Dr Braukmann's Reading Resource Links - Grouped by Topic | |
Sound and Frequency S2. What is Sound and how is it Produced? Kahn Academy S3. What is Frequency and Wavelength? (Youtube link) This is a good intro, but don't worry about the difference between period and wavelength. You can stop after three minutes! The only formula you need is frequency = speedofsound/wavelength. S4. Getting to Know Frequencies. Wikiemedia - Important information here, although this fellow has imaginative pronunciations! The frequency examples are especially useful for training your ears to recognize frequencies in sounds that you hear. S5. Frequencies and Harmonics A very good review of frequency and harmonics. Listen to the sample tones a few times and try to become familiar with them. S6. Harmonics and Octaves. Why some people like tube amplifiers better than transistor amplifiers. |
Audacity and Introductory Editing Tools A1. Audacity on-line Manual Have a Tour or Select a Topic A2. Audacity Tutorial - Editing an Existing Audio File A3. Audacity Tutorial - Your First Recording A4. Audacity Tutorial - Mixing a Narration with Background Music Editing tools for Equalization and Filters E1. Frequencies and Equalizers Recording Allstars- Study Questions: What is an easy way to select all of the sound in a track? And where is this "left tab"? The first half of this video is the best. The "old school" presets are not so useful. E3. Audio Equalization (Basic and Short) - Media College - Here are a couple important terms. Study Questions: •What is EQ used for according to this summary? (It's true) •Why are some EQ controls called a "shelf"? •Which type of EQ uses sliders: Graphic or Parametric? E4. Introduction to Filters This explains it well, with good audio examples. |
Room Acoustics and Your Listening SystemRA1. Room Acoustics for Home Audio - Crutchfield
RA2. Basic Room Acoustic Treatments - WikiBooks
RA6. Fundamentals of Sound and Acoustics in your listening room. A little more in-depth summary of how to address problems in your listening or control room.
RA7. Bass Traps
- SOS
Quick Overview RA8. Comments on Designing Studio Acoustics - Jim Keller in Tape Op - Study Questions: • Why might a home studio have a particular advantage over a commercial studio, when eliminating low frequecies resonances? • Which frequencies are easist to control? • What do we use for velocity-based absorption? • What do we use for pressure-based absorption? • What are several ways to minimize picking up ambient noise in your home studio? • What happens if you "cover" the walls with sound absorbers such as Owens Corning 703 rigid fiberglass? • What is a better method than covering all the surfaces? • What is the lowest-cost method of dealing with bass room resonances (besides buying headphones!)? RA9. Project Studio Acoustics - Technical explanations and guidelines RA10. Acoustics in Paradise - Mix magazine. Bruce Black creates a studio for Sony film mixer Paul Massey. Study Questions: • What were the author's goals? • What is meant by "the modes weren't distributed very well? • Many studios have non-parallel walls to avoid standing waves. The author prefers parallel walls. Why? • Even with careful planning, the predictability that comes from designing parallel walls comes at what price? • Why don't bass traps not work well at very low frequencies, such as 40 Hz? • How did he use Helmholz resonators to absorb low frequencies? • In general, without looking at the specific formulas, what dimensions of a Helmholz resonator make it affective with lower frequencies? • Where do you place diffusers? • Why did he use thicker absorptive panels? Noise Reduction NR2. Short-duration-noise removal with Adobe's Audition: - youtube NR3. In-depth noise removal strategies with Audition - various types of noise- Sengstack - |
Editing tools for Reverb and DynamicsR1. Audio Processing (Compression, EQ, Limiting, Reverb, Flange, Chorus) Media College - Basic definitions and introduction R2. How to Create Realistic Room Sound Using Reverb (WAVES software co) Study Questions: •What is different about early reflections, compared to direct or dry sound? •How do we measure (and state) the difference in time between direct sound and early reflections? •What is pre-delay? •What is Reverb time? (The reverb time in a real room is the time it takes between the source of sound stopping, and the reflections dropping down 60 dB? This is not quite to 0, but is reduced to where we don't notice it anymore.) •What is the dry part? The wet part? •What is dampened when you increase damping? (Typical for most reverbs) •What physical room characteristic affects the sound color of the early reflections? •What room characteristics affect pre-delay and reverb time? •What effect on reverb, will a room full of people have? R2b Alternate Reverb from First Principles - SOS - from intro to sophisticated. R3. Audacity Guide: Reverb - Adjusting the reverb settings - R4. A Wash of Reverb - Recording Magazine - Why and how sound editors add reverb to projects.
