Sunday, March 26, 2006

Gating

Gating was the principal focus of Audio Arts, bringing us back to the old ADSR envelope that is well-known in synthesis circles. In the case of ProTools, gating is used primarily to clean up sound. Thus, reducing noise, but still attempting to keep the sound sounding natural. It is used mostly on drum kits and as a part of the sidechaining technique.



Eliminating unnecessary noise from the mix is the focus of gating, listening to as much noise as possible was the focus of the Forum workshop, which was initially focused on Northeast American composers. 'Surf Music II' by Jack Vees provided an awesome mix of low frequencies and resonant high frequencies. The sonic material came from a bowed electric bass and electronics, and created a work of over 20 minutes duration. I liked the 'bell-like' frequency modulations, and then thought that much of this work could have been produced synthetically with Max/MSP. Some of the sounds produced could have been created by my application 'Tunnel1020' that I built last year.

'Fog Tropes II' by Ingram Marshall was a piece for string quartet and tape, which was a combination used in the SonicSpace concert as a part of The Adelaide Festival of Arts. I enjoyed both pieces. 'Different Trains' composed by Steve Reich was the Festival piece, with guest quartet Aurora Strings, whilst 'Fog Tropes II' was performed by the internationally well-known Kronos Quartet. In both compositions I find it incredible that the composers can create a tape piece that is sympathetic and complimentary to the string quartet or vice-versa. This prompts some questions about the compositional process. What is created first? The tape or the string quartet? Are they composed together?

Along with some other pieces played, some pieces by David Harris were played by the composer, which was interesting. The idea as demonstrated by one of the piano pieces was using minimalist techniques for maximal results. The use of palindromic techniques was another feature.

Winding up the blog for week 4, I will provide some details and shortcuts relating to SuperCollider (SC). SC has a modern, unique and sophisticated server architecture, with an internal and local server with boot buttons. However, if typing is preferable to clicking, I could type the command s.boot to load the localhost server and s.quit to decommission the server. Command-Shift-K clears the post window, Command-Period(.) stops sound, and Apple-Shift-/(?) brings up the help. The first unit generator we've explored is SinOsc, which is just a sine-wave oscillator. The parameters multiplier and addition are used for scaling, controlling amplitude. The unit generators are either .ar or .kr. .ar stands for Audio Rate referring to signal and .kr stands for control rate. SinOsc is a .ar, which means that it is more intensive for the computer to use.

If anyone reading this has some spare time and a decent internet connection for streaming audio and video, check out: www.henrygwiazda.com. It is an interesting website created by an intriguing electronic music and video artist.

REFERENCES
Grice, David. 2006. Gating. Tutorial presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 21 March.

Haines, Christian. 2006. SuperCollider (1). Tutorial presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 23 March.

Harris, David. 2006. No Title. Workshop presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU Space, University of Adelaide, 23 March.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Piano Sounds Good

The grand piano and the Mid-Side (MS) recording technique work well together. The beautiful sounds coming from the soundboard of the piano can be recorded better than any other technique I've come across. When I get the chance I am going to practice this technique. The combination of a figure 8, an omni, and an inverted figure 8 create an awesome stereo image. Exploring ambisonic techniques may also be a possibility in the future.

The sound system used to play Glenn Branca and Robert Ashley did not create an awesome stereo experience, but did provide for some intense listening. A fellow student said the experience should have been more intense, through an increase in the overall dynamic level. Branca's 3rd Symphony, which used electric keyboards, bowed electric guitars and all 127 intervals of the overtone series was more intellectually stimulating to me than Robert Ashley's tape piece.

Branca's work was expansive and dynamic. It had this sense of motion that I knew would eventually lead to a climax, but it always seemed a long way off. The motion felt like circle work. I felt like the music was returning to the same spot, but at the same time, I was aware that it wasn't the same. Ultimately I just wanted the climax to be reached and result in a Pink Floyd style driving bass and drum groove. Thus, the pounding drums that brought the work to its climax left me wanting more than a slowly dying composition. The instrumentation and the use of the overtone series did result in some interesting ambiance and harmony.

The most harmonious chord was Gordon Monro's quest in his generative artwork piece 'Evochord'. 'Evochord' is an installation that uses a genetic algorithm to evolve a harmonious chord. Therefore Monro's presentation was particularly relevant to second year algorithmic composition studies. However, Monro's obvious mathematical background is a big advantage in properly combining algorithms with music. The heavily weighted mathematical element of Monro's works had a slight alienating effect on me, but regardless of this, I was impressed by the interesting stuff that can be created in this aspect of musical composition.

