWER AND ENERGY As [ mentioned earlier when talking about harmonies, the total power ofa signal is the sum ofthe powers of the various signal components. By the same token, the total power is the sum of the powers of each octave. This leads to sore interesting insights. Fist let's look a 2 sovealled “bradband” signal with lat response, like pink nose "An agoritm ia step-by-step mathematical process wed to solv any specifi problem. # “Total Recordingary ‘ical po kN ae) Figure 2.164: Power spectrum of pink naive. In this case each actave has a powrer level of 101 mcroWats. Figure 216A shows the speetrum of pink noise. The total power level ist 100 microWatts, but rater the sumn of 10 octaves each mith 10) microWatts, which is 1000 microWatts (or 1 muliWatt). Another useful way of expressing this to say that in this case the summed power is 10 dB greater than the power present in each octave. If we cut the bottom octave of the specteum by 10 dB (i. to Hem ofits magnitude), our spectrum now has poner level of 910 microWatts (sce Figure 2.16B). Ifyou calculate the decibels, you will find thatthe overall level of ‘he signal has only dropped by 4 dB (the power ratio between 1000 mieroWatts and 910 microWatts is dB) os aa ee rato lod logan ok Figure 2.16B: Figure 2.164 above vith Octave I rolled off by 10¢B. If we boost that bottom octave by 10 dB, however, we get a much larger ehaage in level (sce Figure 2.16C). Now the summed power is 1900 micsoWatts, or approximately dB greater. Part We About Sound and Audio 3Berrors Sea pecroa Ponsa hae Re Figure 2.160: Figure 2.16A above with Octave Thocstd by 108. ‘The insight to be gained from this‘ that boosting one oF more octaves (during equslization) significantly ineraas- nthe overall power level, wile cutting one or more octaves Barely reduces the power level at al. In the next two figures, we'll show two fainy heavily equalized pink noise signals, one with cuts, the other with ‘equivalent amounts of boost. In these two eases we can calculate that when we cu frequeney bands, ou level drops by ‘only 2.4 di while when we boost our Frequency bands by the same amount of decibels, the sunamed level increases by 11348. ST rs ‘Cradlyon lon Span ar Figure 2.160: Figure2.16A with numerous octaves eu. Tc Gon pm ne Wa ea aT Figure 2.168: Figure 2.164 above with various octaves boosted in amounts equivalent to Figure 2.16D a ‘Total Recording‘The moral of this is that you can easily increase level by boosting portions of the spectrum, but you can’t cut levels ‘ery ell by cutting portions of the spectrum. Interestingly, you can create any EO curve you want by either boosting ‘or cutting parts of the spectrum (you cither boost the parts you want boosted or you cut the parts you don't want boosted). $0, if you want the EQ change to cause the instrument to stand out more, equalize by boosting. IFyou like the balance just fine but want to alter the timbre, equalize by cutting out parts of the spectrum, ‘This phenomenon helps to explain some of the difficulties we encounter when equalizing, It is axiomatic that “louder sounds bette.” It's interesting to note that louder can be achieved with fader or with additive (Losi When you think to yourself, “I must do something with that __ (guitar, snare, dulcimer, whatever problem track)” tay boosting or cutting its overall eve fis, tosceif tha helps. Vary often, when we equalize, we do so by boosting and ‘we are seduced not by the magic new timbre, but by the two related facts that (2 the louder sound sounds better, and {() that xe ean now hear the sound «litle better in the mis! MODULATION OF SIGNALS ‘One other bese issue regarding signals nceds to be mentioned here, and that is the modulation of a signal, Modul tion rlets to a variation of a given signal parameter as @ function of some other signal. The most obvious exemple comes from synthesis and the use of slow frequency oscillator (LPO) to add vibrato to a signal. In this ease, the he~ ‘quency ofthe aucio signal is being modulated asa function ofthe changing pattem of the LO, For vibrato, the LFO rate (frequency) is typieally around 4 Hz. and the waveshape is sinusoidal, Such modulation is called Frequeney Meu lation (FM). The amount of modulation is the amplitude of the modulating wave, and is usually referee! to as depth ‘Another parameter of audio waves thet is often modulated for effect is amplitude (AM). In this ease, the LFO or ‘other modulating source varies the amplitude of the audio wave. Inthe ease of the 4 Hz, LO, such modulation is ‘musically known as tremolo, Sigal botnet ets de Sigats mpegs ech eoking oe. Theta Figure 2.17: Frequency modulation and amplitude medulation ofa sine wave, each modulated by a sine wave "In the eae of radio broadcasting, FM isthe same process eneep that the ao vignal is doing the modulating, and what itis modulating ine high-frequency sine wave being electrosagusicll transmitted hough space (whichis whst out FM receivers detect with thi ‘ntennas) Tat high-frequency ine wave, called the cae frequency (its actual flequency i the aumber in megahertz on your FM als being vane lightly im frequency by she ado signal, whic your vecwver decodes and presents to you us audi. AM radio mplitce modulation of esiter waveat alowor frequency art About Sound ond Audio 5‘These are fairly obvious examples. Whete modulation gets conceptually interesting is when we start thinking of all the different parameters ofa wave that we may wish to modulate, and sl ofthe different signals or functions we can use to madulate them with. A “wah-wah” pedal, for instance, medulates bandwidth as a finction of pedal control. A compressor modulates amplitude asa function of the amplitude of either the signal being compressed or some other signal. “Ducking,” for cxample, is the inverted amplitude modulation of a bass (or other sustained) signal as a Fune- tion ofa kick drum (or other impulsive) signal. When we get into signal processing in detail, modulation becomes one tof the key possibilities to keep in mind, and the range of possibilities is staggering. [tis also worth noting that when you modulate an audio signal with another audio signal, additional Frequencies (called “sidebands"| are generated. ‘This phenomenon is the basis of FM synthesis as developed by John Chovsning and implemented by Yamaha. In FM synthesis, one sine wave is modulated by anothes, ner the control of a computer algorithm. The sidebands generat cd are fimctions of the telative frequencies and amplitudes of the modulating wave ancl the modulated (“earricr"™} About amplitude Up to now I've taken issues of amplitude pretty much for granted in our discussion of signals. However anc of the ‘most fascinating and challenging aspects of audio and acoustics has to do with the range of amplitudes that we need todeal with, and the engineering processes we use to cope with that range. ‘We must now consider in mote detail the range of amplitudes of audio signals and acoustic sounds. We've already

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