R5. Use Reverb as a Pro - Mixing - Using Reverb to improve a musical mix - Sound on Sound Magazine - R6. Designer Delay Effects - SOS X6. Audacity's Tempo Tool - Audacity C1. Audacity's Compressor - Audacity - Study Questions: •What do these controls do: Threshold, Ratio, Attack Time, Release Time, Makeup Gain. •In what situation is the Noise Floor control useful for? (Dialog so the background noise won't appear to come up during pauses in speech.) C2. How Does a Compressor Work? - SOS - C3. How a Compressor Really Works - WAVES on Youtube - This Presonus demonstration is one of the best at letting you see and hear what an audio compressor is doing. This may help you make sense of all those new terms: threshold, ratio, attack, decay, makup gain. C4. Compression Made Easy Sound on Sound - a more advanced discussion with examples and great practical advice: C5. Using Compression to Control and Fatten Sound - SOS magazine. This starts with a insightful review of how compressors work, and goes into detail on how to use them professionally in mixes. Study Questions: •When does a typical vocal track need compression? Review: what is threshold, ratio, hard-knee and soft-knee, attack and release? •What is level-pumping? •Why might you also need a little "hold" time before release? •Why are old-style VU meters popular on compressors? •What can you do if the bass energy in the track is dominating the compressor and producing unwated modulation of the high frequency sounds? (longer attack time or use a multi-band comp) •How do you set a compressor so that it appears to "thicken" a sound? (light ratio + very low threshold). •How can you create "ducking" to automatically reduce background levels to make a solo or vocal more audible? (by feeding the signal you want to control - say the rhythm guitar - into the main input, and the signal doing the controlling - the vocal - into the side‑chain input.) •How does compression affect the signal-to-noise ratio of a track? C6. Multiband Dynamics (Advanced Compressors)- Recording Magazine - this is a great article to deepen your understanding of compressors, and explain the usefulness of this popular type of plugin. - Notice especially the underlined content. C7. SOS Latest Squeeze - Parallel Compression Explained - Parallel compression is used a lot in pop music. This explains why parallel compression works better than in-line compression in many cases. Very well explained. |
MicrophonesM1. Microphones 101: Condenser, Dynamic, and Ribbon. Darkhorse Institute. This PDF file, will review what you learned in the lecture, and add a bit more knowledge. M3. Mic Basics: What is Transient Response? - Shure - A quick read. Study Questions: •What is transient response? •Why does a condenser mic naturally have a transient response advantage over a dynamic mic? •From this information, how would to describe what "a transient" actually is? •How is a transient related to the "attack" part of a sound envelope? M7. How to Mic Anything - SOS • Why is close-mic-ing an unfamiliar source with a single mic usually a bad idea? • Why is distant mic-ing often not a good idea? • Why is picking a spot in the room where it "sounds good to our ears" often not a good idea? • Is the directionality of a microphone similar to the directionality of our ears? Is that a good thing? • What is it about an omni mic that sometimes gives it an advantage over a directional mic? • What are the three things to establish as you decide how far away and in what direction to place a mic? • When is using 2 mics on a single source a good idea? • What is the pitfals of mic-ing too close? (at least 2) • What is the "universal" staring point for mic distance? M8. Large Condenser Microphone Capsules - Tape Op magazine - The surprisingly few major categories of capsules that almost all popular LDCs use. Each type of capsule has spanned a family of similar-sounding microphones. M8-B. Large Condenser Microphone Capsules Illustrated - Look at this while reading M8. From Recording Hacks website. M20. The Best Condenser Microphones for Home Studio Recording for Under $1000. There are other mics to consider at other price points, but his good advice is a place to start. Also if you are in the market, you will find links to microphone recomendations for specialized uses such as acoustic guitar, vocals, drums, electric bass.