Once I understand the general architecture and concepts of SuperCollider (SC), I am looking forward to the interesting stuff that I may be able to create. Firstly, I need to understand nodes, which are objects made up of synths and groups (bunch of synths). Nodes are formed in trees. Unit Generators (UGs) are important as they create the synths. Audio buses are signal paths, and Control buses are paths for controlling signals, like the black cords in Max.

REFERENCES
Grice, David. 2006. Mid-side Technique. Tutorial presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 14 March.

Haines, Christian. 2006. Introduction to SuperCollider (2). Tutorial presented at
the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 16 March.

Harris, David. 2006. No Title. Workshop presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU Space, University of Adelaide, 16 March.

Monro, Gordon. 2006. Generative Artworks. Presentation presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU Space, University of Adelaide, 16 March.

Friday, March 10, 2006

36 Years of Music Technology

Listening to an artist/composer like Warren Burt speak reinforces the idea of control. His overview of his 36 years in the domain of music technology provided an unique insight as to how someone can continue to develop and grow within this discipline. The element of control and sometimes the lack of control is integral to the way one uses technology in music. I found it incredible to witness the scope and enormous amount of projects that Burt has worked on. Most of it though, at its fundamental was about control:

What can I control? How can I use this object to control something else? Can I control this object? Is there an alternative way to control? What about triggers?

Although Burt never actually asked these questions in the forum, it seems implicit that his success is a result of it. Thus, experimenting, overcoming challenges, the uniqueness of his projects are derived from control. One example that I found fascinating was the use of a simple calculator to control the signal of a transistor radio, prior to an effects unit.

Other aspects of Burt's work include installations, synthesis, the use of algorithms, and interactive setups that can actually give an uninitiated audience immediate gratification. An example of the latter was at the Brisbane Expo in 1988. This created a collage of sound.

In reflection, I find it difficult to relate the impressive work of Burt to stereo miking and polar patterns. However, the use of a hyper-cardioid pattern may be critical in a future interactive collage. Burt has been at the forefront of developments in music technology, especially with his creation of new instruments and synthesisers. Even though my SuperCollider experience is limited to greeting the world, I am interested to discover where it may lead. This is an exciting aspect of making it to third year Music Technology; where will it actually take me? What paths are yet to be discovered or built?


REFERENCES
Burt, Warren. 2006. Artist Talk. Presentation presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 9 March

Chappell, Urso S. A. 2005. “World Expo '88.” Expo Museum. http://www.expomuseum.com/1988 (9 March 2006).

Grice, David. 2006. Stereo Miking. Tutorial presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 7 March.


Haines, Christian. 2006. SuperCollider (Introduction). Tutorial presented at
the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 9 March.

Sound Installation Artist

Robin Minard gave us a key in his presentation into unlocking what a sound installation actually means. It is the idea of a relationship between, “what I do and where I do it.” Thus, the piece should not easily be separated from the place or its architecture and its success should depend on whether or not it can be separated. Minard creates his art by enhancing a public space as opposed to using a concert hall.

I found Minard's talk intriguing. The idea that people are drawn in to the installation, but then find themselves hearing the space and architecture was interesting. Therefore, I decided to investigate this further and view Minard's installation that is being exhibited as a part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. I found the visual aspect of the installation more appealing than the sound itself. The arrangement of the hundreds of small loudspeakers created an awesome display, whereas the sound was not captivating. This may be a result of other noises present like the air conditioning. Perhaps this is Minard's intention, to mix his sound source with the sounds of the space. I assume that the sound source was of a synthetic nature, but it did appear natural. The waves of sound pumped through the loudspeakers did not have the effect that I expected. However, I do wish to visit the installation again and see if I experience the same environmental type sounds or hear a different set of slowly changing sounds.

On my first experience, the success of Minard's installation seems limited. Possibly the space selected is not the most suitable, on the basis of being able to separate the sound from its location. The sound did not engulf me. However, I am still intrigued by Minard and would like to know more about how he determines the relationship and appropriateness of the sound and the perception of space. The creation of the sound source is always an issue in music technology. Thus, the learning of SuperCollider this year is going to be engaging given that it can be used for sound design, gaming, music, production, and for applications. It could be the vessel for creating the natural sounding synthetic sounds that Minard described.

Minard has a unique approach to Music Technology, and this uniqueness is a good thing. Whilst technology in music develops rapidly, it is fascinating to see someone who continues to explore in one direction.

REFERENCES
Minard, Robin. 2006. Artist Talk - Sound Installation: art and practice. Presentation presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU Space, University of Adelaide, 2 March.

Monday, March 06, 2006

I have a blog

I Have a blog