Microphones for Video Production - DSLR - BH Photo Using MicrophonesRC1. Introduction to Home Recording PDF - Shure - There is a good overview and review here, including descriptions of mic types, patterns, and uses. Voice Overs VO1. Voice Over - Reading
- William Williams VO2. Voice Over Microphone Technique - William Williams VO3. How to Read a TV Trailer Voice Over
- Gary Terzza VO4. How I Improved My Terrible Voice Over Script - Gary Terzza - Study Question: •How would you mark places to put a pause and/or a breath? VO5. Energize Your Voice - Gary Terzza VO6. Voice Over Bad Habit - Tailing off at the End of Sentences - Gary Terzza VO7. Breathing Issues in Voice Overs - Gary Terzza VO8. Five Golden Rules of Voice Over - Gary Terzza -
Actually the first four good rules are great for this course. VO9. 11 Tips for Better Voice Over Recording
- Sweetwater
VO10. Producing Professional Voiceovers At Home, Part 1 - Sound on Sound VO11. Voice Over Guide - A good printed summary of VO VO13. Producting Professional Voiceovers At Home, Part 2 - SOS VO14. Recording Voiceovers in a Cruise Ship Cabin - SOS - Study Questions: •What characteristics did their closet have that helped it serve as a vocal booth? •What did they do to improve it? •How did they arrange the deck chair cushions? •Why did that work better than the closet? •How can you apply these tips to your own bedroom? |
MusicMU1. Music Theory in Half an Hour - Andrew Huang- MU2. Loops in Studio One - SOS - • What makes Studio One's Musicloop format different from regular loops? MU3. Tempo Tools in Studio One - SOS - "Audio Bend in Studio One is a great way to time correct your audio. How it works is that it detects the transients in your audio event. It then bends these transients on audio so that it sits on the grid better. This way you can quantize your audio." Groove is a tool that extracts subtle tempo variations from a performance that give the music rhymic character, or make it seem to swing. MU5. Are Loops Cheating? - SOS - • What is your personal position on using loops? Presonus Studio OneSO1. SO1. Studio One Basics: Introductory Videos - This page has a series of short videos for learning Studio One - a"must watch." Video 2: The Start Page. Starting a project, naming and locating your files. Video 3 Audio Settings Audio Settings Video 5: Drag and Drop Video 6: How to use the Browser Study Questions? No specific study questions for these. Your ability to complete the assignments using Studio One is the goal. SO2. Setting up Your Audio Interface to work with Studio One - Obedia - SO3. Presonus 4 - Creating a New Song and Recording Audio - Obedia -Good quick overview for anyone. Also introduces templates and preset styles. SO4. Creating Your First Song With Studio One - 60 minutes - Quanta - This will help you through your first Studio One project, and covers all those little things that are hard to remember to do if you are new at Studio One. Especially good for musicians with song ideas - Starts with loops + instruments + inputing beats + adding a vocal. SO5. Recording Multi Tracks with Studio 1 and USB interface (The presenter uses a guitar and a Presonus Audiobox interface. But these directions will work almost exactly the same for your interface. This might be just what you need.) Covers: Adding drums with a loop. Recording multiple audio takes (or "comps") and choosing the best one to keep. Also using a recorded guitar track, (The Melodyne tool unfortunately not in the free S1 version) to recreate a bass instrument MIDI track. Then finall a basic mix. SO6. Installing the Included Loops in Studio One SO7. A Complete Studio One Song Project - Quanta - A detailed project example taking you through setup, working with loops (7:00), installing an instrument (piano) and recording MIDI (15:20), recording a vocal (20:20), playing and recording a drum track using samples and MIDI (21:50). SO8. Tempo Tools in Studio One - SOS - SO9. Automation in DAWS - SOS - SO10. Advantages of Grouping in Studio One MixingMX1. Producion Advice: Tracking, Mixing and Mastering - A short and accurate overview of the processes involved.MX2. Sound Mixer Tutorials - Media College - Whether you are using a hardware mixer to record, or a software mixing metaphore for mixing your tracks on a computer, this explains what those controls do! MX6. The Five Most Common Mixing Mistakes - SOS and HOFA College - •Does your new mix exhibit any of these problems? Of most importance are the "Our Advice" sections. Study Questions: •How are mixes most often out of balance? •How loud should the vocal seem? •How should you consider the fundamental frequencies of individual instruments or tracks? •How does reverb often place instruments in the wrong depth? •What does too much/too little reverb do to a mix? •What problems does poor dynamic control cause? •Why sound you start adjusting a compressor by setting the threshold low and listening? •Why is the second adjustment to make on a compressor to start quickest attack and move to longer attack times, while listening? •What kind of problems does incorrect gain-staging cause? •What levels are hardware-emulation plug-ins designed to work best at? (-18dBFS) •What should be the maximum output level of your finished tracks? (-3.0 dBFS) •What does dBFS mean? MX7. 10 Essential Mix checks - SOS - Assuming you listen to your mix on more than one playback system, what are you listening for? • What types of checks are headphones OK for? • What are examples of technical delivery requirements? • What are the symptoms of a mix that starts strong but loses the listener's interest? • As a professional, how do you watch out for "over-mixing"? Hardware HW1. Gain Structure 101 - How to adjust hardware input and output levels to avoid distortion and keep electronic noise to a minimum. Study Questions: •What is noise? •What is gain? •What is gain structure?•How do we set the output level of one device to best match the input of the next device? •What happens if our gain structure is wrong? |
Music as Communicator MC1. Music as a Communicator of Emotions Part 1- Lecture by Prof. Aniruddh Patel, in the series Music and the Brain. There is a difference between a listener recognizing the emotional expression of a musical passage, and the ability of music to cause an emotional reaction in the listener - Central is the concept of multiple simultaneous cognitive mechanisms - •There is a connection between music processing and language processing - music and language share some cognitive mechanisms, but music can communicate some complex emotions that ordinary language cannot - •Prosody refers to elements of speech communication not including the actual words, such as intonation, stress, and rhythm. •Acoustic cues such as tempo, energy, dynamics, pitch range rises or drops, are borrowed from language and used as musical tools to express complex emotions. •Tension is easily expressed in music, as is resolution. •Are minor keys now perceived as somber or sad only because of conventional (learned) association in western music? MC4. Composing for Film - SOS - • (Sidebar) | Free Resources Voxengo Free Good-Quality VST and AU plugins http://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugins/ Online Tone Generator: http://onlinetonegenerator.com/ |
Professional Recording Techniques for Concert/Performance Halls RC9. Microphone Technique - A useful review - WikiBooks RC10. Microphone Positioning Techniques - Shure - specific recommendations for voices, ensembles, and common types of instruments such as guitar, bass, cello, harp, strings, piano, woodwinds, flute, brass and horns. RC11. Studio and Stage Recording - Shure - How to record typical instruments such as guitar, piano, horns. Not too long to read, but fairly complete. RC12. Live Sound and Recording- Shure RC13. How Sampling Works for Analog to Digital Converters RC14. Recording Orchestras - Combination of Mix articles. RC15. Guitar Recording Advice - EQ Magazine RC16. Recording Vocals - Mix Magazine - How to work with a professional singer to find the right microphone and facilitate capturing the best performance. Includes interviews with professional engineers and singers, focusing on how to capture the best vocal possible. RC17. Microphone Stereo Techniques - Recording Hacks - Different stereo mic techniques are demonstrated using drums. These examples make it easy to hear the difference between spaced pair, X/Y, M/S, Recorderman, and other techniques. RC18. The Gerzon Array - and other arrays - SOS - What are the differences between Gerzon, NOS, ORTOF, XY Coincident, Blumlein and DIN arrays? What do they all have in common? Which should work better for mono mixes? Which would work better with small-diameter condensers than with large-diamiter condensers? And why? What does stereo shuffling do, and how is it set up? RC19: Stereo Recording Techniques - Calculating Spacing - Charts showing ideal distances and angles for spaced pair, X/Y, NOS and ORTF - DPA RC20. The Decca Tree - adapted from an article in Tape Op magazine. RC21. Classical Recording - Michael Bishop interview- TapeOp RC22. Recording Piano - Classical Recording Chapter 5 RC23. Engineering Jazz - Wayne Peet interview - TapeOp RC24. Recording Strings - SOS MAS1. Mastering Overview - Braukmann MAS2. Mastering 101 - Uses Reaper and Izotope Ozone 9 - 1 hour - Discussion of mastering - All tools demoed - Includes a demo and discussion of mastering for specific types of contemporary publishing. MAS3. Your Ears Are (Probaby) Lying To You - SOS - | SD1. Designing Sounds - How to build new sounds. Metcalfe SD2. The Sound Designer in a Major Film - SOS SD3. Recording Foley Sounds - An entertaining look at how Foley is done at Warner Brothers Studio - (6.5 minutes) |